Weekly Chat January 3-9

[audsma]

Good morning, ladies! I've got to get a handle on my insomnia! DS has been asleep for hours, and I'm only up because I woke up thirsty, then my mind started to fly...

I love my new, second hand, Graco swing. It's an older model "Devon" without a mobile. But, why do I love it? DD is interested in DS-- finally! She'll swing a doll for hours, but her brother? She pays attention to him now. It's a great bonding tool for the siblings! Hurrah.

I started to realize that my bumgenius 3.0's will not fit DS forever. Oh my. I love these diapers, but I guess I have to start trying to EC as planned. He's so regular in his pooping times, and I can mostly read his signals, but pee? No idea at all. He's a good boy, however. I once or twice asked him to wait for the diaper change to end before he decided to pee, and he's not peed on me since. Perhaps that's because I wait for his legs to stop cycling? Ah well, off to another forum for that.

Happy first full week of 2009, mamas!

[Mamja]

Originally Posted by audsma

I started to realize that my bumgenius 3.0's will not fit DS forever. Oh my. I love these diapers, but I guess I have to start trying to EC as planned. He's so regular in his pooping times, and I can mostly read his signals, but pee? No idea at all. He's a good boy, however. I once or twice asked him to wait for the diaper change to end before he decided to pee, and he's not peed on me since. Perhaps that's because I wait for his legs to stop cycling? Ah well, off to another forum for that.

Good luck with the EC-ing. I think I would have trouble ever doing that because Carolyn doesn't seem to have cues. I can never tell when she has a dirty diaper!

[Faerieshadow]

Good morning...

I don't think I'm picking up on to many cues that I realize consciously, but I must be on some level because it is rare that I miss if she is nakey bum, but she pees on DH all the time.

I'm having a harder time with poo just because she's so darn quick to go once she signals - which is hard to miss, she starts making little growling and grunting noises. I seem to only catch poos if I've got her over the toilet for a pee. :

I don't understand my girl and her need to be awake from 5 - 7 every morning. It's killing me..

I'm supposed to be buying a few bumgenius dipes from someone locally, hope I like them. Trying to build up my stash of smalls, it would be cheaper to be able to go mediums but while most of the small dipes we have fit even though they are still a bit big and bulky, some of them are outright so big on her that pee seeps right out of the top because there is too much space.

[mamanurse]

Originally Posted by allibut

Good luck with the EC-ing.

Originally Posted by Faerieshadow

I'm supposed to be buying a few bumgenius dipes from someone locally, hope I like them. Trying to build up my stash of smalls, it would be cheaper to be able to go mediums but while most of the small dipes we have fit even though they are still a bit big and bulky, some of them are outright so big on her that pee seeps right out of the top because there is too much space.

We are about to fully bust into our medium and size 1 dipes I just love my smalls and size 0s so much that I don't want to give them up.

:Hazel slept through the night last night:

Her regular sleep pattern would be a good 6 or 7 hour stretch at night, but it would always be the first stretch. So I would be up at 2 or 3 for a feed and then she'd sleep again until about 6 or 7. Last night I put her in her crib for the first time at night. We started sleepy time around 8 and she was FINALLY asleep by 10. I had her asleep and "down" several times, but I'm also trying to put her down without swaddling. After the third time of her self-waking, I said screw it and tied her arms up swaddle style since she's in a sleep blanket. She fell asleep immediately and I didn't hear a peep from her until 5:50!!! The only tears shed last night were by mama. I missed having her next to me and cried when I went to bed

I'm taking my new jogger out for a run today and am totally stoked for it. I hope dd1 loves it as I'm hoping she'll spend a lot of time in it. It's my plan to go to a local coffeeshop about a mile away. Stop for a cuppa and let Olivia play in their play area and then head back. I'm bringing a bicycle lock so it won't get stollen.

Have a great day mamas!

[crosscat]

audsma - Glad to hear the swing is working out so well. I'm getting ready to start ECing in earnest now, too. It's one of my resolutions, but I'm waiting on a book I ordered (and I'm feeling intimidated about ECing, so I keep putting it off). Good luck to you with ECing!

faerie - I remember Em saying nakey butt is the way to go when ECing, too. I hope the diapers work out for you.

Originally Posted by mamanurse

The only tears shed last night were by mama. I missed having her next to me and cried when I went to bed

Aww this made me tear up. : And I'm happy to hear Hazel slept through the night. : That's great. Calla did well last night, too. She slept from 9:30 until 5:30. Then after eating she went back to sleep (I did not), and she's still sleeping at nearly 9. Well she appears to be sleeping on the video monitor anyway. She may be staring at the back of her father's head.

I had told DH that we'd start putting her in the crib at night when she stopped waking up in the middle of the night to nurse, so I don't know if this means we're getting close to that point or not. I know I will cry, too, Jenn, when that time comes. She's just so snuggly. I love watching her sleep and just admiring her in the quiet. :

AAM: I thought Calla's baby yoga class started today, but it's actually next Saturday. I am really looking forward to it, so I'm a bit disappointed that I have to wait another week!

Next week, Bill goes to California on business for most of the week. In fact, he's going to spend most of January away on business trips. We miss him so much when he's gone. I think when Calla gets a little bigger, we'll accompany him on some of these trips. Is air travel with an infant the nightmare I imagine it to be?

Enjoy the weekend, mamas! Please remember to get in touch with us on Facebook and/or the Due Date forum that trimestersdoula created for us (http://october2008ddc.forumotion.net/). I don't like to think about it, but they're closing us down here soon.

[lee1203]

Originally Posted by allibut

Good luck with the EC-ing. I think I would have trouble ever doing that because Carolyn doesn't seem to have cues. I can never tell when she has a dirty diaper!

No kidding! Well, I can tell when my little one has a poo diaper because she EXPLODES when she goes poo. Seriously, you can hear it across the house! She only goes every 3-4 days though, but when she does... Anyway, I just can't imagine trying to do the EC thing. Too lazy.

Originally Posted by mamanurse

:Hazel slept through the night last night:
...
The only tears shed last night were by mama. I missed having her next to me and cried when I went to bed

Awww! The first night I put Eowyn in her crib after having her in our bed for like a month I felt that she was so far away!! (The crib is *right* next to the bed. I'm just a gooberhead.) And that sleeping thing is WONDERFUL, isn't it?! I got three nights in a row of 7+ hour stretches of sleep this week. Last night was only 6 hours, then 3, then 2, but I will SO take it after the weeks of 2 or less between feedings.

Originally Posted by crosscat

Next week, Bill goes to California on business for most of the week. In fact, he's going to spend most of January away on business trips. We miss him so much when he's gone. I think when Calla gets a little bigger, we'll accompany him on some of these trips. Is air travel with an infant the nightmare I imagine it to be?

You know honestly, I think air travel would be a little easier than car travel. Mind, anywhere I'd go right now (my parents) is a 12 hour drive, but only a few hours flight. Of course, now that I say that, it dawns on me that little miss is now refusing to take naps during the day unless she's had a really good fuss beforehand, so maybe not. Hmmm.

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by crosscat

I had told DH that we'd start putting her in the crib at night when she stopped waking up in the middle of the night to nurse, so I don't know if this means we're getting close to that point or not. I know I will cry, too, Jenn, when that time comes. She's just so snuggly. I love watching her sleep and just admiring her in the quiet. :

This is what I want to do as well. I think we're getting there, and I'm a little sad about it to say the least. I know I could keep her in the bed as long as I want, but honestly...I'm not sleeping well and neither is DH. I'm shoved to one tiny corner of the bed (who knew such a tiny baby could take up so much room????) and DH is usually relegated to the couch b/c of her noises and squirming. Plus he snores and I'm often waking him up to roll over. He only snores that bad when she's in the bed.

There was a ton of stuff in the other weekly thread I wanted to respond to, so here goes -

Tara - So sweet that Ally is still in NB sized diapers! That melts my heart. They are so tiny! I found one the other day while I was moving stuff around, and I can't believe they ever fit Nora. She's in size 2 already!

Jenn - I don't CD anymore, but did for a few weeks. I love hearing about those of you who still CD. So dish away! I hope next time I stick it out.

Heidirk - I cannot believe you felt TEETH! Wow, that is amazing! I ran my fingers along Nora's gumline and didn't feel anything, even though shes gumming things like crazy. I think the teeth are stirring up trouble in there but not cutting through yet. Good luck!


re: Cats and the baby - Cosette is really disinterested in Nora. She'll walk right past her on the floor, respectful of her space and that she is there, but she really wants nothing to do with her. She has, once or twice in the past, acknowledged her with a sniff or maybe caressed her face with her tail, but other than that, I don't think she gives a rats ass that there's a baby here.

One time, however, Cosette was sleeping in the pack and play (Catherine, just like Puyi she sleeps on everything baby related and leaves fur all over!) and I set Nora down in the pack and play on the other side so I could blow dry my hair. Well, I turned my back for 2 seconds, and Cosette had spun around and sort of kicked Nora with her back feet. I scooped Cosette out and loudy said "NO!" and scooted her out of the room. She learned, and she went to sleep in her cat bed.

I think it was a territory thing. I really shouldn't have put Nora down in a space where Cosette was already sleeping. I learned my lesson. Oh, Nora was fine. She was giggling through the whole thing and didn't even realize it happened, silly girl. But I wouldn't take the chance of her actually getting scratched or hurt, just in case.

AAM - Yes, there's more. We are going to play with a 7 month old kitten today in hopes of adopting her and bringing her home with us. So for those of you who read my FB status, no I'm not pg again (thank goodness) but hopefully we will have another cat either today or tomorrow. Grandma is going to watch Nora for us (a practice run) while we go over to the guy's house. He runs an organization and has about 11 or so kittens that need adopting.

We may end up with the one we are going to see, or a different kitty if our personalities don't match. I like the idea of a 7 month old kitten b/c teensy kittens are so hyperactive and need so much attention. But we also don't want an older cat who is already set in her ways. We are really hoping Cosette cheers up and takes on a motherly role with the new kitty. After losing Leeloo, she has been very bored and clingy. We hope that bringing her a new buddy will give her some much needed companionship.

Also, thanks for all the support while I mentally prepare for going back to work. Like I said in the confessions thread, I only plan on going back for a few weeks, maybe a month, and then I'm going to quit. But these next few weeks are going to be HARD. Nora is so small and needs me so much still. I just hope Grandma is ok with her and doesn't crap out on us before I'm ready to leave work. I can just picture her, the first day in, coming to my work and handing Nora back over! One more day! Argh, I can't even think about it b/c I get upset. Ok, off to start the day.

Have a good weekend everyone!

[Mamja]

Originally Posted by mamanurse

:Hazel slept through the night last night:

Congrats!!! :

[Changed]

Good morning!!


Re: diapers- We're using bumgenius AIO's and he's already in mediums. I bet we could actually get away with larges but the right would be a little high. He's got some serious thighs and pot belly.

Congrats on Hazel sleeping through the night!!!

working- Not to be a downer but keep in mind that *night* nursing is a key part ecological breast-feeding and fertility. I've found that even though some babies start sleeping through the night early, that doesn't always last and in a few months they may be nursing even MORE at night. Anyone who's nursed a 2 year old might be laughing in agreement. Also, if you're going back to work as so many are getting ready to now- cosleeping becomes even more important in keeping up your milk supply. Unless you intend to supplement it's a good idea to try to keep baby with you as much as possible while you're home. If you look at your day in a 24 hour period and factor in an 8 hour work day (that's really more like 9 or 10 because of commuting and dropping baby off with a caregiver) and then add in 10 more hours of separation at night, you're only getting 4 hours a day with your baby for nursing and stimulation. Please don't think that I am trying to do anything but be helpful... I can't imagine how hard it is to go back to work with a LO. I just know how it feels to lose your milk and still want to be able to nurse your baby. You all have my support... good god I hated pumping full time.

[birthdancedoula]

KelliI'm sorry about the insomnia. Iris has kept me up for the last 2 nights and its killing me. I'm living on just to function the next day.

I wish Irie liked her swing. She's content to stay in it all of about 2 minutes and then she wails to get picked up. I was so spoiled with dd1 I guess b/c she loved it and would swing for an hour or so at a time.

JennYay for sleeping through the night! That's such a big milestone that means our babes are growin' up. IKWYM about feeling sad sleeping away from your babe...we don't even own a crib but Iris does much better in her bouncy chair than she does in bed with us. When I finally figured that out she happily slept for 7 straight hours!

Cat about Bill going away. My own dad was gone on biz trips all.the.time when I was a kid so I saw how it affected my mom. You'll just have to hang with us more, huh? That'll be so great when you and Calla can go with him.

CarrieI hope you find the perfect kitty for your fam. Let us know how it goes, ok? I really want to get a new pooch but I think we're going to wait a bit until Iris is a little older. We had our dog since before we had kids so its kind of exciting that the next time we add to our family we can decide on the perfect dog together.

I hear ya on going back to work. At least you have a deadline when you're going to quit. Just keep that in mind and it'll go by much quicker.

AAMI go back on the 20th and I have such mixed feelings about it. I love what I do but my babe still seems so young. I dread leaving her...and she'll only be with dh. I am seriously hating that the days are going by so fast.

School starts back up for me on Monday. I can officially say that next year I'll be a CNM! It has been a dream of mine that's a long time coming and sometimes I have to pinch myself that I am closing in on my goals. I want you all to come to my graduation party!!

I think Miss I is having another "wonder week" b/c she is so darn fussy. She's calm in my arms right now but since she woke up she's been a fusspot. She's got a full tummy, a dry dipe, and her siblings aren't bugging her. All I can do is hold her or wear her to get her to clam down. She's got the paci now and so far that's working. I really think she's about to go through a growth spurt.

I am really sad that our DDC is coming to an end. I've been getting nostalgic, particularly because we're right around the 1 yr. mark when we began finding out we were pg. I really hope we can all stay connected!

[Orionbelt]

Just wanted to pop in to say hi. I have a very cute little girl in my arms right now who is all smiles so we are going to play once my cookies and bread come out of the oven! Love that smell! Have a great week-end ladies...I will catch up soon!

[OrchideZ]

Hello ladies!
Chiming in on the sleep patterns and feeding too:
Jasper is a very good night sleeper now. He regularly goes to sleep around 11 or 12 and stays asleep til around 9 or 10 am with 2 night feeds in bed taking place. I usually change his diaper once around 5 am or so.
I feel lucky he is such an easy-going lil guy.
My goal for this weekend is to move him to his co-sleeper once I have changed the sheet in there to a plush flannel one and pad that with a fleece blanket underneath. I think he likes nice textures- esp. being a Libra- and will sleep better in there when it feels luxe.
Re. the cats: They have been very respectful and actually get concerned when he cries. They come and stare. I do catch Lulu trying to sniff him when he is in his bouncer and the other day, he was napping and she stretched her paw out from where she was sleeping and touched his little hand lightly. I tried to get a picture but she retracted when she saw I was watching.

Yesterday, I met a friend for a late lunch at a popular cafe with Jaspie in tow in his Peg Perego stroller (which he loves to ride in and crash out in). I was apprehensive as it was packed in there and he was awake. I had just fed him though and changed him. He lay in the stroller and once I closed the hood fully up, he fell asleep for the whole hour long meal.
Some peeked in on him b/c they didn't believe a baby was even in there.
I think he likes being out and about...he enjoyed the white noise of people talking and eating and the music there.
My pal was impressed.
I will write more later! DH just made us a tasty breakfast and baby is playing in his bouncer.

[Amber Lion]

Originally Posted by audsma

Oh my. I love these diapers, but I guess I have to start trying to EC as planned. He's so regular in his pooping times, and I can mostly read his signals, but pee? No idea at all.

If you don't want to go completely nakey butt you can go without a cover, that way you can feel immediately when he goes, but it doesn't get everywhere.

Originally Posted by mamanurse

:Hazel slept through the night last night:

Yeah!! Addie did this the past 2 nights, but last night I nursed her down in bed with us instead of putting her in the co-sleeper to start and she didn't only gave me a 4 hr stretch. I think she sleeps longer when the boob isn't so tantalizingly close. Those 2 nights though... I felt so sad she wasn't with me too! Didn't realize how much I love snuggling with her at night.

Originally Posted by crosscat

I'm getting ready to start ECing in earnest now, too. It's one of my resolutions, but I'm waiting on a book I ordered (and I'm feeling intimidated about ECing, so I keep putting it off). Good luck to you with ECing!

faerie - I remember Em saying nakey butt is the way to go when ECing, too. I hope the diapers work out for you.

I've backed off a bit on our ECing b/c it was really stressing me out. I think I got a little too obsessed with catching everything and it was frustrating me AND Addie. So I'm back to only offering when she wakes up and after diaper changes. I still catch a lot of pees and some poos that way, but obviously not as many. She'll always try to go though. My parents send us some money every month for Addie, so I think I'm going to buy some more babylegs (we only have one pair) and go coverless/nakey butt again. I never figured out a cue, but I caught a lot of pees so I must have been picking up on something!

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes

Also, thanks for all the support while I mentally prepare for going back to work. Like I said in the confessions thread, I only plan on going back for a few weeks, maybe a month, and then I'm going to quit. But these next few weeks are going to be HARD.

You can do it Momma! Just think how hard labor was and you got thru that! Since you know it will only be for a little while, just keep focusing on that. We're here for you!

Originally Posted by birthdancedoula

School starts back up for me on Monday. I can officially say that next year I'll be a CNM! It has been a dream of mine that's a long time coming and sometimes I have to pinch myself that I am closing in on my goals. I want you all to come to my graduation party!!

Wow, congrats Ashley!!! It's my dream to be a CNM too... however I still haven't even gotten into a nursing program yet! I'm applying this spring and hopefully I'll get in (too bad a 4.0 doesn't really mean anything anymore with all the competition to get in ) and after that I plan on going thru Frontier. It's really inspiring that you're so close!! Makes me think it'll actually happen for me one day.

AAM: The friend who I agreed to be back up doula for is in labor. And the first-call doula's Mom died suddenly and she had to fly out of state. So... Addie and I are going to be attending a birth here shortly. I'm kind of excited and kind of stressed out! I have a new doula to help me out and I'm kind of just going to be the calm presence of experience in the corner, but I'm still worried about Addie. She's been such a pill lately and she has to be my #1 concern... I just hope I don't spend all the time out in the lobby with her b/c that's not really fair to my friend either. What in hell made me agree to this?!?! Oh, right, the knowledge that it was a one in a million chance that I'd actually have to do it... guess the odds were against me. I had no idea I had NO milk left in the freezer, so she has go come with me. Wish me luck! Tell me it'll be ok!!! :

[birthdancedoula]

Em Your dream career will certainly happen for you one day. I can remember being in RN school thinking the day I start working on my MSN would never come...and now I am just a year away from being done with it! I'm at Frontier and love it...you will, too!

As for bringing a babe to a doula gig...I did that when my ds3 was 2 m/o. I was sooo stressed about it but, like you, didn't have any pumped/frozen milk so he went with me. The little guy passed out in the sling and then I transferred him to his car seat. He slept the whole time. I hope Addie is a good little doula-in-training!

[Baby_Cakes]

Changed - That's actually really good to know. I guess I thought about that, and knew it in the back of my mind, but didn't put 2 and 2 together. I mentioned moving Nora to her crib soon to DH this morning, and he got really quiet and started to tear up b/c he wasn't ready yet! He said he would miss her too much if she weren't in bed with us. So she's staying! (Not like she would have actually slept in her crib anyway!)

Em - thanks for the support for work, again - you're right! I can do it! I've sacrificed and done so much already for Nora that one more thing isn't going to be much harder. And GL tonight! You can do this! I'm sure Addie will be great!

Whoops, baby needs me. BBL!

[mamanurse]

Originally Posted by crosscat

INext week, Bill goes to California on business for most of the week. In fact, he's going to spend most of January away on business trips. We miss him so much when he's gone. I think when Calla gets a little bigger, we'll accompany him on some of these trips. Is air travel with an infant the nightmare I imagine it to be?

Air travel with a non-mobile infant is infinitely easier than a mobile infant or toddler. I wish we had done more travelling when Olivia was a wee babe.

Originally Posted by Changed

working- Not to be a downer but keep in mind that *night* nursing is a key part ecological breast-feeding and fertility. I've found that even though some babies start sleeping through the night early, that doesn't always last and in a few months they may be nursing even MORE at night. Anyone who's nursed a 2 year old might be laughing in agreement. Also, if you're going back to work as so many are getting ready to now- cosleeping becomes even more important in keeping up your milk supply. Unless you intend to supplement it's a good idea to try to keep baby with you as much as possible while you're home. If you look at your day in a 24 hour period and factor in an 8 hour work day (that's really more like 9 or 10 because of commuting and dropping baby off with a caregiver) and then add in 10 more hours of separation at night, you're only getting 4 hours a day with your baby for nursing and stimulation. Please don't think that I am trying to do anything but be helpful... I can't imagine how hard it is to go back to work with a LO. I just know how it feels to lose your milk and still want to be able to nurse your baby. You all have my support... good god I hated pumping full time.

Thanks for writing this Changed. I would NEVER take anything you said as something less than supportive in the best of intentions

I have multiple reasons for moving Hazel out of her co-sleeper right now and I will explain, in more detail, my reasons for transitioning her to her crib.

1) Co-sleeping is out. Dh is a wildman in bed and not in the way I want him to be He thrashes and his given me bruises and a black eye only to be awakened with me crying or screaming in pain. In 2003, he broke our cat's spine by rolling over onto him even though he was well aware of his presence prior to falling asleep. We had to put the poor kitty to sleep after that and I am (obviously) unwilling to put my baby in bed between dh and me. He's also impaired (quite often) when he goes to sleep.

2) I cannot sleep while I'm breastfeeding. Even while side-lying. I can tolerate minute amounts of sleep while I'm not working, but when I am I feel it's dangerous for me to be injecting drugs into patient's veins while my eyelids are drooping.

3) I HAVE to work. I bring in almost 70% of our household income and we do have a mortgage, bills, etc to pay.

4) My milk supply did not dwindle with Olivia and I was exclusively pumping. She started STN at 8 weeks (12 hour stretches) and I stopped pumping overnight at that time as well. I was able to sustain my supply with just a pump for 15 months never having to use a drop of formula without night pumping. Maintaining a milk supply full-time with a pump is infinitely more difficult than having a baby available to me 5 days/nights a week with part-time pumping. Obviously I respond extremely well to a pump.

Hazel's crying.... Will continue my post later

Back...

5) I work 12 hour shifts. Initially, it will only be Monday, Tuesday. In May I will go to M,T,W full-time. While 12 hours is long, it also means I'm only away from my baby two days a week. My mom will also be watching her and bringing her to me at least once a day to nurse. There is also a hospital grade pump for me to use at work.

6) While I truly hope to not suppliment at all, I will if I have to and am going back to work knowing BF'ing might not be all that I hope it is because of this decision.

7) We're not going to use the LAM as BC.

I hope the other moms read through Change's post and draw out all the excellent knowledge she is sharing with us.

[mamanurse]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes

Changed - That's actually really good to know. I guess I thought about that, and knew it in the back of my mind, but didn't put 2 and 2 together. I mentioned moving Nora to her crib soon to DH this morning, and he got really quiet and started to tear up b/c he wasn't ready yet! He said he would miss her too much if she weren't in bed with us. So she's staying! (Not like she would have actually slept in her crib anyway!)

If co-sleeping works for you, then why move her to her crib at all? I'm sure you'll make the best decision for you, but I think a lot of people stop co-sleeping because of societal pressure instead of what they like or want to do.

Crying now. I SO wish co-sleeping worked for me.

[Orionbelt]

Mamanurse: Yay for sleeping through the night! I hope you were able to get a good night sleep as well. That is so sweet that you cried when you went to sleep because your baby wasn't next to you...isn't the love for a child amazing!

Cat: Just do what I do when DH is away...spend a lot of time online and rely on your online friends for support. My DH leaves January 18 for eight weeks...I'm so not looking forward to it. It will be my first time alone for any length of time with three kids...yikes! I better get used to it though because he is sailing for a total of seven months this year (not all at once thank goodness!). Regarding air travel...I've never had a problem. I flew with DD1 when she was 3 months, 4 months and DH took her when she was two. As long as you nurse during take off and landing it is fine.

Baby_Cakes: Yay for a kitty! I did read your FB status and thought you were pregnant again...and my first thought was 'yay...I'm finally not the first one in a DDC!'.

BirthDance: That is awesome that you are so close to becoming a CNM. What an amazing feeling that must be!

AmberLion: Good luck being the Doula. What an amazing thing to do so close to giving birth yourself!

For all that are going back to work soon: Big to you guys. I am very fortunate to live in Canada and get one year of paid mat leave but I'm also very lucky to be in a position where I am now a full time SAHM (although my work does not know this yet ). Things will be tight financially for us but we are lucky that we will survive on my DH's income.

AAM: As I said in my FB status, Charlotte has been sleeping since 5 pm and went down for the night in her crib. It's now 9:30 pm so I'm guessing she is down for the night. I'm hoping she has a good night sleep...it's just so weird that she went down so early.

So I have a little confession...I'm not super Mama! Holy crap, having three kids the ages that mine are is tough. If it wasn't for my super supportive and helpful husband, I think I would have a mental breakdown. I am finding it just so hard to keep up with everything and try to remember to do everything. One thing that is killing me is teaching our oldest to go potty (yes, I know three is pretty old for potty training but she just wasn't ready before this and even now I don't think she really wants to do it but we felt that when she turned three we had to start). I love each and every one of my kids but having them this close together is tough. I just keep hanging on to what other parents of children who are close together in age have told me...that it does get easier. I'm just absolutely exhausted from running non-stop during the day. Thank goodness all three are in bed by 6:45 pm and the older two sleep through the night until 7:30 am (yes, I am blessed with good sleepers and I've been told by many Mom's that they hate me for it). Sorry to vent. I guess I am just getting really nervous about DH leaving on January 18 and sailing for eight weeks. I think this year is going to be challenging because he is sailing for a total of seven months this year (thank goodness it is not all at once though) but I've always been up for a challenge so bring it on

I best be off to bed. I was staying up thinking Charlotte would wake for a feeding but I guess not.

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by mamanurse

If co-sleeping works for you, then why move her to her crib at all? I'm sure you'll make the best decision for you, but I think a lot of people stop co-sleeping because of societal pressure instead of what they like or want to do.

Crying now. I SO wish co-sleeping worked for me.

Don't cry! Aww, here's a tissue and a hug. Here's the thing. It totally "works" for us, but the bed just is not big enough and we don't have room for a king. I'm stiff and sore upon waking, and DH is as well. I guess those are kind of selfish reasons...but they seem like good enough reasons to eventually get her into her own crib/bed. I don't know, I just can't see her sleeping with us when she's 2 or 3. I want to have her in her own room before then - I suppose that's really my goal.

Originally Posted by Orionbelt

Baby_Cakes: Yay for a kitty! I did read your FB status and thought you were pregnant again...and my first thought was 'yay...I'm finally not the first one in a DDC!'.

As if I would post it on FB and not tell you guys first!? LOL! No way, Nora's not getting a sibling anytime soon! I just thought it'd be funny to play with people's minds on FB (namely family).

We are adopting a kitty though! She is 7 months old, completely black, and incredibly beautiful. We are trying to think of a name for her. Her name now is Roo, but we think we'll change it. The guy has like 25-30 cats and barely knows what names they are, so I don't think she's particularly attached to her name. We'll see how it goes. She's TINY!!! For 7 months she is really small and petite.

I just went through all of Nora's older clothes to pack them up, and I cannot BELIEVE how small her newborn things are. I can't believe she fit in them! Some were big on her at one point! I found myself crying, though. I kept thinking things like, "Maybe we'll have another little girl someday..." and even though that thought comforted me, it also made me sad. I'll never get my first baby back, you know? I'm so glad I did the packing though. I have a real sense of closure. A chapter of my life has passed. On to more pleasures of growing and learning -- all are exciting and important.

But, geez...those clothes were tiny!

[Changed]

Little sigh of relief.... it was really sad for me when my milk dried up with DD#2 and I just don't want anyone else to go through that if they don't have to.