November '05 Mama Chat Thread for February '09

[HoneyTree]

Y'all know I'm up pumping, so thought I'd kick off the second month of the Gregorian calender...

Spughy, the cow share sounds adorable. Have fun at the farm!

DiD, sorry to hear of the ongoing challenges. Any chance pre-e resolves itself?

Helen, poor River! Fox is having some active output, too, but since I'm pumping and freezing, I can't pinpoint what's doing it...

I continue to be thankful to you all for your support and kind words. We had a GREAT breast feeding session today, which the very specific and infallible official assessment asked me to rate as "poor," "fair," or "good." I just put us down for good and hoped that three gold stars in a row--bottle or breast--will come to mean something here pretty soon.

[gingerstar]

: Hope you are home soon, all together!

Helen and River

[MamaFern]

Happy Bee-lated Birthday River & Helen!!:
sorry he is under the weather! i hope he heals up fast..and your nipples too.

rue has become what my sister likes to call an extreme nurser. she is all over the place, climbing, squirming, sliding, tossing all whilst nursing. its not as bad as it looks..but still. it would be nice to be able to out in public and not have my baby nursing so

honey: im so happy to hear of your breastfeeding success, it takes time! my situation with elwynn wasn't at all as extreme, but he had undiagnosed tongue tie that led to a few months of really hard work. he couldn't latch properly and was loosing weight quickly and when he was finally diagnosed they clipped it but the damage had been done. i felt terrible. he was hungry! i was supping him with bottles and i hated it! i even made some friends drive to the USA to get organic baby formula because at that time you couldnt get it hree..and then he was sensitive to the dairy so he had to have nastynasty other stuff. i still to this day regret that. my milk suply was very low and i pumped like mad but still it took a long time and i dont think my milk ever fully came in despite him nursing for almost 3 years. i took domperidone to increase my milk supply, drank so much milky tea before that. it was hard. very hard. weare here for support..and there are so many wise mamas all over MDC.

sarah: the milk share sounds rad! i live rurally and so far only know of one family with a cow ad they already have some folks who get milk. im really going to try come spring to find raw milk in these parts..or get a cow! im sure i can find others who want to share.

DID: im thinking f you today! meeting your new babe!

[spughy]

DiD I hope everything goes well for you.

Teresa, sounds like you guys will be home soon!

Helen, I'm sorry the cabbages got to River. I hope he recovers soon.

Fern - apparently you need a LOT of people to share one cow, ours produces 5 gallons a day, that's a lot of milk, and she's a Jersey which is on the low end of milk production. So... if you get a cow, you'll want to line up about 15 other people, or start making cheese. (And then send it to me. Hee.)

Happy February everyone!

[MamaFern]

Originally Posted by spughy

Fern - apparently you need a LOT of people to share one cow, ours produces 5 gallons a day, that's a lot of milk, and she's a Jersey which is on the low end of milk production. So... if you get a cow, you'll want to line up about 15 other people, or start making cheese. (And then send it to me. Hee.)

Happy February everyone!

people. check. cheese. check. send to sarah. check!

[DreamsInDigital]

Originally Posted by HoneyTree

DiD, sorry to hear of the ongoing challenges. Any chance pre-e resolves itself?

The only cure for pre-e is birth. I'm not gonna wait it out and see how bad my blood pressure can get. Baby is coming now. We leave for the hospital after the Superbowl is over.

[*Amy*]

Wow - so much going on with our group right now!

DiD I am thinking of you and the very soon impending birth of your babe! Just a few hours now!!! I hope everything goes as beautifully as possible for you, Mama.

Honey, I've been getting teared up reading your updates and looking at the pictures. As with everyone, I am thinking of you and praying for lots of milk to get into Fox's tummy, whichever way it works! I hope you are home together soon.

Spughy, that sounds like so much fun!

Helen, happy birthday to River, and happy birthing day to you! A year already!??!


We lived through the ice storm with just one day without power, and hosted some of our friends for a few days until they were able to get a generator to heat their house. I know a lot of people are still not reconnected, especially on the Louisville side of the river, so we've been really lucky. I'm very much hoping for school to resume tomorrow (after having T-F off last week), as much to aleviate our cabin fever as to resume work. I'm a contractor, so don't get paid if I don't work!

[MelW]

A couple of days with limited computer time, and I feel so behind on our group!

DID, good luck with the induction. I'm excitedly waiting for the good news of another baby in our group!

And Teresa, still thinking of you and your family and hoping to hear that you're all at home together babymooning soon! I've seen many babies get bottles for the sake of "get us out of the NICU ASAP!" that then transition to breastfeeding at home. It can be hard work, but it works

Helen and River, happy belated Birth Day!!!

Kavita and Amy, good luck in the ice storm and I hope you're both back to "normal" soon.

I'm looking for a bit of advice or reassurance with Neela right now. I signed her up for swimming lessons now that she's of the magical age (3!) that the lessons aren't parent-tot. I wanted to get some swimming in for me in the third trimester, Neela likes swimming with me, so I thought that once a week she could have fun swimming with other kids while I get to swim on my own.

We're on week four (with one week out for colds), and she still hates it. She told the teacher that she likes swimming, she just doesn't like teachers or classes. She told me that she doesn't like being told what to do. She told Matt that she wishes the teacher was a woman. The first week she sat with her back to the pool and her arms crossed for most of the lesson, the second week she dipped her toes in and talked to the other kids. I joined in the lesson for part of the second week and she briefly came in the pool, but then tried to swim/wade away from the class. This week again she briefly participated, then got up and left to find Matt and dragged him to the change room. The teacher is really low key and low pressure in terms of her not participating, and the class is mostly games/playing in the water.

So- should I call and ask if we can switch to another class with a woman teacher (I'm doubtful that it would help, though perhaps if there was another kid that she connected with in the class as a friend she might do it)? Should I just go swimming with her and forget about the lessons?

We had a similar experience with a dance class that we tried, where she didn't like the structure (aka being told what to do). It was pretty relaxed, too. She's fine at daycare, though it's very loosely structured. I was really hoping to do preschool next year so I can nap a couple of mornings a week. This "I don't like teachers and I don't like classes" attitude has me worried that my master plan for napping might not work. Despite being a teacher, Matt also hates structured activities and classes, so he can relate.

I know I'm getting ahead of myself thinking about September, except preschool registration starts soon... Any thoughts?

[flapjack]

Well, my first thought is that you're doing it backwards. The reason that 3 is the magic age for classes is because a lot of kids start preschool before swimming lessons and are used to having a bit more structure in their lives and a big authority figure that isn't mummy. Skye has MiSS HACKER, who does everything from changing bottoms to writing names on pictures, and MiSS HACKer is obviously only second to god. I hear about her at least 30 times a day.: Also, based on what I'm seeing of Skye at Dramababes and what I remember of the boys at this age, you either need one charismatic teacher who is giving it absolutely everything he/she has to keep the kids engaged, or else you need mum there keeping the kid focussed. I don't know what PS is like over there, but here it's entirely child-led and pretty unstructured- I like ours because they still do preschool the way they used to (it's the same one Steve went to as a kid) but in a different building. They've kept the structure and added the good new stuff as it came along.

Amy, yup, a year already And Steve is broody again, and I'm really not sure how I feel about this.

DiD, it's the 2nd here now and I really hope that gorgeous boy is here now.

Teresa, I hope you get that gorgeous baby home soon so you have less time for the internet, sweetness . I can't imagine what you're going through, but I'm holding you in my thoughts.

[MamaFern]

mel: i dont have a ton of time but i did want to reply. ngaio is a lot like this. we haven't done nay classes because..well. we don't really have any here for her age group save playschool which is wickedly expensive and too far to walk to.. but she is very strong minded, willed and well. yeah. we do go to racoon strong start which is a new thing. its school funded and structured and she is getting better and better (slowly) at following the "rules" its still not easy for her, but it does come with time. BUt i go with her, which is pretty different then just dropping her off. i would hesitate to. im not big on the making kids do what we say thing.but certainly for our motherly sanity, its helpful to feel confident that if we do decide to put them into a class or two, that they will have some fun...and go with the flow. as for napping have fun. i havnt napped much at all. you get used to it. but maybe you will have a better time.

[Phoenix_Rising]

Happy late birthday, River (and Happy birthing day, Helen)!

Not much else from my end. Oh, except we are making major strides in potty learning. Yay, us!

[Awaken]

subbing- will be back later!

[spughy]

Mel, I think Neela needs to see a clear benefit to her from listening to an instructor, otherwise that path to learning isn't ever likely to appeal to her. Is there some argument you could make or something you could demonstrate that would show her that by following directions she'll get to do more fun things? Rowan's been in swimming lessons since day 1 almost, she's never had any issue with them and she's the "good" kid in her lessons that stays put when the instructor asks and never has to be chased around the pool. But she's also very motivated to do lessons because she sees older kids doing fun things (like diving for rings) and wants to do them too - plus she's temperamentally inclined towards it, I think.

Helen - I think here more kids start swimming lessons before preschool. It's a huge cultural gulf, I know.

Susannah - yay for potties! Are things going more smoothly with your partner?

DiD - baby? baby?

[Queen of Cups]

Hello, mamas! We have a snow day today, right now I'm sitting on the couch in total silence while the kids sleep in. What a lovely way to start the day! I think I'm going to work on a baby quilt for a friend, watch movies, and play video games today. And, maybe I can convince David to watch the kids for awhile so I can sneak out to the gym.

I can't wait to hear about DiD's new baby and that Fox has gotten to come home!

[Queen of Cups]

BTW, if any of you is looking for an Ergo let me know. I have a salmon-colored one with the day-pack attachment that I want to sell. At 47 lbs, 45 inches, and four and a half years old, Killy really doesn't need to be in the Ergo anymore. He'd rather hike on his own! Plus, even though I can carry him without a problem in it, his legs are so darn long that they kick me too much! I'll probably hang on to our second one because Ellie still ride in her's sometimes.

[*Amy*]

Just popping in for news of DiD and Fox!

Originally Posted by Queen of Cups

I think I'm going to work on a baby quilt for a friend,

Um....me, perhaps!? I was going to message you on FB, but it is crashing my computer today. I need to send you some money so you can start getting supplies!

[Queen of Cups]

Yep, Amy! : I'll go either today or tomorrow and price the supplies and let you know.

[*Amy*]

Oh yay!!!: I'm SOOO excited about it!!

[Gunter]

i am sooo behind on your lives!!! how will i ever catch up? i am in complete denial that my babe turns one at the end of this month. complete. denial.

teresa- gotta find your birth story on here asap! congrats, mama!!!!

[MelW]

Thanks for the advice on the lessons, everyone. Fern, Ngaio and Neela sound a lot alike! She loves drop-in groups and free play with other kids at the playground, etc. But as soon as anyone says "storytime" or "lets sing this song" she starts to freak out! It's funny, coming from the kid that daycare providers have always said is so easy to care for- very little separation anxiety, and generally go with the flow. We'll just keep exploring it- she may turn us into homeschoolers yet

I just peeked over at the Portland Babywatching thread for some good news! :: Congrats Lydia and family ::