Chatting in Spring!

[LionTigerBear]

Happy second day of Spring everyone! DD is one month old now! Can't believe how time flies!

So, let's hear the updates-- how is everyone doing? Hanging in there?

[Vegan Princess]

OMG my DD slept through the night again! She slept from 10:30 until 5:30!! I couldn't sleep much past 4...I kept wanting her to wake up and checking to see if she was ok. Is it ok for a 7 week old to sleep for 7 hours? She finished eating at 9:30 so hadn't eaten in 8 hours. She does get formula (after nursing) so I know she can go longer than an exclusively breastfed baby but still? Also I have a low milk supply and don't get engorged going that long but is it still bad for me to go that long without nursing or pumping? I pumped at 10 before I went to bed. Anyway, the sleep felt amazing!

Happy spring! I feel like winter was a blur..I guess bc I had been hibernating in the house with DD through most of it.

Cindy

[Kelly1216]

Cael slept for 6.5 hours last night, and Thursday night was a little over 5 hours. He is 6 weeks old. This is not normal for him (but I'm hoping it will continue!) but I have definitely heard stories of several babies sleeping through the night at this point.
I officially hate my body! I am now spotting and getting cramps. I will be so upset if this turns into a full blown visit from AF. I don't believe this is very fair! My 6 week check up is Monday, so another reason to hope this is not AF. And, I'm pretty sure DH will be pretty bummed too!
Cael is doing really well though. He does have baby acne, but it's getting better. He's smiling and cooing and being adorable. His big sister just loves him to pieces! I'm so blessed to have a relatively easy transition (so far) from one child to two!

[monkaha]

Happy spring! Looking forward to warmer weather, not sure yet if I'm up to a garden again this year; I know that come summer, when I'm eating stuff I grew, it'll be great, but right now I'm not sure how I'd get the time not nursing to get anything in. Feels like we nurse all. the. time. At least the nursing is going better. Sill takes a couple tries to latch to the left side (makes NIP that much more challenging).

When do they start doing more than sleeping, pooping and nursing? It's been 5 years since my last baby, and I don't remember the developmental milestones any more. Anyone have a goos ref. site?

[Everrgreen]

I'm so jealous of those of you getting a solid chunk of sleep! Royce is up at least every 3 hours at night. It's not too bad though because I just quickly change his diaper then get him latched on lying down so I can go back to sleep. Usually I fall asleep before he's finished. Sometimes he'll wake up in the middle of the night and just be awake. It's so cute though, I'll turn on the light and when I look at him and start talking to him he gives me this big smile. And if I turn off the light before he's sleepy then he starts to cry, so I'll turn it back on and the crying stops immediately. After a while he'll be ready to nurse back to sleep. But a solid 5+ hours would be awesome!

monkaha - I'm looking forward to when I can really play with him and start doing things other than nursing and changing diapers He's having so much more awake time, yet he's not quite interested in anything other than just studying the world around him (which needs to be constantly changing ie. I need to keep moving!). I would love to be able to sit and play!

[Mal85]

I'm wondering about the sleep too. The past few nights, Owyn doesn't seem interested in eating. She stays pretty sleepy through our night feedings and doesn't eat for very long before passing out again. I feel ready to explode by the time we wake up for our 'breakfast' feeding. I know I should probably pump during the night so I'm not so engorged and in pain... but just the thought of dragging myself out of bed to get the pump is daunting to me, I don't function well at those hours. I would keep the pump by my bed but we're out of outlets between the phone chargers, the baby moniter and our bedside lamps. It is quite a process changing all that around to plug yet another thing in. I'll have to figure out something though if these night feedings keep going like they are... more like a short snack time for her.

Anyway, she feeds better during the day, giving me some relief. Although just this last feeding she would hardly eat again. Maybe she should go longer between feedings. She's going 2 1/2-3 hours right now, during the day. 4 hours or so at night, but barely feeding then. She seems satisfied at night and sleeps well, I just don't feel like she eats enough during that time. She is 3 weeks old and I'm just not sure how much she needs to be eating in that stretch of time.

Wow, I never thought breastfeeding would be so confusing. I'm used to taking care of formula fed babies (who are also at least a couple of months old). That was much less complicated than all this. We're not having any serious issues, so I'm not feeling overwhelmed by the breastfeeding (although I sometimes feel like that dictates my entire life)... just full of questions and concerns. I am anxious to find out how much she weighs at her next dr. appt. She is really filling out and feels much heavier in my arms, so I assume she's getting plenty to eat.

Aside from feeding (which is pretty much the only thing on my mind lately), Owyn is already changing so much. I keep asking her how in the world she got so pretty. I really do have an adorable baby. I love when she's just about to doze off and gives lots of sleepy smiles. Sometimes she even gives a little giggle in her sleep. It is the most precious thing I've ever seen. She really is such a happy and calm baby. I don't fool myself into thinking we have a baby that doesn't cry, she shows me how loud she can get sometimes. But for the most part, she is happy to just stare at whoever is holding her and check out the world around her.

Anyone else miss being pregnant?? I can't imagine the process of getting pregnant again, not now anyway. We're 3 weeks out and I'm still tender. DH hasn't even attempted anything with me. He said he's fine not going there for now, he watched her come out of me and can only imagine what that would feel like for me at this point. But, I really do miss growing that little life inside of me. I miss feeling her move, and I miss the excitement and anticipation of meeting her. I really can't wait to be pregnant again, and am so excited about giving birth again, that was truly magical.

[lookingforaname]

Mal,

I wouldn't worry too much about her feeding enough during the night. Mine is 4 weeks, nurses about 5 minutes during the night after 4-5 hour stretches of sleep - and I think it's totally fine. It's part of the process of switching over to full nights of sleep without waking at all - a good thing!!! Celebrate it!

And your breasts should eventually figure it out as well?!?

[nighten]

I don't really know how many times Eowyn wakes in the night, because I just let her latch on and we both go back to sleep. But I'm definitely getting more sleep now than I was at this age with Guinevere so I'm fine with it.

Anyway. The big news here is Eowyn rolled over.

The other night/morning, she rolled from her back onto her stomach and I freaked out! I was awake (thankfully) and saw her do it and my heart just pounded in my chest, but then she lifted her head and turned it to the side and plopped it back on the bed and kept on sleeping the whole time.

Oh thank God. So if she does roll over she can turn her head so she's not smothering.

It was scary and kind of thrilling all at the same time. I need to go look up when Guinevere rolled over but I know it wasn't this soon. Eowyn's only 5 weeks old. It must've been some crazy fluke or something. I totally wasn't expecting it.

We went in for our one month WBV and she's gained good weight (up from 7lbs 8oz to 9lbs 11 oz) and two inches. And makes the most adorable sounds. She's "talking" to the light. I got a little bit on video and will try to upload it and post a link in the next few days. It's adorable.

I can't believe it's already been a month! Time is flying by....

ETA: Mal, are you changing her diaper before nursing in the night? Try that. Diaper changes tend to wake babies more fully than nursing alone. And it's better to change a diaper before nursing if it works out that way, since breastmilk has natural relaxants in it and it's normal for baby (and mama) to get sleepy after nursing.

[DreamsInDigital]

Lucius took a bottle from Daddy today! I snuck away to the store and it took longer than anticipated. Lucius woke up hungry so DH called and asked how much longer I would be. I told him to try him on some EBM and he drank it fine with no problems! He wanted to nurse anyway when I got home but my last baby would not take a bottle at all and was the reason I lost my babysitter (and my job) so I was really stressed about going back to school in May and then work in July.

[Mal85]

DiD My baby girl has officially taken two bottles from Daddy. Tomorrow I will be gone for 4 hours for a class, so we gave her a bottle last night and tonight to see how she would do with it. She does great! Very slow with it, but doesn't reject it.

She is also getting much more efficient with nursing. No snacking and snoozing for a few days now. We're officially on one breast at a time, starting yesterday. My boobs are still adjusting... feeling like I'll explode on the side she doesn't feed on. I stopped pumping (except for when she takes a bottle instead of me), hopefully that will help the painfully full breasts.

Wish me luck on going to class tomorrow, I'm really dreading it. She's only 3 weeks old, I so don't want to leave her. She is staying with my SIL, so at least it's someone I trust. She agreed to use CD, but only if I bring the 'fancy' ones (bumGenius and fitteds), with sposies for back up. I think she'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is.

[LionTigerBear]

Good luck, Mal!

Renee, that's amazing! I will have to be more careful with my own little one, just in case . . .

Didn't sleep great again last night, we are in the throes of trying to get the boys adjusted to the new diet. It's tough. We got the carpets steam cleaned, though, and I am finally catching up on cleaning up the apartment. It's looking great! YAYYYY!!!! The cleaning lady who was going to come by flaked out on us, though. Oh well!

Oh, and my official baby-gush for the day: Eliza is getting so BIG! Her face is filling out even more and she's so cute with her chunky little limbs! She also got her baby acne in, lol. She's started "talking" to me, too! DH and I are both rapturously in love with her. She's great!

[Vegan Princess]

I got another great night sleep. Makenna slept from 9:30 until 4:30. But she didn't really nap much yesterday. She doesn't do this consistently but the few times she has have been nice. This morning after she ate she wouldn't go back to sleep so I had her in bed with me and unless my boob was in her mouth she got upset...only she wasn't really sucking. Mommy pacifier I guess. Hard for me to sleep that way bc I keep thinking my breast is going to suffocate her. Better than being totally up though, I guess.

Yesterday we walked around an art museum and saw a faberge egg exhibit. Makenna fussed a lot of the time but everyone around us was so happy to see a little baby they didn't seem to mind. :-) DH seemed really happy to get out off the house on a little family outing (we went out to eat and then to the museum).

Anyone else having anxiety dreams about work? I dreamed I was being replaced by the intern that is filling in for me. I guess I'm a bit nervous bc I plan to go into work tomorrow to drop something off and introduce Makenna to my co-workers.

Cindy

[Nillarilla]

It's my birthday and guess what I got for a present? My first baby girl smile! She smiled at me this morning when we all woke up after a full nights sleep. 12am-7am she woke once to nurse but went right back to sleep. We've been having some rough nights with her up at 3am and not going back down until 5am or so and I have to get up and go to the spare room. Had a shower yesterday from coworkers. It was great to see them. I realized I miss my friends and I am going to make an effort to see them.
Question for you ladies: DH has a week long work trip to Banff. We can go along (me, baby, and ds (3)) there is no kitchenette, I will have my car, it's an 8hr car trip. Would you ladies join dh? Or would you stay home alone for the week with 2 kids?

[Vegan Princess]

Happy birthday Nillarilla!! That's a b-day present you'll never forget! :-)

Not sure what I'd do about the trip. I've not yet attempted travel with a little one. The 8 hour car ride would scare me but only bc DD doesn't seem to sleep in her car seat lately. Sounds like it might be tough not having a kitchen for your DS but I bet it's beautiful there and you could have a nice time walking around if it's not too cold (it's nice here so I forget that it's still freezing elsewhere).

[starling&diesel]

Originally Posted by Nillarilla

Question for you ladies: DH has a week long work trip to Banff. We can go along (me, baby, and ds (3)) there is no kitchenette, I will have my car, it's an 8hr car trip. Would you ladies join dh? Or would you stay home alone for the week with 2 kids?

That's a tough one ... honestly, not having a kitchenette would suck. I think I'd stay home. And that's weird for me to say, because I looove travelling. Hmm. I'll think about it more, maybe I'll change my mind on my advice. No kitchenette just royally sucks. No way to upgrade to a unit with a kitchenette?

[mama-aya]

Nillarilla- I'd go. Absolutely. If you really can't get a kitchenette or even a fridge and microwave you can bring a cooler to keep milk and yogurt, hard boiled eggs, sandwich stuff, veggie sticks and fruit in. There's probably at least a coffee maker, right? So you can have instant oatmeal and soup cups, cocoa, tea. When we stay places without kitchens we try to get a continental breakfast, but even without those amenities it's fun to stay in a hotel. I don't like going out to eat with little kids for every meal, though- so we always pack lots of easy no-cook breakfast and lunch things, and then only go out for supper. Banff is beautiful, and you'll have a car, so exploring will be easy, and you'll be able to make trips to the store for ice and groceries. Easy! Just leave more than 8 hours for an 8 hour trip, and it'll be fine.

[nighten]

Happy birthday, Nillarilla!!!

[justKate]

Nillarilla, :

We're finally settling in here. Sill having some feeding issues, but I'm finally able to breastfeed her without adding rice cereal or having her throw it all back up, so that makes me feel really good. Lots of spitting up from the reflux, but it doesn't seem so painful to her anymore. We're also still doing bottles sometimes, and thankfully Aubrey doesn't have trouble switching between bottle and breast. I was really worried because with her NICU stay, she was about three weeks before we even tried breastfeeding. Just shows how strong that instinct is, I guess.

Vegan Princess, I know what you mean about work. I took Aubrey in last week to meet everyone, and chatted with the guy that's filling in for me. He was really excited that I won't be going back until May (then he goes back to his own town). Kind of a weird feeling.

Had a WB checkup today (5 weeks 3 days). Aubrey is 22 inches and 8 lbs. 2 oz. Seems so tiny--she's still in newborn size clothes. What's weird is I was that size when i was born. I guess that's why people think she's even newer than she is.

The only lingering issue is really with me--I'm still having trouble connecting the pregnancy to this baby. I mean, I love her, we're doing great together, but I feel like I missed something and can't mentally connect her with the baby I carried. I dunno. Maybe because of the emergency c-section and the way I didn't get to hold her for hours after her birth, or maybe because of the 3 weeks in the NICU...just a weird feeling like I kind of missed her birth or something. I guess I'm still kind of mourning not getting to have a natural birth and dealing with the probability that I'll have to have c-sections in the future. (I don't think the military doctors are generally very VBAC friendly.)

But everything is good and I'm glad to hear about everyone's little ones. Its so wonderful to have them here!

Forgot to mention that I LOVE my ring sling! The absolute best baby item that I didn't know I needed.

[Everrgreen]

re: miss being pregnant - I do!! I think partly because I went early and so I never reached a point where I felt 'done'. I was thinking the other day about when Royce was inside me and I really do miss it. Plus I got a lot more sleep then!

re: rolling over - Royce rolled over from front to back at only a few weeks old, but hasn't since then. I'm guessing it was a fluke. However, he doesn't spend a lot of time on his tummy because he doesn't like it, so that may be why there hasn't been an encore.

re: big trip - That's tough, but I think I'd go. Especially with it being a full week (I wouldn't want to be alone with the kids for that long!). We have taken Royce on a 5 hour car ride a few times now and he just sleeps. I second the idea of bringing a cooler.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Nillarilla! :

[Mal85]

Originally Posted by justKate

The only lingering issue is really with me--I'm still having trouble connecting the pregnancy to this baby. I mean, I love her, we're doing great together, but I feel like I missed something and can't mentally connect her with the baby I carried. I dunno. Maybe because of the emergency c-section and the way I didn't get to hold her for hours after her birth, or maybe because of the 3 weeks in the NICU...just a weird feeling like I kind of missed her birth or something. I guess I'm still kind of mourning not getting to have a natural birth and dealing with the probability that I'll have to have c-sections in the future. (I don't think the military doctors are generally very VBAC friendly.)

I have a hard time making that connection too (and I had a vaginal birth and she's hardly left my side since then). I was talking to my SIL about that one time and she said she's never been able to make that connection either. She said she's just come to the conclusion that it's one of those things that's just too big to completely wrap our heads around. If we were able to fully comprehend everything that surrounds pregnancy and birth our hearts would be too full. I like how she put it and I try to look at it that way. It's one of life's few mysteries, the closest we come to real magic.