How is everyone doing? Chit chat...

[JillyD]

Hey everyone...how are you all? We are doing well - I have a fussy baby these days - super gassy. I am starting dairy free tomorrow for a few days to see if it makes a difference. i LOVE dairy so this isn't going to be easy for me. It's hard to imagine doing this for the long haul - amazing what we mama's do for these babies huh? If any of you have dairy free resources, I'd love to hear!

Other than that, we are adjusting to being a family of 4. I thought that the second baby would somehow remind me of my first but honestly, it is just totally and completely different. I guess b/c he is so different than DD was - and she is here and is now 3 1/2 so how on earth could it be the same? I guess I was just expecting to be reminded of HER when she was a newborn but I rarely even think of that. So far, I am finding that going from 1 to 2 kids is totally manageable - and not the quadruple work that everyone told me it would be. But, perhaps that comes later?

Sleep is good so far but I know from experience that that will change. DS got weighed yesterday and was back up (almost, shy 1 oz) to his birth weight...at 2 weeks. I was so worried b/c with DD i had low milk supply so I was really hoping he would be back to his birth weight. I was actually hoping he would be over but am happy with where he is at. I just wish I had fat babies! Having a thin and slow gaining baby can be super stressful.

[She2dancer]

nak....

here's a good resource:
http://www.godairyfree.org/

I'm vegan also, so I have lots of dairy free recipes if there is s omething in particular you are looking for....

[Malva]

JillyD - I had to go dairy free when ds was little (he outgrew his aversion near 10mo) and honestly, it wasn't as hard as I thought I'd be. The only thing is that it makes eating out really challenging, dairy is everywhere.

What I found was helpful was eating things that don't have dairy in the first place as opposed to trying to continue eating the same way but with dairy-free substitute (soy cheese and crackers as a snack just isn't the same... BUT there is delicious soy ice cream).

A side benefit I found when removing dairy is that the extra pregnancy weight went away on its own, without any effort.

As for us, I went out of the house yesterday for the first time (at 8 days pp), walked one block to take dd to piano with Elsie (the new baby) comfortably wrapped in the Storch. It was really cold out but baby was very cozy.

We started with cloth diapers yesterday and realized we can't seem to find all our small sized prefolds so I'll have to buy some. I need to pick up a couple bags anyway to use as diaper hampers so was going to head to that store anyway.

I really need to get my butt in the chiro's office. Last pregnancy, my pubic bone pain went away right after the baby was born but this time it's not going anywhere on its own. I still waddle...

[oliversmum2000]

i am glad things are going so well. your ds may not grow slowly just because your dd did. my dd 2 has already put on 2lbs, while dd1 took literally months to put on 2lbs, her average growth was 3 ozs. dd1 still only weighs 24lbs and dd2 weighs 9lbs already!

I HAVE 1 CHILD WHO IS OFF THE BOTTOM OF THE CHART AND MY DS 1 IS ONE OF THE TALLEST AND BIGGEST IN HIS CLASS! AND IT LOOKS LIKE DD2 MAY BE A TALLER PERSON TOO.

oh crap i put capslock on - sorry, didnt mean to shout but cant be bothered re-writing in lowercase!! i have a new baby!!m

its so inetersting getting to see how our new little people grow and develop

[filiadeluna]

My baby is incredibly fussy, too, and I *really* hope I don't have to resort to dairy-free, because honestly it is a HUGE part of my diet. I don't drink milk, but have it in cereal nearly every morning (organic), and I LOVE cheese and ice cream. I would be pretty miserable without it. I already cut back on spicy and acidic foods, but that hasn't seemed to help.

I don't know whether the fussiness is just her personality, my oversupply, if she has colic, or if it's something else. It is really, really frustrating, and making it difficult to really just enjoy my baby sometimes, and she cries 99% of the time when being held by DH.

[dividedsky]

^^one of mine is a fussy guy. i found the only thing that mellowed him out was nursing in the sling... so now that i'm hip to it i just pop him in/on whenever he starts freaking out. also, my bean has reflux and was spitting up a lot. now i keep him up for at least 30min after a feed (don't know what i'd do if his bro was the same way!) and the doc has him on zantac. i am so not a med person, but the poor guy was miserable after eating. he is so much happier now.

every day gets better for us. i get more and more in a groove as time passes. thank goodness one of the boys is mellow and easy, because the other is a tough cookie! the co-sleeper is going totally unused lately - i've taken over the guest room, which is where the boys and i sleep. that way the guys and i can spread out and do our thing - they sleep awesome with mama, and waking up to nurse 2x/night isn't bad when they're right in bed with me. i don't like not sleeping w/the husband, but it works out so much better this way... he needs to sleep to be functional at work, and i just couldn't do what i need to do with him in the bed. it's fine for now while they're really little - as long as we're all sleeping!! sleep is key - before i figured it out, everyone was miserable.....

they're finally exclusively bfing, thank goodness. i was giving supp bottles for a bit and it was awful. like i have time to clean bottles.

the cloth dipes are working out great, love em

and i don't know how i lived without double slinging them... i am going to be so buff crom haukling them around. that, or i will destroy my neck/back

otherwise, just can't wait for the weather to warm up for good - i'm dying to take these guys out more! i fel like i've been on house arrest since the bed rest started in oct. going to the doc or breastfeeding center is a treat at this point walks around the neighborhood are nice, but i want to get OUT.

[tabrizia]

I just went dairy free today to see if it helps DD. I think she has reflux, she is definitely not a happy spiter like DS was. It is a bit tough, since everything seems to have milk in it, including bread and granola bars. It is also tough because we eat a lot of cheese at home. I'll have to wait and see how it goes.

Other then the no dairy thing, things are going okay, I'm still fairly tired, which makes dealing with the 2 year old along with the newborn lots of fun. Tandem nursing is going fairly well too, and DS seems to have slowed down on demanding to nurse all the time which is good since he isn't getting nursed as often as DD. He is also getting better about me setting time limits on how long he nurses. Now if only he would go back to napping life would be good.

Eloise is easy, she just gets worn in the sling and nursed whenever she wants too, she does get semi fussy, the reflux thing I think, but she is happy to sleep in the sling sitting up so it isn't too bad over all with her.

[amybird]

Feeling really lucky here...Zoe seems to be an easy baby so far. Easy to settle when she fusses, happy to sit on her Daddy's chest and look around, takes to the breast readily. Maybe not a perfect latch, but we're working on that so as to protect my nipples.

We took her for her first pedi visit at 8 days old, and she had already surpassed her birth weight! Doc was surprised she accomplished this on breast milk only .

She's asleep now, and I feel a nap is in order for me, too!

Sending good wishes to all.

[lanielayne]

Melora is a dream. After dealing with Meridian, a high needs baby that had to be held 24/7, I am loving this sweet calm baby! She sleeps great so far and we have had absolutely no issues. Last time I weighed her at a week, she had gained almost 1/2 a lb. I never have had a baby lose weight after birth. I thought it was because they were so big but she is average size and still didn't. I am loving that she actually gets to wear 0-3 mth clothes when we normally go straight to 3-6! I was so excited to use newborn size diapers too.

Physically, I overdid it last weekend taking my kids to an Egg Drop then to Walmart. I am paying for it now. I have the most painful hemorrhoid which is so embarrassing. I have been barely able to sit since then. Besides that, my bleeding is almost done, I think, which is so nice. I am thinking ingesting the placenta really helped with that.

Dh is working 16 - 18 hr days so I have been left alone with all the kids. It surprisingly hasn't been as hard as I thought but my oldest 3 have really been acting out lately. I don't know if it is Daddy's absence, the new baby, or what. We are having a TV free weekend starting tomorrow so I hope everyone engaging more will help. I hope it is nice out!

[Conchobhar]

For those doing the slings already, what type of carries are you using? I've been using a Moby with a cradle hold, but DD HATES how it squishes her face and screams the whole time she's in it. Knowing me, I'm doing the hold wrong. Is there any other hold that I could do instead for a newborn with no neck control?

[JillyD]

I dont' know what hold it is called but I put him in the moby upright, facing me, with his legs "froggied" under him and then fold the fabric over his head to supports his neck. He falls asleep right away once I put him in there. It's a nice way to use the Moby - i have actually never tried the cradle hold. Another thing we use is a pouch sling - which kinda squishes his body up a bit so your DD might not like that.

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by JillyD

I dont' know what hold it is called but I put him in the moby upright, facing me, with his legs "froggied" under him and then fold the fabric over his head to supports his neck.

I have a woven wrap (just like a Moby only not stretchy) and do the same hold as this. Piper goes to sleep every time I carry her like this. Her legs are getting long enough to stick out the bottom now instead of in "froggy" position, which i think is better for babies that don't like to be all squished up.

[tabrizia]

I also do a tummy to tummy hold in both our pouch and Mei Tai, and we've even used the Beco Butterfl infant insert a few times the same way, with the legs froggied. DD has head control and has since birth, though I do make sure the pouch or Mei Tai is supporting her just in case.

[Devaskyla]

I dont' know what hold it is called but I put him in the moby upright, facing me, with his legs "froggied" under him and then fold the fabric over his head to supports his neck.

FWCC? http://www.calinbleu.com/baby_wrap_c...rry_sling.html

I tried a ruck today with ds3 & he *hated* it. Loves back carries in the MT, though, so I did that instead. I've also done the FWCC with the wrap, some weird carry I invented trying to tie him without putting him down while making supper, front carry in the MT & an upright cradle carry in the pouch.

[GoddessJ]

We are doing pretty good here. We finally settled on the name Ammon Kai for the little guy, although not really sure about the spelling of Ammon yet. It is between Ammon, Eamon, Aimon, or Aymen.

Being a first time mom I am not really sure what fussy looks like or how much babies cry and all of that. Everyone says he is doing great! I find him fussy, especially at the breast when he gets tired. He rarely cries, just fusses. But he sleeps a lot too.

I have been using the moby wrap and a posh pappoose sling. He doesn't seem to like being bunched up so much. We are also getting a back pack style carrier but won't be able to use it until he can hold his head up on his own.

My bleeding has lessened which is great, and my stitches disolved. I am anxious to get on an exercise routine and drop the 50 pounds I gained.

My partner and I had some alone time for the first time since the baby was born just yesterday and it was awesome, even if short. We got to talk and cuddle and just check in. That was great!

[JillyD]

Ammon is a really nice name - I like that spelling and also Eamom (more phonetic isn't it?). Anyway, that is sweet! i didn't know what fussy was either last time around and though my DD was awesome until I started hanging around other babies who would just sleep alone in their bassinets and then wake up and not even say a peep. But, she still wasnt "fussy" in my book - just particular and she liked to be carried.

I cut dairy out and man, it seems to be making a huge difference. My DS is a totally different kiddo today than he was yesterday. I've been dairy free for only 2 days - i thought it took longer than that to work through my system so part of me wonders if it is just coincidence???? I'm sure I'll find out in 2 weeks when I try to reintroduce dairy (if I dare, he was so upset and uncomfortable yesterday! poor guy).

We are moving in june which for some reason has been so overhwelming these last 2 weeks. Every time I look in a closet or drawer I think about how hard it is going to be to get all the crap we have organized and moved (or given away or whatever). We've been in our current house for 6 years and are so settled here. Ahh well, guess i can't worry about that now. I should be focusing on enjoying my little baby while he is so new. Everyone tells you how fast this time goes...ahhh...i love this little baby so much!

[Conchobhar]

Originally Posted by JillyD

I dont' know what hold it is called but I put him in the moby upright, facing me, with his legs "froggied" under him and then fold the fabric over his head to supports his neck. He falls asleep right away once I put him in there. It's a nice way to use the Moby - i have actually never tried the cradle hold. Another thing we use is a pouch sling - which kinda squishes his body up a bit so your DD might not like that.

Thank you so much! I tried this today to walk to the store and she fell asleep before I had hit the front door! I'm so thrilled to start using this carry more!

[filiadeluna]

We had a tornado come through town yesterday! It's not all that unusual for this area to have warnings, but they usually touchdown in nearby towns. There was a touchdown in this town just a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't cause nearly as much damage. Anywho, I am normally morbidly fascinated with tornadoes, and I used to be one of the people who would try to take photos & video, and get really excited about the whole ordeal. Now that I am a mother, it's totally different.

Yeah, I still find tornadoes fascinating, but yesterday I was sooo scared for my baby, my mom, and my husband! My mom and I were in our local Target on the same road where the tornado first touched down - about 1/2 a mile from it! We had just finished shopping, and were about to leave when the employees told everyone to get to the back of the store. I panicked when I saw everyone RUNNING from the food court area to the back of the store. My mom was in the bathroom, and I was holding the baby. I yelled into the bathroom, "Mom, hurry up! We have to go to the back!"

So we spent about an hour in the Men's department, and Isobel was hungry, so I breastfed her while sitting on the floor back there. We heard the winds and hail... it was SOOO loud. They played a local radio station over the loud speaker, and we heard people calling in talking about what roads they spotted the tornado on. They mentioned the road we were on, as well as a road near my house. You could see the fear in everyone's eyes. My poor baby had no idea of what was going on, but I was so scared for her & my mom, and also worried about my husband who was still at home. The phone lines were all tied up, so we couldn't get through to one another for a couple of hours. I finally found out he was OK, and he had left the house for work that afternoon. Our house is also fine, but some houses down the road from us are not.

The thing that really freaks me out and makes me sad is that two people died. The worst part is it was a young mother about my age (mid-twenties) and her 9-week-old daughter. That just hits too close to home. Many people were injured, and apparently over 100 houses damaged or destroyed. I think this is the most devastating tornado my actual town has had... or at least since I've lived here.

Anyway... sorry for the long post, but that was my day yesterday, and I felt it relevant since my daughter was with me. So scary!

[Conchobhar]

Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that you and your baby are OK. That sounds so scary and I got a lump in my throat when you said who had died. We aren't immortal anymore, are we? I've never been afraid of death until I had my baby.

[Malva]

Originally Posted by Conchobhar

Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that you and your baby are OK. That sounds so scary and I got a lump in my throat when you said who had died.

Same. So glad you're safe.