2003-Nov./Dec. Mamas and Babies (New Thread) - Page 5

[Christy1980]

NAK

thanks everyone for the well-wishes. he'll be ok, he just has to take it really easy when he gets to go home.

does anyone else have a funky schedule with baby's sleep? sage has been sleeping all day, then staying awake, cluster-nursing until about 4am. this has been going on for several days now. it doesn't bother me now b/c i can sleep during the day, but if/when i go back to work, i'm not going to be able to handle such a crazy sleep schedule. any advice?

I started charting 2 days ago. i hope i'm doing it right...i don't wanna get pg again for awhile, LOL! is anyone else charting too?

[1jooj]

Christy, what I have found is that our routine is *fragile.* On a "normal" day, Meryem gets up with ds and me around 7. She nurses hourly until noonish (dozes here and there if anything), then takes a 3-4 hour nap. She gets up and is active for a couple hours, and then cluster nurses until 9. At night following a day like this, she usually nurses around 2:30 or 3, and perhaps a smaller snack around 5.

All it takes to turn it all upside-down is Grandma in the house, or an outing to a house with loud people/active kids--or someplace where we keep her in the carseat (she seems to have conditioned herself to sleep in it). Then-BANG. She sleeps all day and makes up for lost meals at night.

Have you had a very active household, or lots of outings? Of course, it's normal for this mix-up to happen, and I think Sage might be in the "classic" age for this to happen.

BTW, we have had an awful beginning to 2004 in WI with regrd to fatal traffic accidents. I think we're on course to break records. And this is with few really big snowstorms. I hope your friend recovers quickly. It's a scary thing. This week locally, a 5-day-old baby was ejected from his/her carseat in an accident. Survived (no one else was injured), but no current word on baby's condition. Poor mama.



Meryem's mucous is making her gag and lose her meals. It's all just out of reach of the bulb syringe, too. I gave her a super bath yesterday, and now she smells like puked bm. Which I must say smells TONS better than puked formula, but it still is not as nice as fresh clean baby.

Sorry to go on and on--but I was huffing my baby yesterday :LOL and I realized/remembered that one of the first things I did when she was born was take a huge sniff of her. Anyone else do this? I mean, she IS aromatherapy to me now of course, but I remember trying to inhale/absorb/whatever the smell of wet vernixy baby.

[Plaid Leopard]

Sorry to go on and on--but I was huffing my baby yesterday and I realized/remembered that one of the first things I did when she was born was take a huge sniff of her. Anyone else do this? I mean, she IS aromatherapy to me now of course, but I remember trying to inhale/absorb/whatever the smell of wet vernixy baby.

I'm always sniffing on Felix. His head, his sweet breath. Can't get enough!

[DreamerMama]

Funny that vitiligo should come up. I thought our family was the only one who knew of such things (other than Michael's pretend association with it). It is genetic and a has really gone wild in our family. I have it on my leg, my mother has it in splotches everywhere and a streak in her hair. My sons (yet to see if Leland does) has it. In the same patterns on their legs and tummy. The tummy spot looks like South Africa. My dd, oddly enough, does not have it.

I think we finally figured out what was wrong with Leland (knock on wood). I took him to the ped, at the urging of my midwife, and it looks like he has severe acid reflux. The ped said it was a miracle he has gained weight at all. The ped was so nice and assured me it was nothing I was doing, eating, or taking that was hurting him. He was in so much pain the last few days, all he could do was cry. It made me want to weep for him. Please don't judge me, but we placed him on a few meds yesterday. I really researched the meds and I feel comfortable giving them to him.

What a different baby he is now. He is smiling and not throwing up everything. He is even nursing better and sleeping soundly laying down! The meds were worth their weight in gold.

In the end I was wearing him about six hours a day and I had cut almost everything from my diet. I was a little batty and continually getting weepier.He was crying at least four hours a day. Heart wrenching high piched screams. I *thought* I had seen it all, with him being my fourth. I really thought it was something I could manage. I felt like I have been through the wringer and back.

He is now sleeping soundly on his tummy, he smiled this moring and is finally got a soft tummy. He was as stiff as a board lately. He actually burps now and doesn't scream and throw up afterward.

On a good note he is now 10 lbs and 14 ounces, and 23 1/2 inches, what a big boy he is becoming.

I feel so much better. Thank you for all of the good vibes. Now, we might get back to some normalcy around here.

Jenny

[WickidaWitch]

I just need to vent a little

So my mother slept over Thursday night. :
She had a nice time with the baby chatting to her and stuff. The evening comes and as usual my baby is more fussy. She was laying on a pillow next to my mother on the couch. I come in talking about how she's fussing(my mistake but I often complain to her when babe is fussing and wont give me a break) and this is what she had to say:
Tammi, You need to let her CIO!
I said why the hell would I want to do that! I told her she was crazy and I wasn't gonna let her just lay there and cry for no reason. If I was in the middle of changing ds or something like that she would have to fuss for a minute but I just cant let her cry for nothing. I ended it right there cause my motherthinks she knows best!
Friday in the car we're talking about her fussing again because she was getting upset everytime we stopped at a red light. My mother always tells me I should pump so I can have spare milk for when I need a break or want to go to the store alone.
The breaks not worth the time and trouble it takes to pump if I'm still in the house.I say this to dear old mom:
In the evening it's more about the boob than the milk anyway.
Her reply:
If she's upset enough she'll take it.
So I should make my child want food when she's upset???? Hello!! Do you want my child to be obese and learn to look to food for comfort!
When Jonathan was little there were friends and family around all the time so there was always someone to watch him if I wanted to walk to the store by myself so I always had milk in the fridge and he liked bottles just fine. He also took to his binky very well(paying for that now btw). I think its stupid for me to pump if i'm the only one around to give a bottle(we moved 50 miles away) and she doesnt care for the binky cause she likes mommy's boob better.
Now i'm gonna go read the posts above mine....
Thanks for reading!

[WickidaWitch]

I love to smell Angelica. So sweet

and it looks like he has severe acid reflux

Jonathan had reflux. Not as bad as you describe though. The couple things i tried didnt help really. It didnt seem to bother him though like Leland and he gained weight like a champ so I just changed often and warned anyone holding him after he had eaten.
Glad the medicines working for him!

[1jooj]

Yes, Jenny--thank goodness you went and figured it out! Just think of how miserable Leland was, and how much better he feels--you are his hero!

Reflux is a measurable physical condition that can be helped> Like you said, you researched and felt OK about the meds. No judgment here!



Tammi--thankfully, my mother has not attempted to convince me to CIO. She claims she never let us cry. I am not convinced, but she does not let her g-babies cry, and she is cool with my responding to their cries. That is a battle I would not want to fight.

[bec]

Jenny - I'm sorry your baby was upset, in pain, and not doing well. I'm glad you figured it out and were able to get him help. Don't apologize for doing what you think is best for your babe. It is heart wrenching to see them suffering. I've been wracked with guilt thinking how my baby was literally starving for 5 weeks because she wasn't able to suck!

We had to make a lot of decisions we didn't like for the health of our baby. She is bottle fed (with special cleft palate bottles that don't need suction to work). I have had to supplement with formula (something I was deeply oppsed to). I am pumping for her, but my supply is taking a while to get on track. Until I have enough, I am forced to use formula.

It has been hard, but I am at peace with our decisions. Emily is finally growing, gaining weight, and knows what a full belly is. And she will be completely breastfed very soon. That will be a very happy day for me!

And in other good news, we took her down to see an ENT and have her hearing checked. There was a little fluid in her ears, and she will likely need tubes for that in the future. But her hearing was perfect, and she doesn't need them now. We will have her hearing and ears checked every two months and keep a very close eye on them. I don't want to compromise her hearing in any way.

Oh, and she can roll over to her side and back again when she is in her bouncy seat! This one is going to give me trouble, I can see that!:LOL



Bec

[3 Little Monkeys]

Tammi ~ we just have so many things in common. Our toddlers seem identical, babes born the same time, and your mom and my in-laws with the CIO thing. They are ALWAYS telling me to let the babe cry (something she never does anyway so when she does cry it is a definite signal - hello!) You know what's best for Angel babe - at least it's 50 miles and not 50 steps :

I so the smell of a baby (with a clean diaper anyway) I am constantly sniffing on her - especially right after a bath

Jenny ~ so glad you were able to figure out what was wrong - and why would you think we would judge you for putting him on meds. Honey, if it makes him feel better then that's what matters! for both of you.

We had such a great day today. We took Jessica to Monterey for the first time. We went to the Aquarium and she really seemed to enjoy it. Most of the exhibits were too dark or not enough action for her, but there are a couple of tanks that the fish were big enough for her to catch the movement, or the light played on the water enough for her to see it. It was cute to watch her eyes dart back and forth. I had her in the baby bjorn so she could see. We stopped at the beach - it was super windy so she and I stayed in the car while dh took the other two down to the water. I don't know if she could actually see the waves (they were HUGE today) or if she just saw the light outside, but she watched out the window for quite awhile. I took some great pictures, I'll post a link once I download them.

It's getting late and my little monkey is getting sleepy so I'm going to go lie down with her.

[bec]

When Emily was born, we took Katie and showed her the spot right above her forhead just above her hairline. We told her this was the best place to smell the baby. She laughed. But I have seen her smelling emily's head, then giving her a kiss on that spot. Very, very sweet.

And I pumped 21.5 ounces yesterday! I'm 3.5 ounces shy of being able to feed Emily only breastmilk! It's so exciting to see my supply increasing like this. I can't wait to get her off that nasty formula. Emily makes this face whenever we give her a bottle with the formula in it. They apparently don't do comparison taste testing at the formula companies! Oh, and I meant to send out a special thanks to those of you who sent me coupons. It has galled me to spend so much money on the stuff. The coupons make it a bit easier to swallow.

Have a great day everyone!


Bec

[Plaid Leopard]

Hello all-

nak

I finally took Felix in for his check-up - only had to wait an hour and 1/2 to see the doctor.

Anyway, Felix weighed in at 14lbs 1oz (he was 9lb 7.5oz at birth)and he is 25" long.

Jenny- I'm so glad you found some relief for your babe. Of course we wouldn't judge a mother for doing what is best for her child.

Bec- Way to go with the milk supply! That's great news

My dd(3yo) seems to be having some jealousy issues. She keeps trying to hurt the baby. And she wants to nurse ALL the time - which I just can't do. Other times she's crawling on top of Felix and licking him. hmmm

Time to take the cookies out of the oven.

[3 Little Monkeys]

Originally posted by Plaid Leopard
My dd(3yo) seems to be having some jealousy issues. She keeps trying to hurt the baby. And she wants to nurse ALL the time - which I just can't do. Other times she's crawling on top of Felix and licking him. hmmm

PL - dd2 will be 3 in April and although she doesn't nurse anymore, she has been having some major jealousy issues too. The licking thing caught my eye because dd2 has been pretending to be a dog alot lately and she goes around licking Jessica. Maybe your 3 yo is pretending something to get attention. DD2 pretends to either be a dog, or a baby, both seem to be cries for attention because she usually does it at times when I'm nursing, changing, rocking, etc.

I keep expecting to have the house whisked off to the land of oz or something - the wind is just HORRIBLE today!!! I can hear it whistling in the chimney and the bathroom vents, the trees outside are bending at weird angles, luckily there aren't any close to the house. So we are staying inside, cuddling up in front of the fire - and I'm making a baby sling. Don't know if I'll use it, but I'm making one.

Jessica is demanding my attention - boy, I've never had such demanding bosses in all my life :LOL but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world!

[3 Little Monkeys]

I was just thinking, there are a few mamas from our pg thread that we haven't heard anything from in a long while. Panda, Whit, and witchbaby come to mind, and I don't remember hearing from Chelly in awhile. Anyone else we are missing?

OMG the rain is coming down! Between the wind and rain, the satellite went out (which is not a bad thing actually) and I was able to finish making the sling. Babe hates it, but I think it's pretty cute. I guess she is just too big for it or something. She threw a fit until I took her out of it. Guess she likes the baby bjorn better. And I was so proud of myself too.....oh well.

[sagewinna]

We are all down with a stomach bug... Yuck! At least Iris isn't too uncomfortable.

She is babbling up a blue streak! She loves watching the older kids...

Bec, I am glad things are better milk wise.

[bec]

PAK (Pumping At Keyboard)

Thanks, everyone for the support and well wishes. This is hard, to be sure, but we are starting to fall into a routine. Katie is getting used to my pumping, and understands it's for Emily. She'll point to the apparatus when I'm pumping and sway, "Pumping! For Emily?"

She's even encorporating it into her pretend play as she announces the baby needs a bottle, then points to the baby's mouth and says, "mouth hurts." We've told her that Emily's mouth is shaped differently, so she can't suck and has to drink her Mama Milk from a bottle. We've also told her that she will have surgery to have it fixed. She has extrapolated that needing it fixed must mean that it hurts.

She's pretty darned clever, so I'm not terribly surprised to see the depth of her understanding.



Bec

[witchbaby]

i'm feeling loved! i'm still here, sherri! i've been superbusy with my high needs monkey and i only had internet at the in-laws, but we finally got it at home! wooo!
katie is doing fabulous, nice and chubby-- yay for breastmilk! we're still working on convincing her sleeping by herself occassionally is okay. we cosleep at night but she can't seem to sleep on her own during the day for more than 15 minutes at a time. she really insists on some out-of-arms time and will fall asleep while laying on a blanket on the floor, but can't do it for long. gargh! but i finally got the laundry done!
are there any other mamas who gave birth via c-section in this group? i can't be the only one! i'm wondering when i can start doing some ab exercises-- my insicion looks great and has healed wonderfully, but i completely forgot to ask my midwife when i could do a little exercise. any ideas?

[3 Little Monkeys]

witchbaby ~ glad to "see" you here again! I took a peek at "the adventures of Katie monkey" and she is absolutely adorable! I just love the pic of her in the sunglasses and hat - too cute!

Between Jessica and Danielle I have a heck of a time getting things done around the house, but I've learned that Jesi reallylikes the sound of the vacuum, when I run it she starts to doze off. I guess that's good incentive to keep my floors clean right? I'm starting to get into a routine with her so I'm able to get more done around the house, she takes a major nap in the morning, from about 8-12, eats, sleeps again for another couple of hours and then is up for most of the evening. I have been trying to get as much done in the morning as possible and have actually been able to almost keep on top of things - I couldn't even do that before she was born:LOL

bec - PAK, that's cute and definitely one I haven't heard before. I'm so glad things are going well. Danielle is a bright one too, I occasionally pump a bottle when I leave the girls with MIL while I go to the store or to an appt or something and Dani likes to announce that I'm "pumping the boob for Jessica" It's not so bad telling me or the family, but for some reason when it is announced in the middle of the grocery store, or in line at WalMart, it is a bit embarrassing Gotta love those outspoken toddlers.

sagewinna ~ I hope you all feel better soon, we had a slight bug through here not too long ago, thankfully the babe didn't get sick. When Danielle was only a few months old I got the stomach flu and was so sick I couldn't get out of bed. DH had to take care of the kids and he kept bringing the babe in so I could feed her. At least she didn't get sick.

[WickidaWitch]

Sherri
did you ever think about taping the vacume sound?
Not that I dont want you to be cleaning or anything

[3 Little Monkeys]

Taping the vacuum is a good idea. Of course with Danielle around there is always a chance to vacuum the carpet. I swear that child can make a mess with just about anything! I actually try to keep the house as noisy as possible so she doesn't get too used to the quiet. With Danielle the house was always quiet so she can't sleep through any noise at all. Mikayla was in Daycare when she was a babe (I worked there) so that kid can sleep through anything.

[bec]

OMG, we got bumped to the 2nd page! Can't let that happen!

Witchbaby - I had a c-section with my first child. I'm glad to hear you are healing well. I healed pretty quickly as well. It was a couple of months before I felt secure enough about the incision to start exercising, though. But it was my first baby, and I was still adjusting to that as well. I would advise you to start very slowly to make sure you don't overdo it. And I would talk to your doctor or midwife first.

We had Emily's 8 week checkup today. She is a different baby than the one we brought in two weeks ago. She is chunking up nicely. . She weighed in at 9 pounds, 10.5 ounces! That's over 26 ounces in the last two weeks!

And I'm about 1.5 ounces shy of getting her off the formula!

I had a rough day yesterday. Everybody was pretty cranky. My mom was over to help out, so I took the opportunity to take the dog into the groomer so he wouldn't stink so much. He is a high anxiety animal that gets very upset when he has to separate from me.: He had diarhea at the groomer's. When I picked him up, he was very well-behaved (he's usually jumping all over me). We got to the car, and we got in. I put the key into the ignition, and he puked all over me!:Puke Then, I had to drive 20 minutes home, covered in dog vomit. I walked into the house, thinking only about a shower, only to find both girls in hysterical tears, and my mom at her wits end. I changed clothes (I do have some standards), and comforted the girls.

I have the best DH in the world. He rented a steam cleaner, and cleaned my car last night. So long as we have the cleaner, I'm going to try to get the placenta stain out of my couch today too.

Well, I hope everyone is having a good day!