Chat thread June 29 - July 6

[CanBoo]

Let's start fresh again

[LiLStar]

yay! 2 hours until my 6 week pp visit. So bittersweet. I'm going to miss my midwives! They've been such a regular part of my life for almost a year! And now I'm not going to see them again until I get pregnant again And I wanted to have a 3-4 year gap before the next one, yikes!

[CanBoo]

Happy Happy Joy, Both girls are napping right now!!!
: I feel so free. :

I have started being a little more active again. Been going for a daily walk around the track at the park after dinner and started to do some Wii Fit again. DH had gotten me EA active for my B-Day at the beginning of June, will start that too this week. I need to do something!

We got DD1 a balance bike 4 days ago now and she is already fast enough on it that we can now walk at a decent pace when she follows on her bike :. I love it.

TMI, but if I could only poop normally again. Anyone else having trouble? I am at 4 weeks PP now and going to the bathroom is still daunting every time .

Penny has started sucking her thumb to sleep, which I am encouraging. DH is not so fond of it though. He is just thinking what it is gonna be down the road. Don't quite want to give her a paci after the experience we had with DD1. She decided to stop refusing it at 8 months and only wanted the boob in her mouth at all times. It was not a good time... Will see if the thumb sucking works better.

ALthough the putting to bed when drowsy but not asleep doesn't work well for us, we are making a lot of effort that DD2 dosn't learn to fall asleep on the breast. I have enough of one of those. Hopefully we can keep going with this and it will pay down the road...

Getting ready to go camping on Thursday after DH work. I can't wait.

[Mama Rana]

nak

i haven't had much luck with putting him down drowsy but he rarely falls asleep for good at the breast. he'll doze off there but usually will wake up after a few minutes. he doesn't comfort nurse much, so then he'll often just drift off in arms, or with some rocking/bouncing. This past week we've had some more crankiness, but I really am encouraging alternate forms of getting to sleep other than the boob.

[LiLStar]

I'm a HUGE fan of baby thumb sucking!! Allie sucked hers from 3-6 months then stopped when her second tooth popped. For those 3-6 months, she was the worlds easiest baby. She didn't even want to nurse to sleep, so I tried lying next to her. My presence was too stimulating and she wouldn't go to sleep, so I figured out that the best way to get her to sleep was to lie her down in bed and just walk away. It felt so anti AP.. lol. I was like, "but.. but.. I'm supposed to nurse you to sleep!" she didn't fuss at all, and it was just what *she* needed in order to fall asleep. She was awesome in the car, just relaxed with her thumb in her mouth. I was so sad when she stopped. Boo teething! Pacis can be dropped and baby can't always retrieve it themselves. baby can suck on a paci while playing with toys, but using both hands to explore a toy necessitates taking the thumb OUT! And I think most babies will choose a toy over their thumb (assuming they're in a wide awake alert good mood, course) I really want River to find his thumb!!

[Sadie Lake]

Originally Posted by LiLStar

I really want River to find his thumb!!

Me too! Me too!

We're still pinky nursing around here (mom and dad's pinky's), and desperately trying to get baby to take a paci, but would prefer thumb. She'll get her fist first-finger-first in her mouth sometimes, which would also be acceptable, but still no real luck with any.

She will take the paci for my dh for like 1 minute at a time. We're not giving up. But, I would die for the freedom of a thumb sucker!

Sadie

[LiLStar]

He takes a paci now, but its very clear that he prefers the breast, just when he has a full tummy and really needs to suck he's gotta have something! actually I noticed in the last couple days that he's figured out how to do a gentle fluttery comfort suck that gets very little (if any) milk out at all, and would much rather use the boobie pacifier than the rubber one! Which is fine with me, because its not like I'm going to be able to put him down until he's asleep anyway.

[CanBoo]

UHOH... i might regret this...
Just learned that DH's cousin is on bedrest and I offered to take their 3 y.o. tomorrow and Wednesday.
If she accepts I have to drive for over an hour with the girls to pick him up and bring him back home. What was I thinking?

[catilina]

DD doesn't suck her thumb, but she does like mouthing her right hand. DS never took a paci, his thumb, or anything but me, and I am finding it pretty cute to see DD sucking on her hand.

I am so confused right now! I thought I was done with the bleeding. Had mostly yellowish/tanish discharge and then about 4 days with no discharge at all. Then yesterday I had one gush of bright red blood, then nothing again. This afternoon another gush of red blood, and now I am bleeding again. I am wondering if this is a postpartum period already??? I will be so mad if it is. My fertility didn't return until 14 months postpartum with DS, and I am only just past 6 weeks this time. What is going on? I haven't felt any cramps or any of the usual things that accompany my period. DD doesn't use any kind of artificial nipple and still nurses plenty, day and night. Seriously, what is going on?! I guess I will call my midwife tomorrow and see what she thinks.

I eliminated dairy for just about 3-4 days and then slipped and ate a bagel with cheese on it (totally not thinking that day). I then gave up on being dairy-free for the weekend (since I had already messed up! And my sister brought me a box of chocolates I just *had* to eat!), and boy have I seen a drastic difference, even just from going those 3 days without it and then eating it again. She is spitting up a ton again and has been having mucousy green poos. And lots of fussy gassiness in the early A.M. hours. I feel terrible for her that I ate all that dairy over the weekend. So I am back to no dairy. I am having a hard time going without cheese, and without chocolate. Other than those two things it will be easy. But I love cheese, and I need chocolate!

[AustGirl]

Kynan has been a little finger sucker for the entire three weeks now. I don't really mind it at all if I'm not trying to get something done, but DH is more fond of the dummy (paci) which we've been trying for the past few days. Ky will take it for a couple of minutes, but it always gets spat out, so I'm always replacing it.

I'm constantly coughing with this flu that I've got, and not only does it upset Ky when he's trying to sleep, but it's hurting my post-c-section tummy muscles, my whole pelvic floor area, and also started up the bright red blood again. It's seriously wearing me out.

After seeing the LC yesterday we're feeding better. Still got a long way to go until it's comfortable and easy. We've been using the football hold until now, so switching to a cradle hold is taking some practise.

[Punchy Kaby]

Catilina-I have had bleeding like yours too. My OB said it was normal. I have also recently given up dairy. DD still spits up some but she is less gassy. I'm giving it 2 full weeks then I'll trial some and see what her reaction is. There is vegan chocolate out there!

Paci-I wish DD would take one. She has only done so 2 or 3 times. Tonight I put it in her mouth and she chewed on it and sucked it a few times. She wasn't mad that it was there. I cannot handle when she uses my breast as a paci-I have gotten so used to her nursing only 5-10 minutes at a time. I feel touched out when she does a 45 minute session.

For those of you who CD, do you use cloth overnight? I just ordered 4 different diapers to trial and haven't decided if we will do nighttime diapering too.

[major_mama11]

Originally Posted by catilina

I am so confused right now! I thought I was done with the bleeding. Had mostly yellowish/tanish discharge and then about 4 days with no discharge at all. Then yesterday I had one gush of bright red blood, then nothing again. This afternoon another gush of red blood, and now I am bleeding again. I am wondering if this is a postpartum period already??? I will be so mad if it is. My fertility didn't return until 14 months postpartum with DS, and I am only just past 6 weeks this time. What is going on? I haven't felt any cramps or any of the usual things that accompany my period. DD doesn't use any kind of artificial nipple and still nurses plenty, day and night. Seriously, what is going on?! I guess I will call my midwife tomorrow and see what she thinks.

This happened for me around 5 weeks with both kids. With DD, I never had any more bleeding until 8 mos PP, so I don't think the 5 wks thing was a period. I'm hoping this wasn't a real period this time either. The midwife at the time told me that it was common to bleed around then due to placental scab detaching or some-such.

[major_mama11]

Paci- I am so glad DS takes one! DD never did, maybe because I was super paranoid that it would totally destroy breastfeeding somehow and introduced it so late that she never took it. I stopped being paranoid about it messing up the bfing when I noticed that all the local LLL leaders' kids had pacis, and were still nursing as toddlers. DS started at 3 wks, and sometimes he has a full tummy and he wants to suck but gets mad about milk being involved if I try to nurse him.

I agree LilStar, that 6-wk visit is so bittersweet! Mine was this past week. It was so nice to come full circle with the same midwife this time- last time there was so much turnover at the birth center that I had one midwife for pregnancy, one for the birth, and a third one for postpartum! I love this midwife to pieces, and I told her that she better not retire until I'm done having kids!

[~Katie~]

We are pacifier users here. I would lose my mind otherwise. I have no problems with pacifiers or thumb sucking, frankly it annoys me when people make negative comments about either. Babies who have a thumb or pacifier to suck are happier overall and they cry less, so I don't see what the big deal is. It also annoys me when people engage in the whole weaning from a pacifier or thumb conversation because its for such a short time in their lives, if they find comfort in it I don't see why its anyone's business. So far neither child of mine has been a comfort nurser or nursed to sleep very often, so pacifiers are a god-send.

I've heard that bleeding around 6 weeks PP is very common, I have no idea why though. major_mama could be onto something with the placenta healing. If you had a pap around that time that could be why, also. I haven't had one this time around but I've had some brown spotting the last few days. I stopped bleeding around 4 weeks.

[Sadie Lake]

Originally Posted by Nolansmum

For those of you who CD, do you use cloth overnight? I just ordered 4 different diapers to trial and haven't decided if we will do nighttime diapering too.

We don't. Emory can go all night with a sposie now, unless she poops, but she usually doesn't do that until about 6am (which I do change, and then try to go back to sleep for another hour or so). I'm doing pretty well in regards to recovery and keeping my sanity with 2 kiddos, but I attribute most of that to getting relatively good sleep. I think I'd be way more sleep-deprived if I actually had to sit up in bed and open my eyes during the night. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but to me it would be the difference between feeling well-rested and totally pooped.

Sadie

[Sadie Lake]

For those of you who've had thumb suckers... did they "get it" on their own, or was it something you encouraged/trained them to do?

Today I managed to get dd's hand out of a fist and her thumb into her mouth. She actually liked it and kept it in there for a few seconds. But, I was wondering how I might go about getting her to do that on her own. Would you just recommend I keep putting it in there over and over and hope it works? Or is there some kind of special trick?

Sadie

[jeliphish]

Maggie slept for almost 12 hours last night...I woke up thinking the WORST and then realized that she was just fine and still snoozing. She had her 2 month appt today and despite my intense fear- she received some vaxs. I love our Pedi...he was mine and my brother's. I do trust his judgement and since Maggie will be at a family home daycare 2x a week (unlike DD1) there are some more concerns with what she is exposed to.
Maggie didn't grow any in length- which our pedi thought was fine since she grew nearly 5 her first month. She gained 2lbs and is now about 12lbs and her "brain box" as he says, grew an inch. Pedi said, "If only you could convince all your friends to breastfeed, it would make my job a whole lot easier "

I have been feeling a little off the past couple of days: Some intense headaches, dizziness (can barely focus on the computer right now), and confusion. I had to go back to the car 3 times the other day to get the right amount of change for the cashier. I could swear that I had 4 quarters, but there were actually 2 quarters and 2 nickels. I went back and got, what I thought was 2 more quarters, but it was another nickel and a quarter.....
Perhaps I am not getting enough water or something???

Maggie continues to be a great baby- she seriously is the most calm little thing and she still sleeps like a newborn. I hope I'm not making her bored and that's why she is sleeping so much.

[OceansEve]

jeli - up your fish intake. It will help get your brain flowing again.

sadie - we had to encourage it w/ DD1 but she was on a binky until we convinced her to switch over. DD2 never showed much interest in either even though we tried to encourage it with her too.

nolansmum - we CDed for a bit w/ DD2 and sposied at night, CDs were a lost cause w/o getting a soaker and we couldn't put out $40+ for one of those.

catilina - don't feel too bad, it happens. I finally got fully on board again w/ no dairy. Ugh I had forgotten how bad it sucks, but gotta do what ya gotta do. One week w/ hardly any dairy, the last two days now absolutely nothing with a dairy product in it...... Her rash has faded considerably, hardly red at all, still lots of bumps, but those take more time to fade. Still spitting up some, but I don't think she is regurging and swallowing as much, doesn't sound like it at least. pooping more though..... not sure whats up with that......?? Any ideas?

I want dr pepper sooooooooo bad.........

[catilina]

well I'm glad to know this bleeding isn't totally abnormal... annoying, though. Still really hoping it isn't the first postpartum period. I really don't want to deal with that yet!

OceansEve, what is your DD's rash like? DD has had a rash basically since birth. In the past few weeks it's gotten a lot better. I wonder if it is related to the dairy?

Nolansmum, we use cds at night. For DD I jellyroll a prefold and snappi it, then I lay another prefold, trifolded, into a cover (that is a little bigger than her usual size). I also use a fleece liner to wick moisture during the night. This setup lasts us all night. I usually change after 10 hours or so (unless she poops). For DS (2.5) I use a pocket stuffed with a combination of hemp and microfiber...and a lot of it! He has always been a supersoaker. He usually wakes up with his jammie pants wet from the fleece of the pocket wicking through, though.

[LiLStar]

6 week pp visit, River weighs 14lbs 4oz. My guess exactly. I've never been off by more than 2oz on any of my weight guesses with him. Had a pap too. My mw was nice and gentle for the actual cell retrieval part, but the speculum couldn't be helped. Ahh well. I said after that I like the baby's head better than the speculum. Other midwife's eyes bugged out when I said that Was better than the nurse practitioner who felt like she was trying to poke a hole in my cervix though.

When Allie found her thumb, it was right after we got back from visiting family, and her cousin who is a couple months older was a huge thumb sucker. I joke that he taught her (she was 3 months) http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/myal...9331763000.jpg thats the first, if not one of the first times I saw her sucking her thumb.

We CD at night. I use a fitted (we have 1 bumgenius bamboo fitted and 1 under the nile organic cotton fitted) and I add a hemp insert as a doubler, and cover with wool. I have 2 shorties, 1 knit and 1 crochet. I bought them used on diaper swappers (actually, 1 was new! i bought it from a mama who knit it for her own ds and it didn't fit him)for $18 and $15 respectively. Definitely don't need to spend $40 to get nice wool