Chat thread

[ihugtrees]

How are all of you mamas and babies doing?? Is anyone getting any sleep? How's breastfeeding going? How are your babies growing?

I feel so blessed with my 7 week old, sweet little girl. She rarely cries, and only fusses if there is something wrong. She has been nursing great (I have such an oversupply) and is over 11 lbs now (7.11 at birth.) She is generally sleeping 4-4.5 hours between feedings at night, and will even go down at 8 or 8:30 by herself...so mom and dad get some time together before we get in bed (and bring her in our bed.) Last night she slept 6 hours straight!! She's started smiling a lot lately...what a treat, to get a big smile, dimples and all when she sees me! I think she's trying to laugh too...when we make funny noises or faces, she smiles, kicks her arms and legs, and says, "Huh! Huh!"

I just wanted to get updates on all of you all...I feel like this forum has been so dead since we are all busy with babies!!

[Rikki]

Quin is doing well. I don't know what he weighs, but it's probably close to birth-weight now. He's almost 5 weeks. I had to go back into the hospital to have my section scar drained and that messed with his gaining for awhile, since DH brought him to me when he was only "really fussy"...ugh.

However, now the supply is back up and he's constantly nursing. He tends to be fussy unless mama's holding him, though he does adore his big sisters' spending their time holding him too. DH has Quin already interested in computer fractals.

Quin sleeps from 10pm through to 9am, waking once to nurse on both sides (so that's about an hour). He falls asleep, nursing, during the day but as soon as I set him down he wakes right up. I'm not really sure what that means, but it's kinda hard not to want to put him down since it's *so* hot here these days, and he's his own little furnace!

I think I'm going to take him to Kiddie Kandids sometime this week since the baby picture machine at the hospital was broken. Still no "professional" pictures of him yet.

[Carlin]

NAK
Great idea! I was thinking we needed a thread to get updates on everyone's babes!

Sylvan is 5 weeks today. She is doing really well, and is generally happy and cheerful. She's turned into a really good eater after some initial difficulties, and she's been nursing without the nipple shield for over a week now. She generally sleeps well (with the exception of yesterday and today) although she's a bit of a night owl and doesn't go to bed until 11 or 12 most nights. She sleeps anywhere from 2 hrs to 6 at night, so I never know what we're going to get.

We took her on a weekend camping trip / soccer tournament that was an 8 hour drive away last weekend. Despite occasionally thinking we might be insane for tenting with a 1 month old baby it worked out really well.

She's starting to smile more and interact with us. Oh, and her new trick is rolling from her back to her side!

She's done eating now so I'm going to give her a massage and see if she'll go to sleep!

I'm looking forward to hearing how everyone else is doing to!

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

Evelyn's 4 weeks old and doing great. She nurses really well and thankfully my oversupply is down. She smiles, laughs, and once even rolled over! I think it was a fluke, but she's trying to roll over every time we do tummy time. She can hold her head up really really well too, and doesn't flop like a newborn at all. And, thankfully, she sleeps well at night. She'll go down sometime between 8 and 10 and then sleep 4 to 6 hours (well, the 6 was only once). She then nurses a bit and will sleep 2ish hour chunks until morning. I feel pretty good in the sleep department.

[phrogger]

Wow all your babies are doing really great. This still makes me think that Shane wasn't even a 38 weeker but maybe 37 or late 36. Our u/s was behind the first time anyway. He just isn't doing as much as some of the babies, but most of you cooked yours longer.

Anyway, things are going pretty good with him. He needs to be held almost constantly and mostly wants mom to do it. Although today, he is napping right now in his pack n play. I know this sounds horrible, but I know this dog and I am sitting right next to them, but he calmed down as soon as our dog jumped in with him. Right now Malibu (my dog) is snuggled along his back side. He is sleeping really well, so maybe she has a new job.

He can go up to 4 hours at night, but he is nursing so well, he usually latches on and then I fall back asleep.

He has only smiled a couple times, and I don't think he is anywhere near laughing. He is getting better with his head/neck, but again, it just makes me wonder about dates. His older brother came out basically holding his head up with no problems, but he was born at 41 weeks. If Shane was born at 37, that is a 4 week difference of how long Vinny got to grow in the womb and develop etc. even at 38, that is a 3 week difference. So it still makes me just wonder.

I am enjoying it all though. He is pretty good in the car and loves the heat, so we have been sitting outside a lot. He likes the sling as long as it is hot outside. That however makes me so hot and sweaty, I sometimes just want to put him down. Although we went to San Francisco the other day and it was only 55 where as it is 108 where I live, so the sling and lots of blankets were nice for both of us.

[annekh23]

phrogger, we're kind of in the same place as you, Grace was 37 weeks by my LMP date, but I didn't have an early scan and even though we weren't trying for a baby, I think I can remember the dates we DTD and what kind of birth control we used and which was most likely to fail, tmi, but I think the little swimmers getting past a diaphragm is more likely than an unbroken condom, which puts her at roughly 36+3 gestation at birth. She was in the NICU for inability to maintain her blood sugar, but as she was neither small or big, prematurity is the best explaination for that.

Interestingly, our doctor isn't concerned about her weight gain, she's 9lb today at 9 weeks and 1 day, that's from a birth weight of 7lb4oz, but they count from her lowest weight, which was 6lb9oz at 5 days old and thus she's gained within the 1lb-2lb a month that they expect. However the lactation consultants use the WHO chart and she's not so good on that, I also have the charts they used for our other kids in the UK and she's not so good on those either! I'm also concerned as I know that with our first who was a tiny 5lb13oz at birth, that his weight gain was considered just about ok at this stage and then within the next two weeks was disasterous and he even lost a bit. However I do wonder if it could have been related to vaccines as he did react a bit to them, so given Grace is breastfed, not in daycare and the kids aren't in school, I told the doctor we'd wait until 2 months after her due date and not do any today. I'm glad no one is pressuring is to do anything regarding weight gain, but I don't feel entirely confident just nursing and hoping, I think I need to be more proactive to maintain supply, as I think her latch just isn't quite good enough to fully stimulate me and that she needs the help of a good supply to get good feeds.

I'm feeling pretty good myself, I'd been depressed since the middle of the pregnancy and even 2-3 weeks ago was still feeling rotten, but we upped my meds slightly and it seems to have done the trick. I'm finding mornings hard despite getting a good night of sleep (DH bottle feeds her pumped milk in the night), but I think that's due to narcolepsy, I made an appointment with my neurologist tomorrow and I'll see if there is anything that's ok for me to take when I first wake up to stop me dozing back off again and then struggling to get out of bed.

[Rikki]

I totally forgot to write that Quin is rolling from front to back. I don't know that it's something he means to do, but he does it quite often when I try to have him do tummy time.

He also rolls from back to side and then gets stuck.

[mouthcave]

nak
it's so neat to read about everyone's babies!
merek is 6 weeks and weighed 10 lbs 6 oz two weeks ago. that's up from a birth weight of 6 lbs 11 oz. my first baby was sooo skinny (he weighed this much at 3 months or later); i'm not used to a baby with fat on it!
he cries A LOT. or it seems like a lot, haha. he only seems to enjoy being in the bathroom (where he was born!) or my bedroom (where he spent the first few days), so my two year old spends a lot of time playing in the bath and reading on the toilet.
he's done some rolling but honestly prefers we don't put him down long enough to practice that much. he did end up with his head facing the foot of the bed the other day just by wiggling and kicking off me.
breastfeeding is mostly great. he is not a fan of my overactive letdown and neither am i--something about him pulling off the breast in public and my milk shooting everywhere that i do not like, heh. he's very gassy too, but is getting better each day it seems.
he makes so many noises and smiles like crazy. my first never really did that much so i'm thoroughly enjoying it!
not sure what else, really, and he is starting to cry again

[chely7425]

We are doing pretty good around here too Trenton is about 11.5 pounds now at 5.5 weeks, he was 8 lbs 2 ozs when we left the hospital so pretty good on that front I think. He is doing better with the head control and his big
brother still adores him which makes me happy!! He is still a FANTASTIC nurser, such an amazingly wonderful welcome change from our first!!! I am still not LOVING breastfeeding but it doesn't make me want to jump out a window

[phrogger]

I honestly have no idea what Shane weighs. I would guess maybe 9 lbs but I have no clue. Not to worried about it. He seems happy and content with this eatting so I am not stressing over it.

[rivkah]

Things are going well with us. Nina is a great eater! She is 12 1/2 pounds at 6 weeks, up from 7 lbs 4 oz at birth. She smiles all the time and is very engaged in "talking" and making eye contact with everyone. I don't think she ever lies down long enough to rollover, honestly. I am not sure how often she eats at night or how long she sleeps. I took the clock out of my room. I found that if you don't know how much sleep you get, you don't worry about it.

Phrogger--you may be right about the dates, but the preference for constant holding may just be personality. All three of my children were born at 41 + weeks, but they ran the spectrum on having to be held. Nina almost always wants to be held, and pretty much never sleeps on her own. She seems, cognitively, just right or even a bit advances, but she certainly does not want to be put down!

[Alohamelly]

Things are finally getting easier for me, but still not real routine, which I would like. Molly is 7 weeks old. A couple of weeks ago, she was 12lbs, 2oz so I'm guessing she's around 13lbs by now. She feels like it! She's a good baby. She has a fussy period in the evenings where it's hard for her to settle down and go to sleep, but I'm grateful she's not colicky like my son was. She nurses a lot and likes to be held and worn in the sling. Typical baby. She is not a fan of the carseat though, and I wish there was something I could do to make it better for her.

[phrogger]

I tried to weigh Shane last night. I held him and got on the scale then put him down and weighed myself. It was 9 lbs on the nose according to my scale, so we will see. He doesn't go to the ped till the 20th, so we will see what happens then. He is 6 weeks today. So up 2 lbs from birth. Not bad. I always had really slow gaining babies.

[Shy0717]

Isaac is doing great. He's 5 weeks now and as of his 1 month pedi appt he was 9lbs 10 oz up 6lbs 11 oz from birth. So he's gained 3 lbs. He also grew 1 1/4 inch in length and his head got an inch bigger. He LOVES to nurse and has the cute baby rolls to show it. We have been having bad bouts of reflux and have tried everything with no success so we're hoping Prevacid will do the job. I hope so because it breaks my heart to listen to his pained cries.
He's a pretty good baby that just loves for people to hold him and talk to him. He LOVES his grandmother because when she holds him she talks nonstop lol. We also go through some fussy periods but mostly when he's tired. Nothing is seeming to work these days but him screaming at me for a minute then passing out *shrug*. He pushes away the breast and I can rock him or sing to him and he just hollers. So I hold him and bounce him and he fusses (noy really screaming just whining I guess?) I think he just needs to release whatever is upsetting him then he falls asleep. Anyone else's babies do this? Other than that we're doing great.