New weekly thread?

[justmandy]

Is it time to have a new weekly thread for the new mama's? The post partum thread is getting a bit long

If so, what do we want to discuss? Here's what I thought of:

Name:
Baby's age:
Milestones:
Thoughts:

[evinmom]

Name: Di Linh & Everett

Baby's age: 4 weeks today!

Milestones: Everett has been pushing himself up by his arms for the past 2 weeks. He's so strong and gaining more control over his head/neck. Getting really chunky and already outgrew his NB diapers and covers. Last night he slept for a solid 7 hours. Only stirring slightly around the time he would normally wake for nursing and a diaper change or potty. My 4 year old was actually the one that woke me up a few times last night. Everett woke up after his 7 hour stretch completely dry. I got him on the potty where he did both a #1 and a #2.

Thoughts: We had a relaxing Christmas - just the 5 of us at our home. All the gifts were already wrapped since before Everett's birth and under the tree. DH had put the decorations up right before Thanksgiving and fixed the Christmas dinner so there was literally nothing for me to prep or do which was really nice. I love the newborn stage. Everett is so squishy and cute. The 4 year old is driving me batty right now, and I wish I could send her off somewhere. LOL

Here are some pictures of Everett on Christmas Eve
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...icture1008.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...icture1013.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...icture1031.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...icture1029.jpg

[ithappened]

evinmom- ahhhh he has the best cheeks ever!

[flapjack]

Name: Helen and Sam
Baby's age: 1 week today
Milestones: We survived the first growth spurt, he will go an hour between feeds sometimes and I swear it looks like he's smiling at me. But he can't be. But it makes me happy, so he is
Thoughts: It's been easier than I was expecting, having five kids- and Sam, bless him, is a dream of a baby and is just fitting in. Still dreading next week though.

[evinmom]

Originally Posted by ithappened

evinmom- ahhhh he has the best cheeks ever!

Thank you! His cheeks do not rival his sister's at this age, but they are getting there. I love kissing them.


Helen - So glad to hear your adjustment is going well.

[flapjack]

Cancel everything I said about the adjustment to life with 5 going well A small hiccup, and you'd think the world was crumbling around their collective ears.

[doclegs]

Awwwww evinmom... what a sweetie!!

Name: doclegs and Emma

Baby's age: 9 days old!

Milestones: Finally mastered our latch! She's a sweetie... nurses every 2 hours and is making some lovely poo. She's already past her birth weight!

Thoughts: I'm so in love with my little angel. Even when she's screaming her little head off, I love her. I hope she lets me sleep a little today, she really always wants to cuddle with her Mommy at night, and I'm terrified of smushing her so I stay up!

[justmandy]

Name: Mandy and Levi

Baby's age: 6 days

Milestones: Nursing is going wonderfully, my milk is not as bad as it's been in the past (I have oversupply issues) he's already almost up to birth weight. I'm below my prepregnancy weight Cord came off last night.

Thoughts: This is hard. I don't remember it being this hard before...could it be due to me being extreemly close to 30 this time? (I was 20, 23 and 25 when my others were born) Levi dosn't like to sleep as much at night, it doesn't suprise me, that's when he was most active inside me as well.

I'm very (VERY) emotional. I'm taking my placenta caplets so hopefully it will even out soon. If it doesn't I see ppd in my future. I've already had thought of "I didn't want this" and wishing I'd never gotten pregnant. It's a good thinkg I'm so in love with Levi. I don't want the work but I want him very much. Thank goodness I'm still in the after birth fog...hopefully this will all start to clear away.

Oh and dh goes back to work on Monday. I'm more then a little scared.

[ithappened]

Baby's age: 16 days old
Milestones: We survived the holidays with the ILs .. it went better then expected. DH is still having a lot of problems adjusting to how 'high needs the baby is' and I did survive the 10 day growth spurt smack on Christmas.. I finally mastered BFing while laying down which makes nights much less painful..
We did introduce a pacifier today so I could leave DS with DH for 10 minutes here and there without DH loosing it over DS crying. .
Thoughts: Everyone says this gets easier at 1 month? I could use some tips for easing DH into this.. He can't deal with any crying over 2 minutes

[Vespertina]

Name: Brittany & Henry

Baby's age: 4 days old

Milestones: My milk came in full force yesterday. Started coming in 2 days pp. Yesterday was hard on us both. I hate the engorgement period. He was getting frustrated with my breasts being so tight. Hand expressing takes forever. I'm sending DH to Target to get a hand pump to I can express a little milk from my right breast. He won't nurse from it unless a decent amount is expressed. I figure I'll just have him nurse on the left and pump on the right until the fullness/engorgement subsides.

Thoughts: He has a slight case of jaundice. About when do their stools turn to BM stools? I forget. He hasn't had BM poo yet. His latch is good. I hear him swallowing and gulping. Hmm . . .

I'm in the process of making placenta tincture. Right now I have some of the placenta soaking in distilled water in a mason jar. It will stay in there for a few more hours. I cut up some pieces to use for a smoothie. DH thinks I'm weird.

What have you ladies used for the umbilical cord? My midwife put goldenseal on it. It's a little smelly, but no sign of infection.

[ithappened]

Semper Gumby I had terrible terrible engorgement for the first week or so

pumping and ice packs saved my life.

[justmandy]

Originally Posted by Semper Gumby

I'm in the process of making placenta tincture. Right now I have some of the placenta soaking in distilled water in a mason jar. It will stay in there for a few more hours. I cut up some pieces to use for a smoothie. DH thinks I'm weird.

I had my placenta encapsulated, I'm so glad I did. My mw said that it should help with engorgement as well, it helps stablize hormones. Anyway when my milk came in I had dh get a cabage so I could put the leaves in my bra to help. Dh thought that was weird. I said "Of all the things that we've done inth past 4 days, THIS is weird??"

I don't recomend the cabbage, btw. It didnt' do much and it STINKS.

Oh, as for the cord, I pulled the skin around it back and used a dry qtip to clean out wet spots. I did use witch hazel once, it stung him so I didn't do it again. If you let air get down inside, it heals much faster.

[dantesmama]

Name - Alex and Ben

Baby's age - 6 days already

Milestones - DP went back to work today, so it's my first day alone with 3 kids, and it's going well so far. Even got 2 loads of laundry done! I stocked up on library DVDs in case things go downhill. And Ben's cord stump fell off 2 nights ago - I'm glad I won't have to deal with that smelly thing anymore but at the same time, it makes me a little sad that the last reminder of our physical connection is gone. Maybe I'm just weird. I've saved all my kids' cord stumps.

Thoughts - Worried about the baby blues turning into PPD. The depression was pretty bad this pregnancy and I really need it to not get any worse. If the kids keep fighting like they have been, I don't know what I'm going to do . . . yesterday I actually found myself wishing I could afford to stick my 2yo in daycare just so I wouldn't have to deal with the tantrums.

[Tattooed Hand]

Name: Mana and Rassa

Baby's age: 3 weeks today!

Milestones: Does baby acne count? She is much more alert too. I feel like she is very gassy. I stopped eating dairy and I think she's a little better, but it's rough. I also feel like the gassiness has interfered with her nursing. She keeps unlatching to strain and I think she's eating less because all of a sudden my boobs are engorged and dripping when they haven't been the last couple of weeks. Baby blues have subsided alot, though I am so tired that I get irritated pretty quick. Today I asked DH to help me get my boots off when we came home from brunch with my bro and he put my foot on a chair, unzipped the boot and then lifted my booted foot up off the chair to remove the boot without warning me and I nearly fell over backwards. I was holding the baby. I got so mad that I threw the baby's blanket at his chest and called him a moron before stomping into the other room with one boot on.

Thoughts: I'm tired. Lately she wakes every 2 hours or so. And I am not getting sleep because somehow I am trying to make sure DH doesn't lose his mind with my mom and then my brother in the house. My DH has OCD issues and freaks when someone does something in the house not according to his precise procedures and when I ask him for help in a way that interrupts whatever he is doing. My mom and bro are a big help, but I also feel like I have to entertain them. I also can't leave Rassa alone and she is so small that she gets lost in and jangled around in any baby carrier (and it's freezing and we are pedestrians) so I haven't been getting out of the house more than several times a week and haven't had a walk in days. Oh, and I'm still bleeding red which is probably because no one in this house even has a clue how to cook basic food. My mom was a royal failure at waiting on me and would cook food and actually ask me to prepare the rice or some aspect of it... this when I was less than 2 weeks PP with two stitches in the front down there. Hmpf. Looking forward to having the house to myself again. It will be rough but at least I don't have to baby sit anyone but the baby.

This is probably alot more dramatic than it needs to be, I'm just really tired.

[flapjack]

My 2yo's being a little sod too, Alexandra. I just keep reminding myself that I'm not the only person with the baby blues around here, just his is situational. Every thing the poor lad does is wrong, he's constantly in trouble with his big brothers and sister and just doesn't know what to do with himself

Britt, we only got BM poo for the first time two days ago- so day 6? My milk started coming in on day 2, so it takes a while to get rid of all the meconium.

[flapjack]

Rassa, we x-posted. I'm so sorry, my love.

[carmel23]

Name: carmel and Nico

picture: pm me!
Baby's age: 2 weeks, 4 days

Milestones: baby Nico is strong! he has had great head control, I swear he smiles, but not intentionally.... he has the funniest facial expressions complete with raised eyebrows and such.

Thoughts: we're surviving with DH being at work for most of the day, although he goes in really late, and comes home early. the hardest part of our day is cooking food--the kids get hungry and its hard to make anything when the baby wants to be held. And then they are loud and argue, which I have no patience for these days.

But we got a little snow yesterday, so the boys spent all day outside, and most of this morning, too. But now I have wet little mittens all over the house.

Ugh, the house is driving me crazy! We have a million loads of laundry every. single. friggin. day. I hate folding it all and putting it away. The kids just run through the house throwing stuff everywhere... blah. I guess it comes with the territory and I'll clean up when they're back in school.

My parents are gone... and that went well except for the last night they were here (which was my DD's birthday) when my mom flipped out . It makes me sad because she is just crazy--I think she has a personality disorder or something else. But it is the same pattern every time I see her. It makes me sad, but at least I'm not taking it personally anymore and trying to figure out what I did wrong, or what is wrong with me.

It is nice having my brother close, though. They have the kids over so my DH and I can have some time with the baby. and they're drama free!

[evinmom]

Carmel - That's so nice that your brother lives nearby and will take the kids for you. I love it when my older ones go play at the neighbor's.

Mana - I'm going to have to go back on an elimination diet too. I'm afraid Everett is following in his sister's footsteps with the allergies. Ugh!

Alex - It's good that you are aware of how you are feeling. I had depression during DD's pregnancy, but I didn't realize it until she came out a very high needs baby and I got PPD really bad. You could try taking some fish oil. I've read it helps with depression. This time of year is difficult with the lack of sun, but getting out helps especially when it is sunny helps too. I hope you don't get PPD. I'm trying not to go down that road myself.

Mandy - I'm so glad I got my placenta encapsulated too. I had a harder time physically this time around. My hips still hurt a ton and I feel really stiff. Especially upon waking. I was in my 20s for the other two births and bounced back a lot faster. I feel old at 32.

Britt - The first few weeks I always feel like my boobs will explode. Although my supply is a lot more mellow this time around then in the past. Have you ever tried using Breast Shells? They are these plastic shells you can wear in your bra over your breasts. There is a hole for your nipples to hang into so they don't get chaffed by anything. I found they helped my nipples to not be so hard from engorgement. The swelling is pushed back where the hole opening is on the breasts and excess milk drips into the cups. The only thing is you have to remember to empty the shells from time to time or else they may overfill. It took about 1.5 days for Everett's poop to change after he was latching better.

Addie: Earphones? I'm sorry to hear he's having such a difficult adjustment. It's typical though so don't feel too badly. I've heard lots of horror stories from friends about their SO after babies are born. Actually one of my neighbors had a baby this summer and her husband has yet to come back in the house. He spends all of his time on the lawn and gardens. Really funny since it's cold now and not much is growing. He still mows every week.

[ithappened]

Tattooed Hand- s lack of sleep makes everything landslide for me. is there anyone you can hand the babe over to for 1-2 hours just so you can sleep a bit?

evinmom- he actually (DH) does really well as long as he has gotten a lot of sleep and didnt stay up till 3am surfing the net .. it seems like the key is if I can get him to go to sleep early with the rest of us..

diapers dirty, gotta go.

[justmandy]

Originally Posted by evinmom

Mandy - I'm so glad I got my placenta encapsulated too. I had a harder time physically this time around. My hips still hurt a ton and I feel really stiff. Especially upon waking. I was in my 20s for the other two births and bounced back a lot faster. I feel old at 32.

I'm sorry you are going through it, too but I'm glad to know I'm not alone. My hips hurt, too. I need to go to a chiro...I've never gone to one before...if anything it be nice to do something for me just for a tiny bit.