WEEKLY RAMBLE/CHAT for JAN 24th-30th

[evinmom]

Name:

Baby's age:

Milestones/Updates:

Thoughts:

[Awaken]

Trying to jump in early again...so hard to type with 2 hands, and typing with just my left hand is really hard, and I'm not motivated to do it!

Nora is mostly over her cold, still coughing though, which is sad. She barely ate and slept a lot for 2 days following the cold, and now is back to being very awake (in fact, barely sleeping!) and eating all the time, and never being put down! We've gotten a couple vague, possible smiles, but nothing definite or predictable. She still has never had a bath!!! I just can't find an opportunity! I need dh's help, and he is busy w/ the other kids, and we are both exhausted at night! she's only been wiped down with a cloth!

Sleep is up and down, many nights she will sleep from 11 until 3:30 or 5:30 for the first "shift" and then we're dozing on and off and restless until I have to get up around 7. But the past couple nights she's woken up at 1:45 for the initial shift and then we haven't gotten back to sleep very well afterwards, so I'm pretty beat.

I ran into this dilemma with my other son- should I get up and make sure she gets a really good feeding when she wakes up (so far she doesn't seem super hungry, just gets restless then nibbles a bit and goes back to sleep, but often), or just lay there and nurse while laying down, which is easier for my lazy, tired self, but it means we both drift off, she doesn't eat as much, and we end up half awake / asleep / snacking all night instead of getting a good block of sleep. it is sooooo hard to even think about sitting up at night, but maybe it would be worth it if it meant better quality sleep when I was laying down!

[flapjack]

I'm having the same dilemma, Mary. Lying down is winning so far.

Names:Helen and Samson
Age:5 weeks tomorrow
Milestones: Smiling and making indefinable noises- more or less a coo. He's lost that newborn cry and doesn't sound like my little lion cub any more, has uncurled and stretched out and is growing into a proper little boy already : We're also having a couple of periods of wakefulness a day, as opposed to sleep/eat/sleep/eat/sleep

Thoughts: I'm still not doing OK, still waiting for the anti-depressants to kick in (blasted placebo effect.) Managing things like naptime is hard, hard work.

[ithappened]

DS is 6 weeks today.

I think he might of smiled a few times this morning to my DH. He's gotten into a total cycle with feeding, 12am, 4am and 8am at night I am feeling usually totally rested by morning. . .

I am trying to make an effort to exercise everyday, even if its just a video or a walk..

We head to the US embassay tomorrow.. . , with a 5 hour train ride in each direction to get his US paperwork done- please pray, chant, keep us in your thoughts that it all goes smoothly and quickly, I really want to get to the US/my family as soon as possible

[Brisen]

Originally Posted by Awaken

I ran into this dilemma with my other son- should I get up and make sure she gets a really good feeding when she wakes up (so far she doesn't seem super hungry, just gets restless then nibbles a bit and goes back to sleep, but often), or just lay there and nurse while laying down, which is easier for my lazy, tired self, but it means we both drift off, she doesn't eat as much, and we end up half awake / asleep / snacking all night instead of getting a good block of sleep. it is sooooo hard to even think about sitting up at night, but maybe it would be worth it if it meant better quality sleep when I was laying down!

I lie down. The frequent half-wakings & nursing are supposed to be good for your supply and for baby's health. I actually just saw a blog post about it this morning: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/night...inst-sids.html But I find it easy to go back to sleep after just latching him on, and it doesn't interrupt my sleep too much, so it works for me.

Oh, and we've only done one "real" bath. The only way he won't scream all the way through a bath is if I'm in there with him, and it's hard to find a chance to do that. I wash his hair in the sink and wipe folds etc. with a damp cloth when I change him.

Baby seems to be over his cough and chest congestion, but now his nose is stuffy again. Poor guy!

[evinmom]

Originally Posted by Awaken

Sleep is up and down, many nights she will sleep from 11 until 3:30 or 5:30 for the first "shift" and then we're dozing on and off and restless until I have to get up around 7. But the past couple nights she's woken up at 1:45 for the initial shift and then we haven't gotten back to sleep very well afterwards, so I'm pretty beat.

I ran into this dilemma with my other son- should I get up and make sure she gets a really good feeding when she wakes up (so far she doesn't seem super hungry, just gets restless then nibbles a bit and goes back to sleep, but often), or just lay there and nurse while laying down, which is easier for my lazy, tired self, but it means we both drift off, she doesn't eat as much, and we end up half awake / asleep / snacking all night instead of getting a good block of sleep. it is sooooo hard to even think about sitting up at night, but maybe it would be worth it if it meant better quality sleep when I was laying down!

I tell you Nora is Everett's twin. His night nursing schedule is usually 10pm, 1ish am, 4ish am, and then he's in a light eat/sleep mode until I give up and decide to get out of bed. It is hard on me because I am a night owl. I can't go to bed early and I HATE waking up in the morning. The earlier it is the worse I feel. I agree with Brisen about the light eat/sleep mode. Also I have tried sitting up and nursing him at that 4 am feeding and it doesn't change anything. He'll still fall back asleep after only eating a little and then wake up again shortly after.

[evinmom]

Name: Di Linh & Everett

Baby's age: 8 weeks on Tuesday! It's so hard to believe.

Milestones/Updates: Smiling more, laughing, getting heavier and heavier. Catching more poops in the potty. Everett is harder to read than DD was when it comes to pooping.

Thoughts: My ILs are coming this week. My relationship with them has been pretty cordial this past year. DH and I had taken a 4 year break from his family prior to that. This will be my first time dealing with them post partum since Gavin was a baby. That did not go well at all and escalated into the break in our relationship when Gavin was a year old. I'm hoping they've changed. Wish us luck!

[carmel23]

di linh, best of luck with the in-laws!

[evinmom]

Thanks carmel23!!

Helen - I hope you get to feeling much better soon! Depression sucks. :

IT - Good luck with the embassy. I hope you get DS's US passport soon!

[cloudbutterfly]

Name: Cloud and Nimbus

Baby's age: 9 weeks, 2 days

Milestones/Updates: This was a rough weekend for us, relatively speaking. Nimbus seemed to be sore from his shots on Wednesday until at least Friday night. I know I'm extremely lucky that he's not a crier, and that when he does he's easily soothed, but when your baby rarely cries, it's distressing for him to suddenly cry every time he wakes up. It made me so sad! He's slept really poorly since his appointment, too...shorter periods of time and fussy in his sleep a lot, although I'm not sure what to attribute that to. I now know what true sleep dep is like, and it's much uglier than I thought it was before. I thought we were out of the woods when he slept 6.5 hours on Saturday night, but last night we were up until after 5 am, nursing pretty much constantly, and got up at 9 am. Poor guy...I know he's just as tired as me. Oddly, he just slept through me setting off our new home alarm...either he was really tired, or newborns have as good of powers of blocking noises out as they say they do. I hope his tiny ears are okay.

Top it all off with my not being certain if our thrush medication is working. I don't think the pediatrician gave me the clearest instructions for the nystatin, and the regimens for the anti-fungal pills I got at my doctor's office seem to call for a lot more of the pills for a lot longer. She said that the instructions would say to paint Nimbus' mouth with the stuff 4 times a day, but that I could just put it on my nipples before he nursed. He hated that, because it made my breasts sticky, and would refuse to nurse, but fortunately he loves the taste of it so I've been able to paint it on with my finger around in his mouth. The problem is, I'm not sure the white stuff on his tongue is getting better. I wish I'd taken a picture on Wednesday to compare it with. My nipple and breast pain is a little better today, after taking my third pill last night (she has me taking 5, every other day), but I also was working really hard on our latch issues last night so that could have made a difference. So I don't know how much of the pain is from thrush and how much is from him not getting enough boob below the nipple. I want to go visit the LC again, but hate to plan for that when neither one of us is sleeping.

On the bright side, it's been fun to see how much he likes the taste of baby Tylenol and the nystatin. I was worried about giving them to him, but he smiles the whole time.

Okay, stressful report out of the way. There have also been good things this week. He's now 23.5 inches long, and he should hit 12 pounds today. He's 50th percentile on weight and head circumference and 75 percentile on height...amazing, considering he was such a shorty when he was born! His pediatrician also said he was really strong when she put him on his tummy and he held himself up super well, and she said we'd have to watch him because he's going to roll over really soon(!). I guess I always new the easy, immobile baby stage would pass and we'd have to start figuring out how to baby proof our very un-baby-friendly home.

He's been even more interested in toys this week. He'll play with his bouncer's toys, and even seems to have an idea of cause and effect that when he wacks the toucan, the lights go on, because once he does it once, he gets better and faster at making it go. Wee! The amazing thing to me is that he also often reaches out, puts his hand on the toucan's beak, pauses, then gently pushes it. It seems like he can't possibly understand well enough to know that and he shouldn't have the motor skills to do it, but he keeps doing it. He looooooooooves his mobiles. He coos and goos and chats with them more than he talks to me.

He smiles more and more. He seems to be an observer, like me. He'll study a black and white picture for awhile, and then break into a smile of understanding. But it's also fun seeing him smile spontaneously, like when he gets the bouncer lights to go and I cheer and clap and he looks so, so happy and pleased with himself. And now I can sing to him and he'll smile...he loves my silly songs and dances that I do with him. And, of course, there are the smiles at my nipples when he's in no hurry but really looking forward to what's about to happen.

Thoughts: Having an alarm go off with a sleeping baby in the house is no fun at all.

Newborns grow up too fast.

So, on the sleep front...he pediatrician seemed to think I could be trying to get him to sleep much earlier in the evening, like 6 pm. Right now, he usually is awake from somewhere between 6 and 8 pm until sometime between 2:30 and 4 am. I'm a night owl, so I'd be totally happy with getting him to start his night at midnight or 1 am so we could go to bed with Daddy, but am I just setting us up for trouble later on? He's always been a night owl, too, in the womb, and I kind of like having him awake when DH is home from work.

For those of you with sick babies, I empathize! Nimbus has had a stuffy nose and on and off congestion since before Christmas. There have been a couple nights where I was worried about his ability to breathe, but things have been better since I learned out to deal with it. Saline drops have been my hero; before that, I couldn't suctions out those visible boogers to save my life. The steamy shower thing also helps, and when he's not too badly stuffed up, I've found that having him do some tummy time after the saline drops will get him breathing hard through his nose and, with some help from gravity, it seems to get some stubborn ones out.

[ithappened]

Is anyone else (still) sweating terribly at night?

If our room isn't freezing I am waking up literally drenched in sweat and having to change 1-2 times a night.. I know I'm only 6 week PP but I assumed the night sweating only lasted a few days.. not weeks.. and months..

Sadly my boobs are also still leaking terribly too- I'm using so many breast pads I feel like I need to start looking at some sort of waterproof tshirt instead

[flapjack]

Oh hell, I've got them ready to post to you and then I got snowed in. I'm off to the post office in the morning.

: Sorry.

[evinmom]

Originally Posted by ithappened

Is anyone else (still) sweating terribly at night?

If our room isn't freezing I am waking up literally drenched in sweat and having to change 1-2 times a night.. I know I'm only 6 week PP but I assumed the night sweating only lasted a few days.. not weeks.. and months..

Sadly my boobs are also still leaking terribly too- I'm using so many breast pads I feel like I need to start looking at some sort of waterproof tshirt instead

Mine is not quite as bad, but I do wake up cold and sweaty a lot. This usually lasts a long time for me.

[Tattooed Hand]

Brisen and Cloud - I hear you on the cold. Rassa seemed to bounce back on the cold front quicker than me (probably because she was getting more sleep than I and no one was feeding me breast milk). But she still has a stuffy nose sometimes and coughs up phlegm.

IH - I too am sweaty, usually around 3 or 4 am. And then when I wake up at 6AM there is milk everywhere. I've been pumping 1-2 times a day and freezing it so that's probably not helping with oversupply, but until we can get this thrush and her nursing issues under control, I want to keep up my supply because I am convinced she hasn't been getting enough milk down the last couple of weeks between everything we've had going on.

Cloud - I'm curious to hear how the nyastin works for you. She has it worse than I do, but I think we've been passing it back and forth for 4 weeks. It was camaflouged by colds and allergies and gassiness and I only figured out there was something else wrong. I'm trying the herbal rememdies first, though I was told to get All Purpose Nipple Ointment before Nyastin if going the non-herbal route.

Rassa is 7 weeks tomorrow. It's been a hellish 2 weeks. Her ezcema is abating. Her gassiness is better though she was struggling from 6:30-8:30 am and we didn't get her to bed until 1 and she woke up twice in the middle. Her cold is better, but I had a bad scare Friday night because she could hardly breath, I was feeling really sick myself and she wasn't nursing. But I basically irrigated her nose and help her upright all night and at least she started nursing Sat morning. I've been operating on 4-5 hours a night in 1-2 hour increments most nights. I'm badly exhausted and am back working (mostly from home, but it's academic work, which means I have to read stuff, have thoughts about it and be able to articulate them).

Thrush is the latest. I'm treating it with GSE, probiotics and gentian violet. It's only the second day of treatment and I see some improvement but the thrush was so entrenched that I hope it's enough. I've made an appointment with a homeopathic ped and a LC to help work out the rest of our issues. In between this, my own lingering head cold, and my work, I don't have time to nap during the day.

Oh, and my MIL is here and is driving me batty. She raised 3 kids as a SAHM and all she does is complain about how hard she had it (is she jealous of our life?) and how lucky I am. In fact she talks non-stop which makes it hard for me to get any work done. Given the current state of things and that I have to work because we need the money right now, I'm having a hard time not telling her to shut the hell up. She seems unable to help though in anyway except hold the baby, and even then I caught her bouncing Rassa on her hip the other day (while on the phone to her friend) without supporting her neck! I think she thinks R is like 6 months old or something. Anyway, she leaves on Saturday. I can make it that long and be nice to her... really, I can.

I am also beginning to worry about about PP anxiety/depression. I just feel really overwhelmed and like everything is going sideways at the same time and I just can't handle it all. I canceled my first class today by fibbing about another appointment when in reality I just haven't had the time/mental clarity to prepare the assigned reading.

Sigh.

[SilvanaRose]

Name: Sara and Orin

Baby's age: 7 weeks 2 days

Milestones/Updates: Orin is very focused with his hands now. He is learning that he can touch things. He can grab my nose and lips. He is smiling all the time now and his little laugh is so cute. He loves baths and getting his diaper changed. All smiles. When I'm changing his diaper I tell him to put his legs down and he seems to get it.

Orin and I were lying down so our heads were at the same level and I read him a book. I held it right above us. He was looking at the book the whole time and really seemed to like it. He was smiling at it. So I read it again.

Thoughts: I never thought I would love babies, but I do. lol. I am just enjoying every minute I get with him. And I'm trying to decide when we might try for more. I don't want too big an age gap between kids but it's not like I wanna get pregnant right away either.

That said, I am having a bit of a time trying to get everything done nowadays too. Some days are harder than others. Like yesterday I basically couldn't do anything because he just wanted to be held the whole day and I couldn't use a carrier. I have 3 carriers and he hates 2 of them and the other I can't wear for more than 10-20 minutes cause it kills my back and shoulders. I got some advice on my facebook yesterday but I will ask here too. What's everyones opinion on Ergo carriers? I also had a look at the Beco as well and it seems nice. I really want to carry him as much as I can because right now I don't feel like he's getting enough. I end up putting him on the floor or in his carseat. We don't have a bouncy chair or a swing and both of those could've come in handy with him. We also don't have any 'fancy' floor mats or stimulation toys for him and I wonder if I'm not doing enough. Anyone have any good ideas? I just hope he's not bored. I feel bad.

[beep]

Mana-I just wanted to let you know you have all my sympathies. Hang in there.

[carmel23]

Sara--
Don't worry about having stimulating things for your Orin at this point. It sounds like you are doing well--because you are aware of the need to hold him as much as possible. But if he wants you he will let you know! A small soft toy or rattle to learn to grasp is enough. See if you can gently fold his little fingers around a rattle or toy to hold--or if he is grasping things by himself--it is more his body then the actual thing, you know? He is developing the skill and so it isn't so much the number of objects...

Can he sit in his carseat where he can see out a window? My lo loves to look out the window at the trees and the sky. Being on the floor and having tummy time is good for him to develop his motor skills, too.

A bouncy chair is good but realistically, you will only get a few months of use out of it at this point, since as soon as Orin can sit up by himself, it has to be packed up.

Do you have free cycle or a good second-hand baby store around (or craigslist, or your tribe here on mdc)? Picking one one second hand would be great, because then you don't spend a lot of money (which could be spent on a carrier or cloth diapers ).

Don't worry about getting stuff done (I know this is so hard not to do, I do it, too) but at the end of the day as long as you lo is happy and healthy, you have done your job.

[carmel23]

Mana,

do you think that maybe your MIL is also trying to relate to you by complaining? Hang in there.

With my last 2 babies I was in school while nursing and I swear, I don't know if it is the lack of sleep or what, but it just *feels* like the brain isn't working. Writing was really hard, but I just gave myself permission to work in 5-10 minute breaks. Like I wouldn't do anything but read or write for 5 10 10 minutes-- and then I could take a break for 5 minutes, if the baby needed me, 15.

I got a lot of work done that way, when I wasn't stressing about my whole hour that I had set aside to work being eaten up by changing diapers, nursing, etc.

And see someone (if you can) about the PPD and anxiety--maybe just to check in and see if it is just lack of sleep/illness/ stress or something else. I had horrible anxiety after my daughter was born, and in retrospect, it was so so bad. I didn't realize it at the time. Your midwife should have a check list you can look over to see how you are doing.

hang in there!

[ErinYay]

(nak)

Name: Valentine

Baby's age: 6 weeks, 3 days

Milestones/Updates: V is a wonder! She's been sleeping soundly in 6-8 hour stretches at night, usually midnight to 7, not counting when she goes down prior to that- usually asleep for the night at 9pm, in her cosleeper or in bed with us. We're toying with the idea of seeing how she sleeps in her crib, but I so enjoy having her near that I don't think it'll be any day soo. Her sleep is great on every level but the "ensuring no Irish twins" thing... I'm actually going to stock up on cheapo pregnancy tests, just in case. She naps great, eats well, cries rarely, and is alert and engaged for hours!

She's been smiling in earnest for a bit over a week and does this crazy, breathy "laugh" thing. Her head control is amazing, but not surprising; she's held that head up since day one. She wants to stand now, and when she tires of that (her legs give out before she does emotionally) she simply *must* be sitting (supported, of course, on both counts.) She enjoys new toys and places tremendously, loves the Ergo and the wrap, and is obsessed with baths/showers. She loves getting her face wet, and tries to bite the water- she gooses her head toward the stream and tries to chomp. Very cute.

While she has been and continues to be a very easy, calm baby, she gets moments of intensity that are almost disturbing. Paci fell (or was spit) out? Instant fury. Wacked her head on my super-bony collarbone? Call the waaaaaa-mbulance ASAP! She's very much like her father and me in that regard- mellow and easy, but man, don't get us going!

I'm somewhat concerned that she's already interested in TV. If she's positioned so she can see my laptop or the TV, she cranes her head to stare. At this age, the remedy is easy- I turn her away. But within weeks we'll need to put the doors back on the entertainment center to keep the screen hidden. (Yes, I'm a TV is background noise kinda woman. So sue me. I swear, it's mostly documentaries, albeit they're usually about Nazis and their love of the occult!) Apparently NPR recently did a story on how something like 75% of 3 month olds watch TV for the majority of their day- awful!

Her skin sucks, and she's losing her hair, and has started grabbing at our faces and glasses, and luckily, I think those are the only "troublesome" things going on!


Thoughts:

This newborn/ young infant thing is way easier than I was led to believe. Don't think for a minute, though, that we don't constantly know that we're truly blessed with a remarkable, easy, happy baby.

Everyday is so amazing; it boggles the mind that they grow and change and learn so fast.

(Sorry it was so long!)

[Tattooed Hand]

Originally Posted by carmel23

Mana,

do you think that maybe your MIL is also trying to relate to you by complaining? Hang in there.

With my last 2 babies I was in school while nursing and I swear, I don't know if it is the lack of sleep or what, but it just *feels* like the brain isn't working. Writing was really hard, but I just gave myself permission to work in 5-10 minute breaks. Like I wouldn't do anything but read or write for 5 10 10 minutes-- and then I could take a break for 5 minutes, if the baby needed me, 15.

I got a lot of work done that way, when I wasn't stressing about my whole hour that I had set aside to work being eaten up by changing diapers, nursing, etc.

And see someone (if you can) about the PPD and anxiety--maybe just to check in and see if it is just lack of sleep/illness/ stress or something else. I had horrible anxiety after my daughter was born, and in retrospect, it was so so bad. I didn't realize it at the time. Your midwife should have a check list you can look over to see how you are doing.

hang in there!

Thanks, Carmel. You are absolutely right. She is a good person and this is probably her way of relating. And I know I am cranky because I am so tired and stressed out.

I definitely need to chill on the school front too. I mean, they are undergrads and this is my topic of expertise. It's not like I don't know anything. And usually, once I get into the classroom, it all falls into place. It just before that I do all the stressing...