May 09 Mamas - Hopping closer and closer to one year old!

[OceansEve]

It's April I'm not ready

[OceansEve]

Auraji - here october would be too late for him to start this year

KatieJD so excited for you that he's coming home!!

[Ldavis24]

Hi mamas!
Katie you must be thrilled DH is coming home! How exciting...

I only have a minute but I am sending a plea for help to all my May mamas and will be (when I have a chance) to the rest of the mothering.com community about a problem I am having...

I have been miserably sick for the last several days with a cold, on top of us just moving and not even being close to unpacked. I now have a wisdom tooth coming through and if the x-rays show it isn't coming in right (in which case I would let it stay) I am going to have to have it pulled! I am freaking out about the BFing situation with Della, I just don't know what I am going to do if I have to do this thing and then be on some kind of pain med. It is going to ruin our entire BFing relationship, I don't even have any milk pumped and stored! I am freaking out about this. Has anyone else had this problem? Or a similar one?

I am going to x-post about this bfing just to get some info but I am panicking at the moment, I have a dentist appointment friday and in the meantime have been just trying to suck it up with the pain from my mouth and being sick simultaneously!

Sorry to be a downer, I can't wait to hear what everyone's LOs are doing these days I will check back when I get a chance, this is the first time I've been online in a week!

[ReadingRenee]

Awesome on the weight loss Jacqueline! I don't own a scale, me and scales don't get along since Im tall and muscular so I just go by how my clothes fit. I TOTALLY feel like my baby has been replaced by a toddler, like overnight! She has started taking independent steps here and there but has yet to take more than one or two. I can tell she really wants to walk though. She is constantly trying to walk and constantly falling.

Auraji, you situation with your DP's Ex sounds rough! I read the thread you posted in blended families and I really agree with the ladies about getting a lawyer. I know someone who decided to get their ex for EIGHTEEN years of child support even though they agreed that he didn't have to pay it. It pretty much ruined her ex's life. Don't pay support without a legal agreement. Anyway, good luck with your situation.

Peanut butter mmmmmmm! I love peanut butter but Im paranoid about allergies. They run in DH"s side of the family very heavily.

you know Ive been posting about food texture issues. Well yesterday all on her own, Samara put a sweet potato puff in her mouth and chewed it up and swallowed it! When she swallowed it, she got this shocked look on her face and reared back in her seat, but she reached for another one so that made me really happy.

I also finally realized that her sleep patterns have nothing to do with when I put her to bed, how many naps she has, or anything I have control over. It is totally developmental. She will have one week of good sleep, two weeks of hell sleep, and then a week of ehhh sleep. This has been the pattern since she has been born pretty much. This gives me hope because eventually the development will slow down right? We are in a good sleep week this week. yay!

Ldavis24 Im sorry, I have no idea about your situation. I wouldn't think it would ruin your bfing relationship at this age since its so established but I have no experience. Im sorry. Good luck with your tooth!

[~Katie~]

LDavis - Tooth extraction is pretty straight forward for a wisdom tooth. I had it done with local for an impacted tooth and it took about a minute for the dentist to remove it. You are fine to breastfeed while on pain medication, if that weren't the case then c-section mom's wouldn't be able to breastfeed after birth. You may not even need milk pumped if you opt for local anesthetic (which is all I consent to) because of how quick it is. But you probably won't need much milk at all if you have general. I would start pumping now just in case if she needs it while you're getting it pulled.

I have a million errands to run today but I will be back later to post more...

[Comtessa]

Happy April Fools' Day, everyone! It's a super warm, sunny day here, and I've just gone through the house putting the screens in the windows. It must be spring!!!

The last time I opened up the house for spring, it was a week or so before Olive was born, and I was eagerly anticipating her home birth. I remember thinking how great it would be to have a baby in a house full of fresh warm air from open windows. We ended up transferring to the hospital, so she was born in a cold sterile room with no fresh air anywhere. I thought I was ok with my birth experience, but this makes me feel sad when I think about it.

LDavis24, I had a wisdom tooth pulled when Olive was only a couple of months old. It was very straightforward and almost painless. They prescribed ibuprofen for pain, but I didn't even need any. It was totally fine. As long as they don't have to do surgery to get it out, you shouldn't have much to worry about as far as pain meds - and you shouldn't have to make any changes to your breastfeeding pattern.

Are you all starting to make plans for first-birthday parties? I'm trying to convince DH that he wants to rent our church hall and throw a giant potluck party for everyone we know. He's trying to convince me that a backyard barbeque with our parents and siblings would be sufficient.

[cheryllynn]

1st birthday party - I'm looking at a backyard bbq as well, although not sure where to draw the line on guest list. I'd like to invite everyone we know as well.

Looking at making the sugar-free apple spice cake for her first birthday cake. We are generally an organic, sugar-free household.

tooth extraction - I had mine done a long time ago. They used just novacaine, but I had stronger pain meds. I'm sure they can adjust pain meds due to b/f. I would highly recommend having some milk frozen just in case of emergencies. I have had dental work and pumped & dumped for 24 hours to make sure the drugs were gone. But I had frozen milk at the time.

Olivia's cough/runny nose is going on four weeks now. I consulted my acupuncture/TCM person and have started her on Lung Qi Jr. She's been on it for two nights and these two nights she has slept peacefully. I'm hoping she can finally get over it.

[j_p_i]

Hi mamas, can't believe it's April! Olivia was 10 months yesterday

Katie - SO excited for you! Can't wait to hear that your DH is home with your family!

Kelly - I haven't given Olivia peanut butter, but I have given her shellfish. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to . Every year, DH's parents give us a 30lb box of king crab legs for Christmas, which lasts us forever! We take a cluster out for special occasions or whenever we have a hankering for it. Olivia LOVES it! We had a ped appointment yesterday and the sheet the medical assistant gave me said no *seafood* until 2 years... I think that's old advice, and Olivia absolutely loves fish. We don't have any allergies in our family, so I'm not concerned. May try peanut butter soon, I love it too!

I think I posted last month (maybe 2 months ago) that the ped was commenting on Olivia being "petite" in length... well she grew 2.5 inches since then! I couldn't believe it, she went from 25.5 to 28! And she's 19.6 lbs, 50th percentile for each.

Good job with the weight loss Jacqueline! I just started the 30 day shred a couple days ago, and have been tracking my food on sparkpeople. I jokingly say I'll be ready for a bikini by summer, but really I'd be happy to wear a slimming one piece and not feel completely uncomfortable!

[desertgirl01]

Hi all. I totally know what you mean by baby being replaced with a toddler. My dd is really tall and has lost most of her baby fat, so bodywise, she totally looks like a toddler. She still has such a babyface, and no hair though! She's been walking a few feet here and there, more every day. She was around a 3.5 year old girl last night, and that completely fueled her walking desire. She followed that little girl around everywhere last night, trying to imitate everything she was doing. It was so cute, but also a little sad. Why do kids always want to grow up so fast?

We're planning a backyard luau for P's birthday. Should be fun. Expecting a crowd of 20 or so...

Great job on the weightloss! I've lost the babyweight, scalewise, but I used to be all muscular. Now I've a lot of fat. Yuck. I've been back to working out since P was 6 weeks old and I felt ready, but I'm constantly starving and have a hard time controlling my portions. Enough is enough and I'd love to wear a cute dress at the luau, so I'm trying really hard to control my horse-like eating and lose 10 pounds by mid-May. I'd also love to lose a little boob weight--I know it's possible to bf with smaller boobs! Oh yeah, I did 30-Day Shred about 8-12 week postpartum and lost 15lbs from it. Maybe I should pick that up again.

P just got over having a few days of random fevers and lots of mid-day sleeping...she was either fighting an illness, or teething, or growth spurt. She amazes me daily with how much she's picking up and expressing. Learning new signs, responding to commands (like, open your mouth please--when she's popped in a rock or something), trying to imitate our words, putting things back together. I'm so crazy in love with her that I think everything she does or doesn't do is wonderfully brilliant!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

[lil_miss_understood]

I had all of my wisdom teeth surgically removed under general when ds2 was 13 mo. I pumped in the days leading up to it to get as much breastmilk as I could but made peace with the possibility that he might need a few ozs of formula to get him through the day (he ended up not needing it before I felt well enough to nurse again). Posting in bfing is a great idea, they gave me wonderful advice. If you're comfortable with homeopathy, arnica 200c helped with the pain and calendula 30c will help to speed healing.

[Auraji]

I read some of the posts. I think dss is supposed to start going to preschool this year, at least I've been hearing his mom talk about that since last fall, but nothing has happened yet.

Katie Im so happy for you with your DH coming.

Ldavis- I was just at the dentist today, I need to have an impacted tooth pulled and they took all kind of xrays I actually need to do a bunch of things, but nothing that affects BFiding and yes you can take pain med. I believe some mamas here did after their LO were born.

Sophia had some peanut butter once, dss gave her some of her pb&j, and it was all good. She really hasnt had any reaction to food, which Im suprised because I have really bad allergies and on DH's family too.

Sophia's tantrums keep growing. If you put her in the floor while you finish getting dress, she'll throw herself, face dowm, like she's dying and cry and pull her hair. Such a drama queen.

On the bday, I dont even know what we'll do because since money is going to be tight, I just might do a potluck type thing and invite a few people and hang our in the backyard.

Sophia is also very close to walking, she stands on her own more and more. She likes to grab to my legs and walk behind me lol and has taken a step here and there.

Baby attack gotta go lol

[Novus]

Happy April, ladies!

We've pretty much decided on doing Luke's bday party at a park. I'm guessing we'll invite 5-6 of his baby friends and DH and I will invite a few of our friends too...so a guest list of about 12 couples/families.

Good job on the weight loss! I, too, have "lost the weight" according to the scale, but I just look...different. I still have a baby pooch and bigger hips and I'm not pleased. In fact, the other day, a friend I haven't seen in a while asked if I was pregnant...um...no. (In her defense, it was probably the shirt I was wearing more than anything else, but still, my personal rule is: don't ask if people are pregnant, ever.)

Luke is napping and I'm so glad because he has just thrown one fit after the other today. Let's see...so far, he has tantrumed (is that a word?) because: the cat walked by without greeting him, I changed his diaper, I wiped his nose, the cat was sitting on the couch out of his reach, I offered him a strawberry, I stopped him from eating a leaf that the dog dragged in...and that was all in the last HOUR.

[lotus.blossom]

Thank goodness, its my month! My birthday is the 20th and then Griffins is the 26th. My parents are returning from wintering in Florida on the 18th, and I will FINALLY get a break! My Dh and I need a date so bad.

ReadingRenee- I had the same AF/weightloss phenomenon. Both with DS1 and DS2. I'm on my second period since having G and with some careful food tracking and moderate exercise I have lost 7 lbs in that last month. I am officially back to pre-baby weight but like some of you have mentioned, my body is a bit different. Still not there yet. I need to do a bunch of toning. My stomach muscles feel like mush even though I try to work them everyday, using the tupler technique and crunches. I didn't have that issues after ds1.

Having some sleep issues. G seems to have this bad habit of waking about 40 minutes into his nighttime sleep. Then he snoozes on the couch with me till I go to bed, where he either sleeps great or terrible. Theres not much of an in between. This evening I was in the shower when he woke up and I heard DH with him. I hung out in the bathroom so he wouldn't see me and DH managed to get him back to sleep and he is STILL sleeping! I am amazed. He was really mad at DH for a while but this really makes me think that its a habit. I SO needed this evening break. Because the most time I ever get away from his is during his 20 minute daytime nap and this 40 minute bedtime nap.

I don't know about you all but some days I feel like I am teetering on the brink of insanity......Griffin is fast these days and into everything. In a span of 10 minutes I........find him in the bathroom splashing in the toilet, wash his hands, set him down and he is already in the kitchen splashing in the dogs water, I put the water up and somehow he manages to slip behind the gate and is climbing the stairs. I grab him and set him back on the floor and he is immediately pulling all the towels out of my kitchen drawer. I put them back and turn my back and he is on his belly licking at some sticky spot on the floor. Wipe up the spot with a cloth and he is eating the crust from ds1's pbj. Take that away and open the cupboard to the trash, get distracted and he is rummaging through the trash. Meanwhile ds1 is looking for another snack or asking me to open the gate to let him into the kitchen. And G is pulling all the coats and shoes off the rack, and eating the little dirt clods that come off the shoes.......

and this is a 10 minute span.
anyone else have any good stories like that?

[~Katie~]

That sounds like Liam It's definitely a personality thing, he was just always into mischief and still is. It took a lot of babyproofing but it eventually becomes second-nature to arrange things in a way that decreases the amount of work I have to do in cleaning up after him, because frankly I'd rather not clean messes all day. If I could only find a lock that worked on the pantry then I'd be set.

Weight loss - I will never be in a bikini, kudos to those of you who can rock it! People will think I was mauled by a tiger if I try that

Food - We eat a ton of seafood, I don't limit it. I think the main-allergens might be something to consider but fish itself usually isn't a problem. Since Liam is allergic to dairy Laine very rarely has anything dairy-related, and she doesn't eat peanut butter. Other than that she pretty much eats everything.

Birthdays - I can't believe we're going to start celebrating birthdays this month. I just want to cry thinking about it. This past year is so fresh in my mind, it literally feels like yesterday that Laine was born. I'm not sure what we'll do for her birthday. We're planning a vacation to the outer banks and getting a beach house, it'd be nice to schedule it during her birthday but it's going to depend on DH's leave schedule. It will most likely be just us and a quiet celebrating in any case.

[Kelly1101]

Originally Posted by j_p_i

Kelly - I haven't given Olivia peanut butter, but I have given her shellfish. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to . Every year, DH's parents give us a 30lb box of king crab legs for Christmas, which lasts us forever! We take a cluster out for special occasions or whenever we have a hankering for it. Olivia LOVES it! We had a ped appointment yesterday and the sheet the medical assistant gave me said no *seafood* until 2 years... I think that's old advice, and Olivia absolutely loves fish. We don't have any allergies in our family, so I'm not concerned. May try peanut butter soon, I love it too!

Yeah, I haven't really been all that concerned about holding off on things like that, I've just been doing the four-day rule.

As far as tantrums, well, Emma has always had tantrums. Kind of a brat that way, but at least she comes by it honestly-- all the women on my side of the family are brats, rotfl. Recently it is a bit more random... she'll be sitting in her chair happily eating cheerios, then suddenly without warning, SCREAMING. She doesn't want to nurse, no dirty diaper, not tired, nothing wrong, just total freak-out. Only thing that works is to surprise her with something unexpected, like suddenly hand her the remote control or something. She'll blink, and then take it and study it, forgetting to cry.

As far as the birthday party, since Em is 4/18 we've already planned. It was going to be small but I have an enormous extended family that all live in the same small town, so pretty much nothing is ever "small." But it's going to be just family, and a couple very close friends. We're doing an outdoor party if the weather permits (it should, so far it's been gorgeous down here). Just food, cake, presents, hanging out. I still need to settle on what cake to make (I'm doing a tiny healthy one for Em, and a big unhealthy one for the grown-ups), and do a test run on it.

I'm jealous of all of you losing weight, I can't right now for obvious reasons, although I'm trying to eat a bit better this time and exercise more so that I don't gain quite so much (uh, 60 pounds with Em). Then after the baby I'm going to get a few good exercise DVDs and spend all winter getting back to bathing suit body, or at least as close as I can get to that, hahaha. At least this summer I'm not worried about wearing a bathing suit, my stomach is SUPPOSED to be big.

New month, let's see some pictures of the babies!

Here's some for us:

Her favorite thing to do, empty cabinets:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../033110013.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../033110006.jpg

Trying to grab the camera:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../033110018.jpg

Hat:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../033110005.jpg

Look in the background to see where Hurricane Emma hit my kitchen:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../033110019.jpg

She offers us everything now, from toys to food, with this same huge grin on her face:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../033110009.jpg

Feeding cheerios to her dad:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../033110002.jpg

Reading with my MIL:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../033110024.jpg

[Auraji]

She's so cute Kelly!

Sophia is the exact same way, her favorite things to get are dvds though oh and the toilet paper and the cat food and books.

[cheryllynn]

look at those teeth in the pictures!

Still on tooth watch here - No teeth yet. Still have a cough. Several ppl tell me that cough/cold/earaches are related to teething.

[Auraji]

My 500$ camera got a bath of milk today. Im so sad, I bought that camera a long time ago when I was in college and my other cheaper camera broke a bit ago. I was taking the kids to the park and offered to carry dss milk in my purse, I hadnt notice it didnt have the thing that keeps it from spilling.

Im so sad, who knows when I'll be able to get a new camera and of course I wont be able to get a camera like that again.

But oh well, instead we had a picnic in our backyard because I turned back when I realized everything in my purse was wet.

And cheyllyn, Sophia gets cold like symptons when she's teething. A little fever, couch, stuffy.

[CookAMH]

Hi everyone! I can't believe our LOs are almost one. Ezra's birthday is the 30th and my family and part of DH's family will be here. I thought of having an open house type party for our church, but I think I won't after all, since I'll be having 6 people or so staying with us and that is enough work with food.

Ezra is JUST starting to crawl, a couple movements at a time. He's army crawled for a few weeks and is doing something new every week. He pulls himself up well now and I often have to go back in when I put him down for a nap to lay him back down to sleep. As for daily activity, he's not too quick yet and doesn't wander far from me. He makes us laugh every day and he's such a deligh.

Wisdom teeth - ouch!

We've started some major yardwork here! We've lived here for 6 mo now (Seattle) and are in the parsonage, and a lot of work is needed in the landscaping. It's been really fun to plan which shrubs, perennials and flowers to plant. Also some herbs and veggies. Does anyone else garden?

I've let Ezra taste PB. I often share our dinner, so he's had things like meatloaf, mashed potatoes, beans, sweet potato, lentil soup, red pepper soup (he gobbles that up). Neither of us have history of food allergies so I am not really even doing the four day rule. He tried scrambled eggs this week and seemed to like it, and likes Tillamook cheese. I've let him taste raw milk too. Are any of these things terrible at this point? With the milk, I think raw is an exception to the milk rule, or maybe not?

April that is awsome you are back to pre-preg weight. I just bought the Mummy Tummy book for the Tupler technique. I need to do it a whole lot more but I think I have seen some difference. Before that, I seemed to have this huge bloat and couldn't figure out why. Looking back, I think it might have been when I was doing The 30 Day Shred with the bad crunches for a post-pregancy body. I think it causes an increase in my slight separation.

I'll add some pictures this weekend sometime.

A friend of mine is having a baby in late May. We do things fairly often so I am SO EXCITED to have a newborn to hold in a few weeks!

[Kelly1101]

I'm doing some gardening this summer, only herbs and veggies, at my cousin's house down the street-- we're in an apartment, and she works constantly, so I'm going to make my garden in her back yard and share the produce, haha. Doing summer squash (yellow and zucchini), spinach, romaine, string beans, bell peppers, cabbage, strawberries, broccoli, cukes, slicer tomato, cherry tomato. We both can eat just a bowl of raw cherry tomato like it's candy, so we'll be doing a several rows of those. As far as herbs, I think I'll just do the basics, basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, maybe a few others.

We're starting a bit late, but that's really a good thing because March is so contrary and we just got a frost like five days ago (although this weekend it's going to be in the mid-80's... spring in Virginia). My cousin's back from vacation in a week, we'll be breaking ground then.