Weekly Post-Partum Thread, Apr 18-25 - Page 3

[crazyeight]

congrats jsh! glad to have you on the dark side! i don't think you can overfeed her! they love to suck...probably half the time shes not hungry and just wants to suck (this is where paci's were "invented"). R will "baby bird" 5 minutes after a 20 minute feeding session! funny story: i was really engourged and wanted him to eat some more. he had just fed maybe an hour ago (a full feed) and was baby birding so i gave him some and he sucked a little then popped off...well my other boob still hurt so i burped and tried to feed him the other side...desperate to get some relief....well he put his hand in front of his mouth and refused to latch on! gave me a look like "what the heck are you trying to do to me lady?? are you crazy?!" it was soooo funny! anyways moral is that they won't latch on if they don't want to!

wanted to update on R's cord. the ped cauterized it with the little match stick looking things. i think actually that ds1 had to have that done too...i just didn't remember until she used the little stick. thankfully it didn't seem to hurt him. he still has some stuff rubbing off of it (and on my shirt cause he's been naked so much) but it has definatly stopped bleeding and oozing.

gosh i can't believe he's 11 days old. *cry* i knew it would go by way to fast...god i'm already thinking "i want to do this again!" (then telling myself i am NUTS cause WTH kinda normal person thinks this stuff 11 days pp after such a rollercoaster labor?!) i'm just in

[sew_crafty_girl]

Jess, ya what carita said. I get a bit nervous if Anna finishes up after only a few minutes (rare for her) as opposed to 20 min or so. She's almost always guaranteed to want more when I put her up on my shoulder to burp. Last evening she was cluster feeding but every few hours during the day is more typical for her.

I think a lot of the time it's just wanting to suck too. Sometimes she just wants to sleep on my naked breast.

[Peace+Hope]

great to hear how everyone is doing! s to those of you who are stressed and overtired.

rhi, heh, are you gonna change YOUR signiature? i get that you are busy right now...

seriously, it has been so overwhelming just to be alive, managing mine and charlie's bodily functions has been all i could handle. i'm coming out of that a little....

funny story:
i feel like i might have typed this when i gave my one update from the hospital, so sorry if it's a repeat... we were in the midst of our "natural" induction time period at the hospital with our midwives, and were trying all kinds of tinctures and acupressure and the like. i was a little embarrassed even in front of our midwives to do nipple stim, but just decided it was more important. i took a deep breath and announced that i was a little uncomfortable, but was going to do it anyway. my husband asked me, would i like to cover up with a blanket or something. i said, "no way, then i'll look like a pervert!" we all had a good laugh...

i'm veeery bummed today, and feeling selfish on top of it. my mom is NOT coming to visit, because they just found out my dad has a tumor in his prostate. it's a %100 treatable thing when caught early, and not even what you'd consider an emergency. i'm feeling like great, what timing, why couldn't they have waited a few weeks so that mom could visit me. but all of the sudden they want to do the treatments NOW. and she's decided she must be w/ him and not come even for a short visit. i feel like i just got pushed off the schedule b/c they are still talking about trying to make a conference at the end of may, after the treatments. so.... i guess i just got bumped. (BTW, they do live overseas, and they are coming "home" in august anyway)

[Oliver's Mama]

cute sibling moment..
I was getting ready to feed Eli, and ds1 hopped up next to us and proclaimed "I will feed him milk!".. he pulled up his shirt, and finished his sentence.. "from my belly button! drink from my belly button, baby Eli!" Too cute to bother explaining to him why that wouldn't work...

[Carita]

ds tried to renegotiate the boob contract. he knows the tate is for dani, but today he tried to negotiate the right tate for him & the left for dani & got mad when dani nursed from it... ugh

[sew_crafty_girl]

DH and I are sick with headcolds. Hoping I didn't pass it to Anna through kisses.

[jsh7809]

thanks for the advice! she's not a great burper, only goin for it when she would've regardless of position... or maybe it's my technique. but I'll keep working on it. all I know is that the first 24 hours or so, her latch was determined, fierce, and very specific (as was the sucking), so she was obviously working hard for the colostrum. now that the milk's here, it's just everywhere, and her mouth and body are so teensy, I think she's kinda just riding the wave . but I want to make things the most comfortable for both of us so I'll try to be more consistent with the burping and see if that helps. I want to nurse every few minutes, too, to get these rocks down a little! jeeeez. a warm shower helped some but, oh, they are big n hard. when does that get a little easier??

even with all of the soreness and chaos and weird stuff happening - I love it here in postpartum land!! our girl is the best!

dhinterliter - I can only imagine what 11 days feels like. after 24 hours, I was looking at pictures of the baby on her first night and thinking, "oh, yeah, but that's when we barely knew you, know we go way way back!". so funny.

[rhiOrion]

jess- i'm 13 days pp and my boobs haven't felt engorged in days. of course that could be my constant nurser.

i'll look into the reflux thing. but what baffles me is that it's mostly at night. she has some bad days, but usually is content during the day.

LC determined that she's pulling her tongue back, so that explains why her latch looks good from the outside but hurts anyhow

i'm not sure i can take the midwife that delivered L seriously anymore. she was great at the delivery, but today she suggested babywise to help L get her days and nights right. I was so shocked that i had to come home and google to make sure i wasn't thinking of the wrong book. i'm thinking i may send an anon letter to the birth center in a couple of weeks.

[ivymae]

Got my first formula in the mail today. That isn't counting the stuff someone sent home with Tom from work yesterday. Apparently these people don't know that my boobs are magic and grow huge healthy babies. Gah.

Rhi - OMG on a MW suggesting Ferber. Even Ferber doesn't recommend Ferber for newborns. Crazy.

jsh7809 - about the unexpected stuff during the birth, but that your sweet girl is here!

P+H - that you don't get some mama time. I hope your dad is okay, but I can totally understand feeling snubbed. My sister was supposed to come out after DD2 was born, and various life stuff got in the way, but it still really hurt. She came out for your sister, right?

Denise - re: 4559696 people in your house - uh, can you just lock the door and hide in the bathroom?

Things are good here. DH is back at work this week, and so far I haven't lost or beaten any of my children, so yay, I must be a super mom or something.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by justamama

Oh...tonight DH and I got it sprung on us that tomorrow night my dad, aunt and uncle, 2 cousins, their s/o's, another aunt and uncle, and my cousin's 2 y/o and 4 m/o are gathering at out house for pizza. Our 925 sq ft house that had a newborn explosion of gear, clothes, and diapers. HELP!

How on earth does this work? Is it not YOUR house? How do you get told?!
Mama, say no!

[crazyeight]

P&H~ i'd feel snubbed too. i want MY mommy right now...i'm so desperate that i just looked up airline tickets for TODAY or tomorrow but it's way out of price range....which i expected.

Originally Posted by justamama

Oh...tonight DH and I got it sprung on us that tomorrow night my dad, aunt and uncle, 2 cousins, their s/o's, another aunt and uncle, and my cousin's 2 y/o and 4 m/o are gathering at out house for pizza. Our 925 sq ft house that had a newborn explosion of gear, clothes, and diapers. HELP!

i'd totally turn this around to my benefit. put a big sign on the door that says "anyone who enters this house does 10 minutes of cleanup upon entering and exiting" your house will SPARKLE with so many visitors!

ugh...that explains it right? reeve's gma can't watch kids tomorrow (i kinda expected that) and since there is a slight possiblity that either of them could have or be carrying strep a they can't go to BF's bro's house since they have a 11 wk old. so i've got nothing....

[finn'smama]

I. Am. So. Tired.

That is all for now.

[Carita]

p&h - sorry bout your mom - anyone else you can invite, like a sister or something?

rhi - is she laying down during the day too? DS hated laying on his back - never got any reflux diagnosis, but he was only content sitting up - in a swing or bouncer or on me. The only way we ever got any sleep is that we bedshared... his head sleeping on my arm propped him up and he nursed to sleep.

[rhiOrion]

Originally Posted by Carita

p&h - sorry bout your mom - anyone else you can invite, like a sister or something?

rhi - is she laying down during the day too? DS hated laying on his back - never got any reflux diagnosis, but he was only content sitting up - in a swing or bouncer or on me. The only way we ever got any sleep is that we bedshared... his head sleeping on my arm propped him up and he nursed to sleep.

Pretty much the only way she'll sleep is on my chest.

[sew_crafty_girl]

My DS was a tummy sleeper. We got very little sleep in the beginning.

[sanguine_speed]

I know Back is Best, but when my son had severe reflux, his pediatrician advised me to put him to sleep on his tummy as he was more at risk of dehydration and weight loss if he was spending all of his energy screaming and not getting rest. I am not advising you put your baby to sleep on her tummy, but that you talk to your doctor about whether this is advisable in your situation.

((hugs))

[rhiOrion]

Hehe, well, there doesn't seem to be too much worry about her losing weight.

She is 8 pounds now! She was 7-9 at birth, and 6-13 last monday. So she's gained 19 ounces in 9 days! Up to 21.5 inches, from 19 3/4 at birth.

P&H- going to go change my sig now!

[crazyeight]

i am surprised at how little R has gained. he was 7 15 at birth 7 5 at 3 days and upon check in yesterday was 7 11 at 10 days old. i think my other 2 had already surpassed birthweight by now! i'm not really complaining cause i don't want him to grow so fast but he is STILL looking jaundicy! it has seemed to have gotten worse in the last few days too. i'm guessing that him fighting the infection is also making him have less water to flush out the bilirubin and the hospital staff haven't made any comments that he's TO jaundiced although the nurses today did mention he looked jaundiced. i hope with the little bit of iv fluids he's getting now and getting the staph cleared up the jaundice will go away too.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

Hehe, well, there doesn't seem to be too much worry about her losing weight.

She is 8 pounds now! She was 7-9 at birth, and 6-13 last monday. So she's gained 19 ounces in 9 days! Up to 21.5 inches, from 19 3/4 at birth.

P&H- going to go change my sig now!

That's great! I guess she isn't spending too much energy crying then and must be stopping long enough to eat.

[Carita]

rhi - yup, sounds like my ds. dh let him tummy sleep on his tummy at night for the first week at home at least... try sleeping w/her on his side next to you too w/lots of skin to skin contact. we also did try the nap, eat play cycle during the day to get him to sleep at night & it worked - i guess its from babywise, but think babywise lite LOL i never had him on a clock schedule - we just had a routine, ykim? i never got any use out of the bassinet LOL...