Chat thread - where my mamas at?

[Burnindinner]

Hey ladies, I miss you all! If your house is anything like mine, though, I get about 30 seconds to sit down and it's hard enough to put 2 words together to keep up with email, facebook, blog, MDC... man!

So how's life with babies on the outside?

[Aka mommy]

Crazy busy My computer time has gone WAY down, hard to keep up and i'm no good at nak because i hate one handed typing. So i've been reading on here, just not able to respond to much.

That and i'm getting eaten alive by the laundry monster. How one tiny little baby makes 2 extra loads of laundry a day is beyond me. LOL Of course i acknowledge a large part of it is my milk supply and leaking everywhere.

I cannot believe next monday i'll be 6 weeks post! Crazy.

[mediumcrunch]

I am crazy busy. Max is an absolute doll whom I adore and wish I could just sit and cuddle all day BUT he wants to be held 24/7 and vastly prefers Mama to brothers and sistersand Ihave stuff to do. My fibromyalgia flared up badly when he was 2 weeks old and I just can't tolerate his weight in the moby or pouch for long.
My mom comes next week which means we need to clean the house top to bottom including the nitty gritty stuff like under the couches, washing baseboards etc....I am on the organizing committee for our homeschool conference on July 24, I have a power point to put together for the same conference, our homeschool assessments are due before July 29, my husband and two teen boys are leaving for a 12 day trip to CO and NM on the 18. Can we say totally FRIED!!! not to mention the PPD monster is rearing its head and I'm practically drinking Rescue Remedy.
I seriously don't know how I am going to manage.

!@#$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dh just called to inform me that our new mortgage company is requiring a full inspection...in the next 24 hours. I need to do everything in the house that I was planning on taking a week to do in the next 24 hours. How???!! The kids will help but most of it will fall on me and dh will be gone until about 10 tonight and then up again and gone tomorrow at 7PM so he will do nothing.

[at_the_hip]

Just enjoying my wee one as much as possible...it's been 2 weeks yesterday and I can't believe it! Baby is always in my arms or sling/wrap and I love every moment! He's just such a love. I'm hoping to finish his birth story this week but it is a tough one as a mentioned in another thread - having trouble remembering!

Dh went back to work last Friday and is working all the way through until the weekend, but everything seems to have found its own. In some ways it is easier since it is back to our usual routine. I managed church with everyone all by myself, including the 20+ min walk each way, which I was proud of!

My 2yo is mostly good...homeopathic remedy Ignatia for grief/mourning helped a good bit! She has settled quite a bit although not sleeping well. I get out for a walk with everyone each day so that she gets a nap in. She LOVES his feet and will pet them and then say, "You try, mama!!"

[bananabee]

Hi! Been lurking a bit. Babe is 8 lbs now, 21 inches at 5 wks. Sleeps great. Holds up head & rolls to side and back. Nursing going great. Love my Moby. Narcolepsy getting worse. Carpal tunnel starting & nerve issues w/my neck. Bleh.

Miss keeping up w/you all! Is everyone done birthing?

[*mama moose*]

miss you all!! Things are pretty good over here, I think DD is 13 or 14lbs now at 4 weeks, yikes! I'm dead tired and she's asleep so I'm going to bed, I'll write more tomorrow. DH is back at work now but tomorrow is his day off so we're going peach picking, part of me says "fun!" the other part says I'm going to need a nap

[Tulafina]

Doing great here! Harrison is 3 weeks now and 10.5lbs. He's a bit fussy in the evenings but other than that he's an angel

He loves to be worn and I'm carrying him WAY more then I did my other 2. Most likely because I got rid of the bouncy seat, swing, etc(our house is too small) and the only place I have to put him down is in our bed or the moses basket.... But I love it this way. It makes me slow down and enjoy him.

I'm officially back to pre-pregnancy weight which is wonderful. I really love being out of my maternity pants. So now I just have 30 more pounds to lose...LOL I wish I had gotten back to my pre-baby weight after my first....Oh well.

Gotta go-baby wants to eat

Toodaloo!!

[whozeyermamma]

We're doing pretty good over here! I'm feeling a bit better about the whole "not feeling bonded" thing. The other day he had one of those massive gas smiles - and even though I knew it was just gas I felt that flash of love - so I know that when it's a real smile, those feelings will start to come.

I was just feeling a bit worried about his weight so I brought him in - he's up to 9 lbs 1 oz!!! That's 1 lb and 2 oz over birth weight at just under 3 weeks. So I guess he's OK then, huh? I should trust my instincts more often.

I've been putting him down to sleep more than my DD and he's gone up to 4 hrs solo in the moses basket, giving me a chance to eat, sleep, pee, etc. That's done wonders to stave off my PPD.

He's a cuddly little munch - we've found this awesome position to sleep in and it's so wonderful, he just snuggles in next to me and we both konk out. LOVE it!

[Noah's mommy]

We're doing well here...better the last 10 days than today. For some reason Stella was super fussy today which is totally the opposite of how the last 10 days have been. She, for the most part, is a love bug-cuddly, good nurser, and loves to sleep on her tummy. She's been so much calmer than my other two! I hope today was a fluke and not her "real" personality coming through. She would just scream after every feeding and wasn't happy if not attached to my nipple! This just happens to coincide with my husband and son's trip to Peru leaving here with my mom and 4 year old. Uh!

I was looking forward to my mom coming but I'm sort of disappointed now that she's here...she just is so dependent on me because of the language barrier and foreign country issue. She is helpful in the apartment, but can't go to the store and just sort of sits around all day and doesn't venture out. I feel responsible for keeping her entertained and I HATE that feeling. I'd rather just snuggle my babe all day and not feel like I'm boring her to death.

I was feeling amazing postpartum-I was able to wear my regular jeans today and a few days ago the bleeding was almost gone and then BAM! it returned with a vengeance. My husband was kind of making me feel guilty about not getting out and about with my mom and we spent all day Sunday walking around a historic town and I had Stella in the beco and then things went down hill. So now I'm trying to rest alot and get it back under control, but of course, where's DH? In Peru!

Either way, Stella is amazing. I am head over heels in love with her! And DH who didn't really want a third baby? Now he wants a fourth! I,however, feel pretty done at this point!! I did love my midwife though...probably not a reason for another baby

[at_the_hip]

Hi again mamas...
I just found out that my Mom has cancer (colon, and has spread to the liver). She is in the hospital awaiting surgery. She is an amazing Mom and Grandma and I love her so much. We talk every single day, often multiple times, and spend time together all the time. She is only 52. This is just so scary and I can't even imagine the thought of being without her, for us or my Dad. I just wanted to post and ask for prayers.

[Tiffanoodle]

Oh, Cindy, I am so sorry to hear that. You have my prayers.

Things have been going well here. We just finished up dh's 3 days off, so tomorrow he goes back to work for 3 days. Thankfully, it's the weekend so I don't have to drag the kids anywhere. Just ds's tball game Sunday, which I can handle. Our oldest is SO much help with the little girls when she wants to be. She loves cuddling with Laruen which really is a ton of help.

Lauren wants to be held. All the time. I don't mind it most of the time, but occasionally I would like to shower. Dh loves to hold her, too, so when he's home he is a lot of help with her. And at night he's been an absolute saint. I feed her, put her in her pack n play, and then when she wakes up he will go get her and bring her to me to feed her. Then she usually hangs out in bed with us the rest of the night. The other night she was latched on literally all night long. I had some very interesting dreams about my nipples being squeezed by random people.

I'm remembering how much healing from a c-section sucks. I had been feeling great. I was actually off of my pain pills for a couple days. Then I overdid it and WHAM I'm in severe pain again. Yesterday we were running errands. We got the oil changed in the van and while we waited, we took a walk. Dh had dd2 in the backpack carrier and I had Lauren in the sling. I definitely overdid it. After about a half hour of walking/shopping I was aching. By the time we were done (about an hour and a half) I had to take a Percocet. Today there's a spot on my incision that is a poking pain. I had dh look at it and he said it's just red like a bug bite around that spot. It's not oozing or looking infected at all and the rest of the incision looks great. That doesn't help the fact that I was back to doing stairs one at a time and I was in tears from the pain before I broke down and took another Percocet today. And my bleeding has been all over the board. 1 day, it will be dark brown and hardly any. The next day it might be pink. The next day it could be back to a brighter red. It's not substantial, but I'm getting really sick of seeing any shade of red at this point.

I have an appointment to get my IUD put in at my 6 (7) week appointment on August 13. I am giddy with excitement over this. Although, today dd1 was begging us to have "just 1 more baby" and saying that she really really wants another brother. I told her that we're not doing anything permanent, but we don't have any immediate plans to have another baby. And she might very well get another sister, so we're not going to "try for another boy". Maybe someday down the road...in 5 years or so...we'll feel like we want another one. But right now our house and vehicle are pretty much at capacity.

[Tiffanoodle]

Oh, and a quick whine, too.

My allergy to the cats didn't seem to go away after pregnancy. I had never been allergic to them until I got pregnant. I was hoping it was just a pregnancy thing, but the past few days the female cats have been hanging around a lot and I can't breathe. My nose is horrible. When I touch them, I've been getting itchy, too. Thankfully, Lauren doesn't seem to have any issues. But I can't take Benadryl because I don't want my milk to dry up. I'm going to call my doc tomorrow and see if there's anything she can recommend. I know I've taken Flonase in the past for allergies, but I don't know about the safety with bfing and would need a new prescription for it.

Part of it is probably the darn Twizzlers we got as a treat for dd2 yesterday, too. I can't resist the darn things. I react to red dye as well and when I'm already reacting to the cats, it just makes things worse. Blah.

Every pregnancy seems to bring out a new allergy/intolerance or take one away. Hormones are a very strange thing. Especially for me.

[Aka mommy]

Cindy, many prayers for your family and mother.

DS has been interesting today, wont sleep out of my arms and i'm hoping that he takes a nap here in the swing because i'm suppose to be researching vehicles. We need one and i'm trying to figure out which SUV since we have 3 in carseats and a 100 lb dog who goes most places with us. Totally overwhelming.

On a good note i'm down 30 lbs! I gained 44 (GASP) with this one. The most i've ever gained and it sucks to not be able to work out yet. Last time i only gained 14 so it was gone in a week lol. But i also have some sort of abdominal hernia so i've been trying to just rest and not start working out too early and cause more damage to it. Hard because just bouncing ds on the yoga ball really irratates it. I'm hopeful that running wont be too stressful on it. I am CRAVING burning some calories and the endorphins from working out!!!

Ok he's wiggling, i'm going to rock him some more.

[SeattleRain]

Originally Posted by Tiffanoodle

I'm remembering how much healing from a c-section sucks. I had been feeling great. I was actually off of my pain pills for a couple days. Then I overdid it and WHAM I'm in severe pain again. Yesterday we were running errands. We got the oil changed in the van and while we waited, we took a walk. Dh had dd2 in the backpack carrier and I had Lauren in the sling. I definitely overdid it. After about a half hour of walking/shopping I was aching. By the time we were done (about an hour and a half) I had to take a Percocet. Today there's a spot on my incision that is a poking pain. I had dh look at it and he said it's just red like a bug bite around that spot. It's not oozing or looking infected at all and the rest of the incision looks great. That doesn't help the fact that I was back to doing stairs one at a time and I was in tears from the pain before I broke down and took another Percocet today. And my bleeding has been all over the board. 1 day, it will be dark brown and hardly any. The next day it might be pink. The next day it could be back to a brighter red. It's not substantial, but I'm getting really sick of seeing any shade of red at this point.

If it makes you feel better, this is exactly my experience right now. It made ME feel better knowing that YOU were having a similar experience, like I'm not a huge wuss. It's so strange, one day I'll be feeling great and another I'll feel horrible. There seems to be a very, very clear line of when you've done too much and need to slow down. At least for me, at 11 days pp, I'm finding that I can't do much more than mull around the house, walk from the car to our destination and stroll our destination for 5-10 minutes. I keep reminding myself that I had major surgery 11 days ago and that its normal to not be ready to walk around too much yet.

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the baby blues period. I was totally unprepared for the hormone crash immediately post-birth and what that would be like. I was afraid that I had crippling PPD until I read that the baby blues usually clear up in 2 weeks, whereas PPD usually goes on afterwards. So I committed to seeing how I was doing after 2 weeks and then talk to my pediatrician on Tuesday if I was having problems. I think I just am having a hard time bonding with my baby, probably because I'm having trouble doing any "AP" type things. I had a surgical birth where I was seperated from my baby right away, I couldn't breastfeed, and holding my baby has been difficult from the surgery, as well as wearing him. I've been trying to spend a lot of time just touching him and see if I can build up some extra-lovey feelings.

Those gassy smiles are so amazing. And the look he gives me when he's hungry and so excited for his bottle is so precious. I have to say also that as a first time parent, I wasn't prepared for how in love I'd be with my husband after watching him with our son. I've never loved him more than when I see him feeding the baby, cloth diaper over his shoulder, and spit up down his shirt. Even though I don't feel so attached to Daniel yet, I feel so attached to my husband and so "in it together" that it almost makes up for it.

[Tiffanoodle]

Originally Posted by SeattleRain

I think I just am having a hard time bonding with my baby, probably because I'm having trouble doing any "AP" type things. I had a surgical birth where I was seperated from my baby right away, I couldn't breastfeed, and holding my baby has been difficult from the surgery, as well as wearing him. I've been trying to spend a lot of time just touching him and see if I can build up some extra-lovey feelings.

This is exactly how I felt after my first dd! I would always say I was just the cow. My dh or my mom (we were living with my parents...NOT a good thing) would bring her to me to eat, then take her away. That was the first week to 2 weeks. I was really anemic which made me even more useless. I had her under general, so I was asleep for her birth and didn't see her for 3 hours. Talk about a rough start to motherhood. Back then (in 1999), I didn't have ready access to the internet or great places like MDC. I had my mother who is the least supportive person in the world when it comes to anything out of complete mainstream. You sound like you have a really good handle on things and we're here if you need support.

[cadejaxellamom]

Cindy, I'm very sorry to hear about your mother, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Life with 4 kids is not as bad as I thought it would be Lyla is a sweet baby and I'm madly in love with her! I have a hyper-lactation and if I don't pump before I feed her she is miserable, so it's been a little time consuming, but if it makes her less gassy and miserable I will do it as long as I need.she also stays fuller longer when I pump first, so that's good. My 2 year old is having some potty accidents and peeing in her panties more than she was, but that seems to be the only problem she is having, she is not jealous at all and is so in love with her baby sister. My older boys (6 and 9) are wonderful as well, they are a huge help!

I'm still having a tiny bit of bleeding, just enough to need a panty liner...and not every day, I'm ready for that to stop. I am in awe of you gals who are back in regular clothes, or back to pre-preggo weight . I was 157 when I delivered and now maybe 132... I need to get back to about 115 so I have a ways to go (I'm only 5 feet tall). We just got some tax money back so hopefully I will be able to buy my sit and stand stroller soon so I can start going on walks with the girls...hopefully I can drop some weight then.

I have days where I'm very overwhelmed and super grumpy and annoyed with everyone in my house and other days where I'm on cloud nine....I'm ready for the hormones to even out! We are visiting my IL's right now and they annoy me (especially my MIL) and I'm sooooo ready to go home tomorrow!

Oh, Lyla weighed 7 lbs 13 oz at birth, 7 lbs 8 oz when we went home from the hospital and 9 lbs 3 oz at 2 weeks, so she's eating well

[slsurface]

Well at two weeks post-partum I'm doing ok and the babe is doing great. I am thankful that I barely tore this time - even though DS2 was 11lb5oz! My bottom has healed well and I've also seem to have recovered from all the blood loss. I stopped taking Iron and I'm not light headed every time I stand up any more.

DS2 hasn't quiet established a sleep schedule yet. He still prefers to be awake all night. My guilty confession is that I discovered that if I drink one cup of coffee in the morning, he sleeps better at night . So I'm indulging in coffee until he gets on the right schedule. He nurses practically non-stop, which has me a little worn out, but all in all he is a really easy baby compared to DS1.

I've still got to write up his birth story...hopefully I can get that done next week some time and get it posted.

[slsurface]

Cindy, sending you lost of right now. My mom had colon cancer in 2007. She found out about it just after my father's sudden passing and part of her wanted to give up. But she fought it and with surgery she is cancer free today! I hope for the best outcome for your mother too.

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by SeattleRain

Those gassy smiles are so amazing. And the look he gives me when he's hungry and so excited for his bottle is so precious.

Don't believe for a minute that those smiles are "just" gas! He's smiling at you, mama! Revel in it!

[Burnindinner]

hey ladies! nak of course. is so hard to write coherently w/ 1 hand.

cindy, i am really sorry to hear that. i hope treatment goes well.

bonding: ok, i had ds1 at home and had a tougher time bonding. recovering from surgery would be even tougher! hang in there, you have a lifetime together.

weight: huh, i still have 30 to go. it's too darn hot here to run til sept so i'm being lenient w/ myself.

hereby swear to be a better ddc'er. now am off to farmer's mkt.