Weekly Thread Aug 15-22 - Page 2

[jenfl]

OMG!

My exhausted husband stayed after his 7pm-7am shift ended this morning to go to medical records and get a copy of Sprout's record from his NICU stay. When peopple finally started arriving after 8am, they told him he had to make an appointment -- and the phone number to the appointment maker just goes to voice mail.

[loveneverfails]

What the heck!?!?! I'd be SO angry!

[MaterPrimaePuellae]

Originally Posted by jenfl

Anybody else's LO totally fascinated by food? Nugget wasn't like this at all, but Sprout stares while we're eating and tries to grab our food. DD didn't care at all. Sprout? FASCINATED.

Yes! Ds has pulled my plate off the table twice. He's much more a grabber than DD was. However, I don't know if he's just attracted to the bright colors or if he's really paying attention to what we're doing.

Solids-- I'm waiting until 6 months at least, and will probably start with vegetables. However, I'm really interested in this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Food-Moth...1962058&sr=8-1
(I saw it on CherryBomb's blog! )
I'd like to read the part about first foods for babies. With DD, I started with rice cereal (-- who would want to eat that??), and when DD hated it that made me rethink cereal and baby food... we ended up mostly just feeding mushed table food.
Jarred baby food is so nasty. Gerber makes a BABY food that is "Veal, Pasta, and Veg." Ick. No wonder so many people like to eat crappy almost-non-foods.

Originally Posted by jenfl

OMG!

My exhausted husband stayed after his 7pm-7am shift ended this morning to go to medical records and get a copy of Sprout's record from his NICU stay. When peopple finally started arriving after 8am, they told him he had to make an appointment -- and the phone number to the appointment maker just goes to voice mail.

That is awful. I understand the need to keep records private, and I know they have a LOT of records to keep up with.... but seriously, is there an element of *trying* to make it difficult to retrieve them (or at least not remedying a situation that is difficult?). It is upsetting to me that the records are the property of the office/hospital and not the patient. At the CNM's office where we had DD, they had signs all over the place saying, "Records MUST NOT leave the premises," etc.

And furthermore-- here's another issue w/ records-- DS still hasn't been to a pediatrician, and part of the reason for that is that I have to get records from the midwives because the office will not accept him, at all, without some trail of medical records. I know every detail in those records, but I have to bring in a file because my account is not good enough.

LNF(and everyone else!) thanks for the encouragement about the co-sleeping. I hope that the transition will be okay. I generally lie down to nurse him to sleep around 8 and then stay up and about myself until 10; I get up before him in the morning. So, maybe he won't notice so much if I'm not there sleeping next to him? I am sure I will notice, though.

Truly, though, even though I wish Dh were the kind to say, "OH, yes, I want the baby to sleep with us," he has been supportive of my choices in a lot of other important ways (birth, circumcision, vaccines), so I think I need to just count my blessing and hope DS enjoys sharing a room with his sister.

Finally-- a big to everyone dealing with 3/4 year olds. This is a challenging age! I went in to check on sleeping DD last night, and when I was pulling the blankets up around her chin, I almost started crying. I cannot believe that she was ever so tiny as DS-- and now she's talking constantly, questioning everything, weeping at ridiculous, tiny problems, and "playing" by doing the opposite of what we tell her to do. Oh my. Thankfully, I think her behavior has actually improved since DS was born. I hope it continues on an upward spiral.

ETA: I was just checking my e-mail, and I found a job offer for a job I applied for last spring. It's for teaching college English in the fall... 8 hours from where we now live. It's obviously a non-issue, now, but it's bittersweet. I miss teaching.

[triony]

I need to vent. I am reallly irritated!

T has decided he will not nap on the bed nursing in the past week. I woke up SO tired this morning. He actually seemed to sleep better on the futon w/out me, but I still woke up every time he had a rough transition in sleep. I also went running yesterday for the first time since I was about 10 weeks pregnant. It went really well, and I felt so good about myself, but of course it drained me even more.
Today I was so hopeful for the bed nap. I did our nap routine, swaddled him (he actually seemed pleased about that part) and then laid down with him on the bed in the "nap room". He starts flipping out. Won't nurse, won't cuddle, just fussing and screaming. So I get to put him in the Mei Tai and sit on the bouncy ball. Which is actually better than before. Now I can watch tv and work on the computer a bit. But I am SO TIRED. It is making me really annoyed with him and resentful. I know we need a more solid nap routine, that really helped with bedtime. But if I can't ever get him to nap, how can I create a routine (that doesn't involve motion and the Mei Tai). I was really ready to pull my hair out this morning.
EDIT: And now I really need to go to the bathroom. I used to be able to do that with him in the Mei Tai, but he's such a light sleeper now, he'll just wake up and be angry, and then won't go back to sleep. I HATE this.

For those of you who were talking about the Bumbo and poop, you could use this opportunity to get some poops in the toilet, instead of the diaper. (We do part-time EC here, and I love it)

[snoopy5386]

Originally Posted by jenfl

OMG!

My exhausted husband stayed after his 7pm-7am shift ended this morning to go to medical records and get a copy of Sprout's record from his NICU stay. When peopple finally started arriving after 8am, they told him he had to make an appointment -- and the phone number to the appointment maker just goes to voice mail.

OMG that is soooooo annoying. You'd think they'd have extended him a courtesy since he works there......

[crazyeight]

ugh i hate medical records! seems like a crime that they can legally own your own medical records. hope you get them SOON and they can just mail them to you.

food~ R has been intently watching us lately. we've given him a fry or 2 to munch on and a piece of watermelon and teeny piece of popcorn. he actually did seem to prefer the watermelon (after the FUNNIEST LOOK!) and the piece of popcorn (i know i was VERY careful!) but didn't care for the fry. next time dd has a banana i'm going to pinch a piece off and see what he think about that. i think he's going to be ready to really start exploring food soon.

he has been getting very good at sitting. he sat almost completly unassisted for maybe 5 minutes yesterday! he has very good ab muscles its more balance than the strength. he's like a weeble wobble that DOES fall down! i think once he is sitting/balancing (which i think probably another 3 weeks till he has it down pat) he'll be ready to explore the wonders of food.

i gave him a 2 oz bottle of formula last night and then nursed him (and he drank all my boob milk too) and he slept an extra 2 hours (we've been BARELY getting 3 hrs at a time for about 3 weeks) so i'm guessing he isn't filling up at night. he nurses enough to have a "fullish" belly and falls asleep. my boobs aren't making more cause he's not demanding more AT THAT TIME. not really sure how to remedy that...make him nurse every hour before bed? its hard to get him to eat when he doesn't feel hungry though (and he's going to pop on and off owwiee!). the faster flow of the bottle i think helped him get more in his tummy. so i am going to try a 4 oz bottle and nurse tonight and see how long he'll sleep. if i can get him used to needing more then maybe i can latch him on first, feed him formula and latch him on again and slowly lesson the bottle so he is demanding more from the breast?

very quiet here...oddly serene. very weird. just dd and R with me at home. stepkids back at their moms and ds1 at Kindy. poor dd is bored out of her mind. she'll start preschool soon hopefully. the speech prek called and set an appt to get her transitioned to headstart since she has grown leaps and bounds with her speech. i just hope it will still work (she gets bussed by the prek cause it's public school) but hopefully the headstart will be a little bit longer day than the prek? guess we'll see!

still waiting on my PELL for college. i just got the notification that its going to go through and the amount but i am way behind b/c i missed a deadline. i'm not even sure i'll get the excess payment before classes start and i'm not sure how i'll buy books! thanks so much for the link to free prime for students whomever posted it! i found 2 of the 3 books the cheapest on amazon and i can get them shipped in 2 days free so even if its down to the wire i have that to save my hide! the other book i can have expedited i suppose (amazon charges $30 more so extra shipping is worth it). wish me luck and cross your fingers for quick payment!

i'm hoping R will still be a very content baby like he has all summer. i have no childcare for him (online classes) so i have to study around him and i'm going to need at least 4/hrs a day to keep up (possibly more!).

[rhiOrion]

I think this was from last week's thread, but P&H, I wasn't offended at all about the question of if L was getting sick from day care. I think it is just a matter of fact that kids in day care get sick more often. I hate it, but there isn't much I can do about it. I think I need to do a better job of taking care of my own immune system, in hopes that it helps both of us.

The nurse I spoke with suggested starting back on a multi vitamin, a B complex (but I'm already taking folic acid, so I guess I should ditch that and start the complex?), vitamin D, and I assume vitamin C. She said echancia (sp?) if I felt something coming on.

Anybody else have anything they love? It needs to be available in either chewable, tiny pills, or liquid. I can't swallow big pills. The only other thing I could think of was a probiotic, but they're so expensive to get either powder or chewable!

[snoopy5386]

So this morning we went to a friend's house for a playdate right around 10:30. Kelsey woke up at 9, so I figured she'd either
A. fall asleep on the car ride there
B. nurse to sleep in my arms at their house
C. fall asleep in the beco

Instead she just stayed awake until we left at 1 pm!!! That's right she stayed awake for 4 hours despite my best efforts. I didn't bring a swaddle blanket with me, figuring she'd fall asleep and take a short nap in my arms. Wrong! She just kept almost falling asleep and wiggling her limbs and waking herself back up. I tried the Beco and since I wasn't actually walking, just swaying around, she wouldn't fall asleep in there either. This one is going to be trouble I tell you! And I'm now adding a swaddleme to the pile of crap I carry around in my diaper bag!

[jenfl]

triony -- Does it work to keep him awake until he's just falling apart? We do that with Sprout sometimes; hold him around the house until he's falling asleep in our arms, and THEN put him down. We can get an hour or so out of him then!

[triony]

Originally Posted by jenfl

triony -- Does it work to keep him awake until he's just falling apart? We do that with Sprout sometimes; hold him around the house until he's falling asleep in our arms, and THEN put him down. We can get an hour or so out of him then!

When he gets tired we have a meltdown, first fussyness, and then all out screaming. I mean SCREAMING. Once he gets to that point it is almost impossible to get him to calm down and sleep. I haven't seen this kid get drowsy on his own (since newborn stage obviously) unless there's a party going on around him. I'm being completely literal. If we're a very loud restaurant or at a party he'll fall asleep on his own in a sling. He only stays asleep for 30 min or so, but at least he'll fall asleep. Other than that he has to be almost tricked into going to sleep. Other than bedtime, luckily we established a bedtime routine a couple weeks ago, so he'll still go to sleep at night.

I was so frustrated today that for his second nap I drove for an hour and a half on the highway. I told myself I'd never do that. Bad for environment, my car, everything. But I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm boucing him on the ball again right now. I haven't gotten any housework done in a week. When he's awake and happy (which lasts about an hour) I want to spend that time with him, having fun, not sticking him somewhere so I can get stuff done.

on the records issue. I officially hate hospitals, doctors and veterinarians now.

[rhiOrion]

So, I'm reading NCSS now (I had read the newborn part before, but I'm reading the 4 month+ part now).

I'm not really sure it's what I need. But I haven't gotten very deep into it yet.

But she is talking so much about sleep patterns. L's sleep patterns are actually pretty good. I mean, I wish she wouldn't start squirming at like 5am every morning, but she sleeps through the night. She can go from 9pm to 9am without waking up for more than a few seconds here and there (she nurses, but she does it in her sleep).

What I need help with is the whole getting her to sleep somewhere other than ON me thing. But, then, I'm also kind of going with the concept of: is this a problem for me? Or is it just that everyone else thinks I should have a problem? It does hurt my back, so it's sort of a problem for me. But, when DH brings her to me at night, I tend to fall asleep nursing her, and that's why I rarely end up moving her to her nap nanny. Last night I moved her and she slept there for 3.5 hours. Night before that, at my parents' house I put her in the pack n play and she slept there for a while. The other night she slept for four hours in the nap nanny. So I'm thinking this is more my issue. I can't move her over to the nap nanny until she's COMPLETELY asleep and unlatched from my boob, so I usually end up falling asleep before that.

I guess I just can't figure out exactly what I *want* so I can't figure out how to change it.

[jsh7809]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

So, I'm reading NCSS now (I had read the newborn part before, but I'm reading the 4 month+ part now).

I'm not really sure it's what I need. But I haven't gotten very deep into it yet.

But she is talking so much about sleep patterns. L's sleep patterns are actually pretty good. I mean, I wish she wouldn't start squirming at like 5am every morning, but she sleeps through the night. She can go from 9pm to 9am without waking up for more than a few seconds here and there (she nurses, but she does it in her sleep).

What I need help with is the whole getting her to sleep somewhere other than ON me thing. But, then, I'm also kind of going with the concept of: is this a problem for me? Or is it just that everyone else thinks I should have a problem? It does hurt my back, so it's sort of a problem for me. But, when DH brings her to me at night, I tend to fall asleep nursing her, and that's why I rarely end up moving her to her nap nanny. Last night I moved her and she slept there for 3.5 hours. Night before that, at my parents' house I put her in the pack n play and she slept there for a while. The other night she slept for four hours in the nap nanny. So I'm thinking this is more my issue. I can't move her over to the nap nanny until she's COMPLETELY asleep and unlatched from my boob, so I usually end up falling asleep before that.

I guess I just can't figure out exactly what I *want* so I can't figure out how to change it.

Rhi, I'm right there with you. What I WANT is to get some better naps out of DD, since right now we are stuck with 4-5 super short ones and a grouchy baby much of the day. Then a later and later bedtime (lately it's 10:30!! despite me trying from 8:30 on) and a later wakeup, BUT lots of wiggling and mini wakeups from 5am on.
So, I'm torn between trying to crack down on naps and routine in the hopes that it all gets easier a la NCSS - and just going with the flow for the time being, and seeing if her sleep cycles lengthen a bit (thus giving me longer naps) as she grows and eventually starts eating food.

I'm trying to be okay with nursing multiple times a night (at least 2), but I would like to have her be in her crib at least half of the time, for my own comfort and sleep, as well as to keep her acclimated to it. But it is so much easier to cosleep and nurse now that she's bigger... I just wish we had a much, much bigger bed!

Seems like we're all in similar places, trying to figure out if they're really hungry at night or just wanting mama (S is super hungry, I think she's gearing up for yet another growth spurt - much more and she's just going to roll places!), and having weird naps. What makes me aggravated is that all of the books (Sears, NCSS, etc) seem to say the same thing - that babies at this age will take 2-3 1-2 hour naps a day - and S has NEVER done that one time. She takes 4-5 30-45 minute naps, and I have to work hard to get those. But then everyone I talk to anecdotally (sp?) says that they have a similar schedule...
maybe if I wasn't working? Or if I had an older kid and therefore more of a consistent routine?

[snoopy5386]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

So, I'm reading NCSS now (I had read the newborn part before, but I'm reading the 4 month+ part now).

I'm not really sure it's what I need. But I haven't gotten very deep into it yet.

But she is talking so much about sleep patterns. L's sleep patterns are actually pretty good. I mean, I wish she wouldn't start squirming at like 5am every morning, but she sleeps through the night. She can go from 9pm to 9am without waking up for more than a few seconds here and there (she nurses, but she does it in her sleep).

What I need help with is the whole getting her to sleep somewhere other than ON me thing. But, then, I'm also kind of going with the concept of: is this a problem for me? Or is it just that everyone else thinks I should have a problem? It does hurt my back, so it's sort of a problem for me. But, when DH brings her to me at night, I tend to fall asleep nursing her, and that's why I rarely end up moving her to her nap nanny. Last night I moved her and she slept there for 3.5 hours. Night before that, at my parents' house I put her in the pack n play and she slept there for a while. The other night she slept for four hours in the nap nanny. So I'm thinking this is more my issue. I can't move her over to the nap nanny until she's COMPLETELY asleep and unlatched from my boob, so I usually end up falling asleep before that.

I guess I just can't figure out exactly what I *want* so I can't figure out how to change it.

I also end up cosleeping with Kelsey each night around 3-4 am because I fall asleep with her. She wakes around then, I go into her room and get her from the crib and lay down on the bed in her room to nurse. My goal is to put her back in the crib and go back to my own bed because we both sleep better when I do that, but I usually fall asleep. Then she wakes every hour or two after that until we get up for the day. If I can stay awake long enough to get her back to her crib and get back to my own bed, she'll sleep another 3 hours before waking again. But that doesn't happen. Usually, I'll wake up for a second, have the thought "I should put her in the crib" and then fall asleep again.....

[snoopy5386]

Originally Posted by jsh7809

Rhi, I'm right there with you. What I WANT is to get some better naps out of DD, since right now we are stuck with 4-5 super short ones and a grouchy baby much of the day. Then a later and later bedtime (lately it's 10:30!! despite me trying from 8:30 on) and a later wakeup, BUT lots of wiggling and mini wakeups from 5am on.
So, I'm torn between trying to crack down on naps and routine in the hopes that it all gets easier a la NCSS - and just going with the flow for the time being, and seeing if her sleep cycles lengthen a bit (thus giving me longer naps) as she grows and eventually starts eating food.

I'm trying to be okay with nursing multiple times a night (at least 2), but I would like to have her be in her crib at least half of the time, for my own comfort and sleep, as well as to keep her acclimated to it. But it is so much easier to cosleep and nurse now that she's bigger... I just wish we had a much, much bigger bed!

Seems like we're all in similar places, trying to figure out if they're really hungry at night or just wanting mama (S is super hungry, I think she's gearing up for yet another growth spurt - much more and she's just going to roll places!), and having weird naps. What makes me aggravated is that all of the books (Sears, NCSS, etc) seem to say the same thing - that babies at this age will take 2-3 1-2 hour naps a day - and S has NEVER done that one time. She takes 4-5 30-45 minute naps, and I have to work hard to get those. But then everyone I talk to anecdotally (sp?) says that they have a similar schedule...
maybe if I wasn't working? Or if I had an older kid and therefore more of a consistent routine?

If we are home and I can control naptime, Kelsey will take 3 1 hour naps. But the days where I am home all day are few and far between, so that rarely happens.,,,

[crazyeight]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

So, I'm reading NCSS now (I had read the newborn part before, but I'm reading the 4 month+ part now).

I'm not really sure it's what I need. But I haven't gotten very deep into it yet.

But she is talking so much about sleep patterns. L's sleep patterns are actually pretty good. I mean, I wish she wouldn't start squirming at like 5am every morning, but she sleeps through the night. She can go from 9pm to 9am without waking up for more than a few seconds here and there (she nurses, but she does it in her sleep).

What I need help with is the whole getting her to sleep somewhere other than ON me thing. But, then, I'm also kind of going with the concept of: is this a problem for me? Or is it just that everyone else thinks I should have a problem? It does hurt my back, so it's sort of a problem for me. But, when DH brings her to me at night, I tend to fall asleep nursing her, and that's why I rarely end up moving her to her nap nanny. Last night I moved her and she slept there for 3.5 hours. Night before that, at my parents' house I put her in the pack n play and she slept there for a while. The other night she slept for four hours in the nap nanny. So I'm thinking this is more my issue. I can't move her over to the nap nanny until she's COMPLETELY asleep and unlatched from my boob, so I usually end up falling asleep before that.

I guess I just can't figure out exactly what I *want* so I can't figure out how to change it.

with dd i got a FANTASTIC kitchen timer and put it by my head....i tried finding a timer this time and coulnd't find one that worked right. so i'm using my cell phone timer now. i have to wake up enough to set the time (instead of just pushing "30 minutes" on the kitchen timer) so sometimes it doens't work and i also am so exhausted that i completely don't hear it and stay asleep! sometimes i even wake up turn it off and go back to sleep without knowing it. if you haven't tried those yet i would give it a go so you can get some sleep. sometimes i even notice that R wants to nurse just cause my boob is in his face. i can wake up cause he's rooting around and just move away from him and he quiets down (about half the time).

[laughingfox]

Originally Posted by loveneverfails

So, anyone who has experienced this, talk to me about post partum thyroid issues. I am trying to differentiate between "lady, you've got 5 kids. What the heck did you expect!?" fatigue and low thyroid. Weight loss isn't happening over here, of course I also have been atrocious diet wise and may be old enough that I can't do that anymore with relative impunity.

Mine was prenatal, not post-pardum, but man, I could only be awake for about 10 hours a day. After that I was useless. Of course, that was my first trimester, so I'm sure that came in to play as well.
I'm seeing my GP for my thyroid this week. My endocrinologist is a quack.

[jenfl]

Sprout has finally learned that he can roll over in a diaper as well as naked. This meant he was up from 5:30am until 6:45am in his crib, talking and wiggling and then flipping himself over like a turtle. I'd flip him back to his stomach, nod off for 10 minutes, and have to do it again.

[ivymae]

Dear lord you guys, I'm buying a pregnancy test later today. This is the third day in a row that i've woken up nauseous, and with a bloody nose. Mind you, i have a gut issue that nausea isn't uncommon, and it has been dry here, but... yeah. Becky's an awesome sleeper, so who knows when I'll start cycling again. DD2 was a 'first egg', so I'm a wee bit gun-shy. Maybe being penis-shy would be smarter.

In other news, I am getting a bike today, yay! Becky is still too little to go for real rides, but the big girls are LOVING the trailer we bought yesterday (DH took them around the block and they cried and cried when they had to get out). We live a mile from their school, and my neighbor is willing to watch becky while I shuttle the big girls back and forth, so I think it will work out. You know, as long as I am not pregnant and throwing up hourly. Ack.

[rhiOrion]

Ivy, I'm sending you some NOT pregnant vibes!

Though, if someone is going to get pregnant before our DDC closes they'd better do it soon! I just looked and the April 2011 DDC opened on July 19th. I can't imagine they'll let there be both an April AND May 2011 DDC open while we're still open. I bet we get our 48 hour notice this week.

[loveneverfails]

Ivory, don't you be trying to steal the Platinum Bedazzled Birth Stool of Winning At Darwin from me!!! It's MINE!!!

Seriously, . And yay for bikes!!