April 2010 Mamas, through October 2nd

[Peace+Hope]

WELCOME
TO THE APRIL 2010
DDC IN LWAB!

It's wonderful to be able to continue to chat with mamas we know here in LWAB, and we hope anyone who has been part of our DDC at any time will join in whenever you can. We also welcome other moms of babies born at the same time, just help us get to know you.

Below is a list of us mamas and our little ones, as well as some extra info.
Please feel free to have this edited any time by posting your request in this thread in bold.

For now we will be a weekly thread. In the future we can lengthen the time of our threads as needed.

erickalynne, Jennings, 2/11, single mom to 2, Jennings born at 32 weeks by emergency c/s due to placental abruption

Amandamanda, Adam, 3/2, (had my dates wrong in the beginning and was actually due in march - hung out here 'cause i liked you all! )

shantiani, Astrid, 3/14. Between recurring miscarriages and then pre-eclampsia, we had to work for this baby! But now she is here and perfect and worth all of the trials.

Peace+Hope, Charlie, 3/25, late-onset Pre-E, induction at 37 weeks, no pain meds! grieving my home birth... maybe next time?

NH Mom, Charlie, 3/27

Oliver's Mama, Eli, 3/27/10

jenfl, Sprout, 3/31, home water birth, transfer at birth+10 hours, forced 3 day NICU stay for Sprout (and I) because of doctors practicing defensive medicine, ongoing breastfeeding issues due to tongue tie and high palate

Ivymae, Rebecca Joy, 4/1, Home water birth

rolenta, Naomi, 4/2

MaterPrimaePuellae, V, 4/4

Liz.Furtado, Maxwell Cohen, 4/5

momto4plus4, Jeremiah, 4/5, induced, stuck at 9.5 cm, ended in 1st c-section, cord wrapped, SO grateful he's alive!

Cecilia'sMama, Cecilia, 4/6, high BP at 38 weeks, avoided c-section!

crazyeight, Baby R, 4/6 (and is a boy!) and joins 2 older siblings! He was a vaginal birth at 41 weeks.

finn'smama, Henry, 4/7, born at home

andlee, Ben, 4/8

RhiOrion, L, 4/8, medical induction due to Cholestasis of Pregnancy, WOHM

Dena, Hannah and Maya, 4/9

dhinderliter,R, 4/10

sewcraftygirl, Anna, 4/11

Snoopy5386, Kelsey, 4/11

Carita, Danita, 4/15 Tax Day baby , Fast and Furious NCB @ hospital w/MW and awesome doula!

GreenTeaGinger, Rowena, 4/15, midwife attended birth center birth

LenaC, Leon, 4/17, Born 16 days after his due date of April 1st. Held my ground, as doc wanted to induce for low amnio fluid. All natural hospital water birth, that lasted about 3 hours.

Jsh7809, Symphony, 4/18, PPD, emergency post birth surgery for vaginal hematoma

Triony, Tobin, 4/18

3tammuz, Aliza, 4/19, double footling breech, VBAC in a hospital

Bubbamummy, Molly, 04/21, breech with double nuchal cord leading to an 'elective' c-section at 39wks

Pepper44, Ada 4/21

Ann_of_loxley, Hamish born on the 22nd (all 12lbs 4oz of him - though do I really need to remind anyone of that? lol) - and his big brother Duncan born the 19th of September and is about to become FIVE years old! !

dogretro, dd2, 4/23, labored at home, birthed in the hospital, all-natural VBAC

mom2happy, baby girl Tess, 4/24

smeisnotapirate, Naomi, 4/25, HBAC! Shout it off the rooftops!

ebbb, Lucy, 4/27

Elecampane, Eleanor, 4/28

laughingfox, girl, 4/28, 2nd homebirth

LoveNeverFails, Mercy, 5/11, Winner of the Silver Birth Stool,
Accidental quasi-UC (midwife running in the door, but we caught head and she caught shoulders...) island birth (half in the water, half on land?), Survivor of Hostage Crisis 2010, NICU Edition, Mom of the only baby in NICU with toenails painted hot pink, and Remembering Nicholas, 11/2009

silverspook, Isaiah, 5/17, Awesome Rockstar Golden Birthstool Winner

TreefrogNYC, Benjamin Zephyr, 4/24, born at home after 7 IUIs and one m/c (3.6.09) -- husband, midwife, midwife's assistant, doula, and two cats in attendance!

[Peace+Hope]

dena, how was your husband's interview???

4+4, so great about your mom coming!! i've decided i FEEL like i need my mom more as an adult than i ever realized i was needing her as a kid. it's still so important for me to be able to rely on her now... i hope your mom being there will be everything you hope for, and a good support through this time for you.

wow, jenica. s. it's amazing how many of us ended up NOT having the birth we planned... makes me wonder whether the 95% of births are without incident statement you always hear...

anne, yes, first food, put in in the baby book! i love my baby book, and my mom included the silly and odd.

pepper! i was about to ask about you . charlie just cut his #2 tooth this week too ((sniff))

triony, wow, i need to read birth stories again... have most of you posted yours on MDC? i only ever posted mine in our DDC.

so, i was away from the computer all day yesterday, we got up before the sun to go on my in-laws boat for the day, stayed a lot later than we'd planned, and didn't get home til 11pm! charlie was a champ, but he didn't really settle for the night til we got home last night. sweet boy.

[OneWithTwo]

I think we need a list of who has FB! I have 24 mama's from the DDC on FB and it's hard to remember usernames....Jen has a list, but I have way more of you added than what is on the list!

I feel like a bad mom. Jennings has the most awful owie on his head. It's about the size of a quarter and it's raw and bleeding. I noticed it last night and I have no clue where the kid could have gotten it. I put neosporin(sp?) on it. The night before campbell was dragging him on the carpet(she was sneaking him away to her room while I was going to the bathroom) and I am thinking it could be a rug burn?
I still feel awful.

[braidmama]

Hey all!

I feel kinda out of the loop but it seems like i ahrdly ever have time to pop in here these days...how is everyone? And the babes?

Just wondering where all of your LO's are with milestones. I know every baby is different and they will get to each of them in their own time, I just keep reading things about how other 5-6 month olds are sitting up on their own and rolling over a lot- Max is not doing those things really at all! He HATES tummy time. I try to make sure he does it a few times a day since it'll only last for a couple of minutes at most, get down onf loor with him and play with him and with toys to try to distract him from the fact that he's on his tummy...I've used the boppy to take some of the pressure off his tummy to see if that's what's making him mad, EVERYTHING. We bw and doother things like stand him up on our laps and such so he has really aweome neck control but I'm just concerned he isn't going to be able to strengthen up his upper arms if he isn't getting enough tummy time. Someone (Sry! I forget who it was!) told me in a post I made about this before that since "tummy time" is mostly a western idea and that all babies get there eventually regardless, but I guess I'm still nervous about it!

Also, we started giving him a bit of cereal (I was going to start with fruit but a bunch of peope told me to start with cereal- no idea why I listened to them) and was giving him a little bit about once a day. He became so constipated that he was screaming the most awful screams every time he had to poo. I felt so bad. Needless to say I'm not giving him any more cereal. Have you guys introduced solids yet or are you waiting? To be honest I originally wanted to wait and didn't...Since we stopped the cereal he does seem to be fine with EBF so I'm just going to stick with my original gut feeling of waiting. If you HAVE started solids, what was your babes first food and how did he/she react to it? Just curious! If not, what do you think you'll start with?

Thanks, ladies!

[jenfl]

Joining up!

We're hanging out at my parents today (Nugget has been looking forward to football Sunday for ages) and Sprout met the cat that lives on their lanai for the first time. He FREAKED OUT! We've got 3 cats at home (one black, two brown tabby) who he loves to watch. But, for some reason, seeing this orange tabby has twice sent him into a mess of tears and screaming! I have no idea why!

[jenfl]

Liz -- Re: Solids: We're really holding out to 6 months b/c Nugget had dairy issues and I'm being extra-careful. We'll do baby-led and start with bananas, sweet potatoes, and generally whatever is on our plates that seems appropriate. I did purees last time and it was fine, but I really like the BLW idea better.

[ann_of_loxley]

anne, yes, first food, put in in the baby book! i love my baby book, and my mom included the silly and odd.

Fantastic! At least it was the instructions from the new sling we got! hehe I could still see the Korean print on it when it came out!

We havn't actually started solids yet and I am not sure if I intend to for awhile. I am worried that with him, he may end up actually eating more food than getting milk just because of the kinda 'go go get' baby he is! Not sure what to do about that yet. Hes not ready physically - so I still have time! (to worry of course! lol)

[rhiOrion]

We haven't started solids yet, but will really soon. I bought some still-green bananas this weekend, and as soon as they start to turn brown, and thus mushy, I'll let her play. She's 5.5 months, so I'm comfortable with it.

[Dena]

P+H - Dh's interview went well, lasted most of the hour. Fingers crossed - it would be a great opportunity for him. Sounds like you had fun on the boat yesterday! Yay!

Jen - I have had my kids have weird reactions like sprout did to your parents' kitty too. Maybe the color was odd, or maybe he wanted kitty inside with him? I think it must be awful for babies to know what they want and not be able to say it!

Liz - I am also waiting until at least six months to start solids. My two have also had dairy/reflux issues and so I am being extra careful as well. Our traditional first food has been pear in our family, as it is the least allergenic. We'll move on to other soft foods like banana and sweet potato. We do mostly blw, with some purees of other things thrown in, but to be honest we let our kids self-feed the purees too. (Not coincidentally, the start of solids is also when we start nightly baths for our babes. )

Ericka - It could be rug burn on J's head. Try not to beat yourself up, Mama. My kids have bumps and bruises all the time (yes, even the babies) that I can't account for. I am sure he is fine. You just can't control every minute of their days, esp. with more than one in the house.

Afm - yesterday was a good day. We did gymnastics and swimming at the Y with the older girls. Tried gymnastics with Ellen but she did NOT want to participate and was disrupting the class. Since there is a waiting list for those classes, I pulled her out. We can try again next session. She loves swimming though, and Sofia had fun in gymnastics while Ellen swam. And bonus, I got to visit wih a mom friend whose son is in gymnastics at the same time as Sofie. Then we went on to the resale store and found some awesome bargains - Hanna Andersson jacket for $5 and dress for $6 for Ellen, plus two turtlenecks and a sweater for Sofie, and a Hanna Andersson cap for the babies for $1, and two diaper covers for $1.49 each! I also loved that when I showed DH the diaper covers, he let out a very genuine Whoo hoo! Then we watched The Blind Side last night. Great film! I want to be Leigh Anne Tuohy when I grow up...

[jsh7809]

Hope everyone's having a lovely sunday. Can't respond to the other posts right now because I'm feeling like a wreck... I had been hoping that S's sleeping was slowly improving, doing some of the NCSS stuff and working on naps. Well, I finally just logged my second night (with NCSS, you do it every 10 days) and I realized that she's getting WORSE. Last night she woke up SEVEN TIMES between 7pm and 7am. Or, she woke me up anyway, and needed resettling or nursing. Seven, people.
DH has let me sleep in a bit both mornings this weekend, but it's really hitting me that it's been months now since I got more than the occasional 2-3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. This is rough.
I know from last week that when I start crying because I'm exhausted and feeling like I'm doing everything wrong, that means it's DH's turn to get up with her and give her a bottle of pumped milk at night. She still ends up needing ME about twice a night but I will take that over 7 times!
Seriously, though... what AM I doing wrong? How can it be this awful STILL? If this is in fact a 4 month regression, we're going on a month and a half of it! She just turned 5 months, and I'm terrified we've got months of awful sleep ahead of us. She can't find her fingers to self soothe. She has to suck to sleep (though that was getting better - it's definitely not) and either have a ton of motion or be right next to me. I wouldn't mind cosleeping if it actually helped - right now I've been trying to mostly put her back in her crib, and end up spending about half the night cosleeping, which is fine, but she still wakes up a gazillion times with that. And I'm a light sleeper, so every peep she makes wakes me.
I'm really, really having trouble thinking clearly, just getting through the days (and nights!) like this. Looking at the sleep log I was like, no wonder I am a zombie. No wonder I can't do anything during the days. This is torture.
She didn't sleep this badly as a newborn, and slept relatively wonderfully around 2-3 months.
I'm thinking I'm going to have to let her cry - not CIO, don't get me wrong, but I'm so responsive to every noise (thinking, "well, at least this way I'm catching her before she wakes herself up so she's easier to resettle) that it's exhausting. I know she's young but I'm thinking I'm going to need to start letting her cry for 3-5 minutes (or at least move beyond the fussing stage into an actual cry, which I have a hard time doing) before going to her. Is that a terrible idea?
No matter how hard I try, for months and months, I can't take my finger (she has to suck on my pinky to sleep) away until she's fast asleep. I can literally try 20 times and she'll wake up everytime unless she's completely out.
ARGH!!

[loveneverfails]

Stupid husband gone at stupid business trip, staying in stupid hotel that had a stupid fire alarm go off last night with my husband on the 11th floor, and freaking out. I couldn't sleep last night, not because Merce was keeping me up, but because there was a critical lack of snoring and covers stealing.

I am now tired enough to be on a quadruple espresso while trying to get work done, having taken 5 children under age 8 to Mass this morning by myself. And I was bouncing Merce on my lap and singing "I grew you and BOOTED you out! Booted you out! Booted you out!"

It's Survivor: Business Trip Edition. I blame my husband.

[ann_of_loxley]

Jess - would it really not be better co-sleeping? I couldn't imagine having to get up that many times! If it makes you feel any better, I know Hamish feeds at least that amount of times in the night and I think that is totally normal! Cept - I don't have to move (unless I am swapping a boob! hehe) and he is right there...so even though I do wake up, it is for the briefest of moments and not a full-on-waking (like getting up out of bed would be!) and that really does help (as I can also then drift off back to sleep quicker!)!
I think fussing is our babies communicating with us just as much as crying - if we are responding to their fussing, they don't have to cry and I feel that only builds their trust in us as it lets them know we are listening and that they are valued people. It's hard - but this too shall pass (at least I hope so!)

[OneWithTwo]

Jennings fed/attached literally every hour-hour and 1/2 last night. I think I counted 10 times from bed to wake time? 7 is nothing with us, 8-9 is average.
It is so much easier having him next to me. I still feel like a zombie though, but not like when I had to wake to pump and feed him.
I did buy a paci..Natursutten http://www.thesoftlanding.com/nanaruropa03.html and it is the ONLY paci he will take. He likes to chew on all of it too.
what is NCSS?
J is 7 months/5 months adjusted

[jsh7809]

NCSS is a book called the No Cry Sleep Solution. It has a lot of great tips for parents who don't want their babies to cry it out... but I'm starting to think a lot of it might just be stuff that works out developmentally in time, anyway. I hope, at least! Grr.
I have been cosleeping typically when it has been so rough, but the past few nights have been trying to get her back in her crib most of the time so that I can (ideally) get back to the schedule we once had of me getting up to feed her 2-3 times a night and putting her back down until sunrise. I really am that light of a sleeper that every little movement (and she is WILD AND WIGGLY all night long) wakes me. It's tough, because clearly getting up 7 times isn't working either. Sigh. And everytime I think "OK, I'll just nurse her all night if that's what I need to do to get some sleep", I try it and she overfills and barfs all over both of us so I have to get up and change everything. UGH!

Trying to be patient, trying to help her learn to self soothe a bit (most of the wake ups, she just needs something to suck on, but isn't hungry, so it ends up being my fingers allll night long - she seems to forget she has her own! ha ha). But, hopefully all of it will pass in time... I'm just scared that it won't. I know that "bad habits" are kind of a myth at this age, but little girl is obviously getting used to getting up every hour or two!

[Peace+Hope]

speaking of baby barf, tried the frozen carrot with charlie. he LOVED it, but it was a lot messier than i thought it would be, and the carrot got floppy pretty quickly. there was more liquid than i realized he was getting til he puked a few minutes later and it was orange..... ewwww. should i put that in the baby book?

jsh, eck, sorry. all i know is i've spent a lot of time reading on nighttime parenting here, and apparently what S is doing IS normal. not that it's what you want, but some babies are just more needy of mom for longer, or in stages. charlie has been waking more frequently for about a month as well, and i'm wondering when he'll go back to sleeping straight from 8pm to 4 am.

lnf, i don't know if i could do it! at least the olders go to school tomorrow . my husband is going away for one night next week, and i'm already thinking about staying w/ my parents...

[jenfl]

Jess -- It's not just you. I wasn't able to co-sleep, either -- the smallest wiggle or noise woke me up. DH and I intended to be co-sleepers, but it just didn't work for us with DD. I did it occassionally with Sprout, but, yeah, just not my thing.

[rhiOrion]

P&H- that's weird. we didn't have any trouble with the carrot getting soggy or her actually getting any. I wonder if it has anything to do with freezing it? I haven't actually tried that yet. I wonder if it busted the cells or something and made it floppable.

[jsh7809]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

P&H- that's weird. we didn't have any trouble with the carrot getting soggy or her actually getting any. I wonder if it has anything to do with freezing it? I haven't actually tried that yet. I wonder if it busted the cells or something and made it floppable.

Ha ha, love the science on that!

I am having a harder and harder time holding off on food... she wants to eat just about everything, including cat fur and the wisteria vine I showed her. I think we're gonna have some food playtime here shortly!

Thanks for the commiseration on the sleeping stuff. Yeah, it's weird because a lot of my friends have told me they had the same experience until the baby was about 6 months old - others have had babies who sleep through from very early - and still others have had awful sleepers until 2-3 years! So it's good to be reminded that it's normal, and that the only thing I can control is asking for more help, and my reaction to it. I'm trying to take the time when we're nursing or cuddling when she needs help sleeping to rub her back, kiss her head, and really connect to her and the moment - because I know it won't last forever, and I know that she needs me, and it's awesome that only I can give her what she needs
It just also means I am a zooooombie a lot of the time around here! Sigh, oh well. I just need to stop running through all of the millions of things I could be doing (Ferber, NCSS, getting up at every peep, waiting until she's wide awake, swaddling, unswaddled, etc) because I"m driving both of us crazy!

LNF, how's the knee? I"m trying to step up my "exercise" but that just means going for some 30 minute walks; doing ab stuff so my back hurts less; and having sex at least once a week . TMI?

[OneWithTwo]

my daughter was a great sleeper. We coslept with her and I only woke up 2-3 times to feed her..but she slept all through the night, usually me having to wake her to feed her.
Jennings is complete opposite of her though

[momto4plus4]

Can i get added to the roster?

Jeremiah, 4-5-10, induced, stuck at 9.5 cm, ended in 1st c-section, cord wrapped, SO grateful he's alive!