Postpartum Thread 9/20-9/26

[amyrobynne]

Another week is here (or will be in an hour or two)!

My baby is 8 weeks already. I feel normal again. Or at least as normal as I can with 3 kids crying over bedtime. I think I saw Tim's first real smiles today. He hit 11 lbs over the weekend -- he looks so roly-poly to me now. The baby acne is waning. We're starting to settle in to the school routine, although bedtime could use some work. I've been mostly able to work as many hours as I intend to at my WAH job this week. I finally got around to dealing with our September budget. I'm trying to cook double portions of dinner a couple times a week, with the expectation that once a week we'll eat a freezer meal and eventually we'll have a decent stash. I've got a meat loaf and 2 pot pies in the freezer now. It still takes me eons to get out of the house and I'm horribly impatient with my older boys (who are ignoring most of what we say and refusing to help or go anywhere), but we're making progress.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

The double portion idea is a great idea! I may have to give that a shot.

I'm finally done bleeding and spotting and don't have to wear pads anymore!! I'm 6 weeks pp as of yesterday.

Annabelle is doing really well. It feels like life is settling into more of a routine and we're getting some things figured out.

DD1's birthday is tomorrow! My parents are going to come down for a few days to stay with us to celebrate and give me a hand. They really are helpful (they clean and buy us food out or cook for every meal), so I'm looking forward to it. All our family lives 3 hours away, so we are always up for the help when we get it!

[carrierenee]

I havent checked back for a little while.

Camden is a day shy of 7 weeks. He's been smiling for about a 1.5 weeks but the last few days they are the big, cute ones. At his 6 week appointment he was 12lbs 4oz so growing like a weed.

We are having some big issues with a lot of crying/gas/spitting up. I'm taking him to a chiropractor this week to see what they say.

My stomach muscles are still week, more my fault at this point. I've been trying to strengthen them so working on that. I feel mostly normal at this point...I still have fluctuating days though emotionally.

After this club closes, where are we all going? Id love to stay in touch with you all. I wouldnt be against setting up a board if people were interested in still chatting and keeping in touch about our babies.

[miss_nikki]

My little guy is just over 4 weeks now. Tandem nursing is going a little better. I need to read Adventures in Tandem Nursing, though. At our last visit with the mw a week ago DS weighed 9lbs 1oz. He's still sleeping pretty good. He nurses 2-3 times a night. I've been trying to wear him around in the sling. He likes it about half the time. He's making more noises and is awake a lot more now. He He has also been smiling some and has even laughed. He seems to be focusing on our faces and such a bit more. Cloth diapering has been going good, although I have him in disposables today.

As for me, I'm starting to feel more and more human. I haven't been bleeding for at least a week and am only having some "spotting" every once in a while. I'm feeling less overwhelmed and more able to get stuff done, although I'm still not 100% back to keeping stuff taken care of. I'm feeling ready to start strengthening my muscles back up. I've done some walking, but not a lot yet. I will admit I've been rather unpleasant lately though. I could chalk it up to hormones, but really I think it's just me looking at the fact that I now have 4 children and that there are 3 other people in this house who could be doing a lot more to help out...

[somegirl99]

Just over 9 weeks (2 months!) here. I'm back to feeling pretty normal as well, just still a bit out of shape.

DS is doing great, we flew up to Oregon and back this weekend for a wedding, and he turned out be a great traveler. Slept almost all the way through both flights, most of the wedding, and a good portion of the time hanging out in an overly-loud restaurant with our friends. All thanks to my new BaliBaby stretch wrap. We had been struggling to find a carrier that DS was comfortable in (doesn't like the ring slings) and that was poppable (issue with the mei tai) and the wrap has been working great. I got it on Thursday, just in time as we left on Friday. DH said the trip would have been miserable without it.

The EC is going pretty well, despite a weekend in sposies with no pottytunities. And overall we are getting more sleep, with a stretch of 5-6 hours some nights lately.

Still have baby acne here, hopefully will go away soon. DS was over 11 pounds 2 weeks ago, so must be over 12 now. He is definitely roly poly. He made a lot of fans this weekend.

[bendmom]

Originally Posted by somegirl99

we flew up to Oregon and back this weekend for a wedding, and he turned out be a great traveler. Slept almost all the way through both flights, most of the wedding, and a good portion of the time hanging out in an overly-loud restaurant with our friends. All thanks to my new BaliBaby stretch wrap. We had been struggling to find a carrier that DS was comfortable in (doesn't like the ring slings) and that was poppable (issue with the mei tai) and the wrap has been working great. I got it on Thursday, just in time as we left on Friday. DH said the trip would have been miserable without it.


Still have baby acne here, hopefully will go away soon. DS was over 11 pounds 2 weeks ago, so must be over 12 now. He is definitely roly poly. He made a lot of fans this weekend.

Where is Oregon? This is the first year I havent' had 3-5 weddings in the summer. I guess as I get older my friends all become married with kids as well...

Jardin has some serious baby acne too. It's all over now and down her little double chin. I wonder if it itches? We use bio-kleen detergent so it's not a rash from detergents, I feel nervous giving her more than one bath a week as I don't want to over dry her skin, but I just don't know what else to do to help it go way.

I have run twice and gone to yoga twice so far. I'm about 15 pounds away from pre-baby, my stomach muscles are non existant right now under the spare tire. Ugh, eating chinese take-out last night prob. didnt' help, but sometimes I'm just to tired to make dinner every night.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Originally Posted by bendmom

Jardin has some serious baby acne too. It's all over now and down her little double chin. I wonder if it itches? We use bio-kleen detergent so it's not a rash from detergents, I feel nervous giving her more than one bath a week as I don't want to over dry her skin, but I just don't know what else to do to help it go way.

If you want a really good, non-drying baby soap, try Dr. Bronner's Castille Baby Soap. It's not tear-free, so you won't want to get it in her eyes, but it works great. It's oil based, so no drying. We use the tea tree oil version for us, but not for her yet since it has essential oils in it.

I've got 15 lbs. to go here too. I've started making myself eat healthier now that we're out of all the goodies and meals people brought us. Lots of meat and veggies for me.

[matey]

So gald to read about all the baby acne because we are having it bad here too. All over the cheeks and chin, a little on the neck. It looks a little better today, so I will make myself believe it is going away. I just give Eleanor water baths every few days, as I read that helps to keep it clean or something. I dont know if it does anything, but it makes me feel better. She spits up a lot, so I would do the baths anyway to get the old milk out of her neck folds. Gross.

I feel...ok. More normal, but fat. I have lost some more weight, but my stomach is a floppy mess. I try to get walks in, but it just doesnt always happen.

DS has been handling all the changes very well and I try to watch that I dont lose my patience with him. I know I am irritable with these irratic sleep patterns. She has been maing it 4-5 hours in the first part of the night, so that has been nice. The second part of the night isnt quite as nice but we'll get there. She sleeps SO much better than DS did. SO much better. He was a nightmare.

We did put Eleanor on zantac. I dealt with all this reflux nonsense with ds, and so I did everything I could right off the bat. Eliminated dairy, propped after feedings and while sleeping. But, I just cant spend all day holding her upright like I did with ds because I have 2 kids to deal with. And the choking at night was getting bad. She was bubbling and gurgling and shooting things out her nose. So, I went ahead and put her on it. I'm glad I did, she doesnt choke and scream in agony during the night anymore. What a relief. I'm still keeping dairy out and needing to keep her propped up to sleep, but at least not on a reflux wedge like ds did.

Well, that's it. If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

[somegirl99]

Originally Posted by bendmom

Where is Oregon? This is the first year I havent' had 3-5 weddings in the summer. I guess as I get older my friends all become married with kids as well...

Jardin has some serious baby acne too. It's all over now and down her little double chin. I wonder if it itches? We use bio-kleen detergent so it's not a rash from detergents, I feel nervous giving her more than one bath a week as I don't want to over dry her skin, but I just don't know what else to do to help it go way.

I have run twice and gone to yoga twice so far. I'm about 15 pounds away from pre-baby, my stomach muscles are non existant right now under the spare tire. Ugh, eating chinese take-out last night prob. didnt' help, but sometimes I'm just to tired to make dinner every night.

The wedding was in Estacada, and the restaurant was at the Kennedy School in north Portland. I haven't been to a wedding in quite some time, can't remember the last one before this (except ours, which was an elopement).

I don't think the acne bothers them, it's caused by the residual hormones from our bodies, it should go away with time.

Too tired to make dinner here much of the time as well!

[bendmom]

Originally Posted by matey

She was .....shooting things out her nose.

Ah, I find wet stuff coming out of her nose at night. SHe sounds like she has alot of snot in the middle of the night, but not during the day. I guess this makes sense. So I should prop her at night during feedings? I notice she's not sleeping very well at this point. SHe's having a hard time nursing at night. SO maybe it's reflux. yikes.

[rlandnl]

i am pretty sure we are dealing with reflux too. DS never spit up, never even burped as a baby, with this one, she's always spitting up, projectile spitting up, stuff coming out her nose, and she makes this weird I can't breathe sound and then smacks her lips like she tastes something bad. She also has a chronically stuffy nose which I attribute to the crap refluxing (is that a word) into her nose.

I havne't given up dairy because I am convinced that's not the culprit because it doesn't get worse with the more dairy I eat (like when I drink 3 glasses of milk in a day and eat a bowl of ice cream) and it doesn't get better when I only have incidental dairy- ie no milk and ice cream but still have things made with dairy in them. I think she just might have her daddy's digestive system.

[lisalulu]

Linnaea is 5weeks this week -time flies!

DS1 started kindy on the 8th and we're finally getting a groove down. I drive him right now so its been challenging getting everyone in the car in the morning-the 3yo especially!

My hip has been killing me for about a week now. I really want to start walking while the weather is still decent but by the end of the day I can barely walk.

Linnaea is pretty dependent on the Moby to sleep these days. At night she will still nurse down if we are lying in the bed. Otherwise she likes being worn down.

Finally getting around to getting birth announcements done.

I guess thats it for my update!

[Vaquitita]

joshua is 18 days old now, today at the dr's he weighed 10lb 13oz! he's growing like crazy (started at 9lb). i'm feeling almost normal, still get tired in the afternoons. but the house is semi decent looking, we all have clean clothes, and three meals a day. we're eating easy stuff and food i made and froze. what we need now is to get out of the house. the kids have been watching too much tv. I did my first me +3 kids trip. to the grocery store, baby slept the whole time which made it easy.

i can't believe i'm ec'ing with a 2 week old. i started with ds1 at 5.5mos, dd at 2?3? mos. after the 1st week i noticed joshua squeaks/fusses a bit right before he pees (when having nakey time), so i started making 'ssssss' sounds while he was peeing. next when i was changing him or doing nakey time and i noticed he needed to go, i'm tell him he could and say 'ssss' so that he would pee before i put on the dry diaper rather than afterwards. well 4-5 days ago, while getting him ready for bed, i held him over the sink- and he peed and pooped and then pooped and peed. every day since he has not pooped all day, then at bedtime i take him to the sink and he goes (and goes and goes...). and i am amazed all over again with how smart babies are.

[MonP'titBoudain]

We're dealing with reflux again this round also. DS1 had it, but it never really bothered him. So he'd projectile vomit across the room constantly but it didn't make him fussy or seem to cause him much pain/discomfort. I cut dairy and it helped a bit and we just mopped up a lot of puke. DD it was completely connected to dairy and she quit having problems altogether when I cut dairy. This time around, cutting dairy has helped but hasn't eliminated it and poor bug is soooo miserable. He can't sleep at night unless he's propped (which means that he's either draped over my hip/tummy and sleeping or he's sleeping in the Amby away from me. Both solutions suck, frankly.

Originally Posted by rlandnl

I havne't given up dairy because I am convinced that's not the culprit because it doesn't get worse with the more dairy I eat (like when I drink 3 glasses of milk in a day and eat a bowl of ice cream) and it doesn't get better when I only have incidental dairy- ie no milk and ice cream but still have things made with dairy in them. I think she just might have her daddy's digestive system.

I hate to say it (cause I hate to give up dairy) but in my experience there's no noticeable difference until the dairy has cleared my system which begins to happen at 5 days and is completely clear after 10 days (you may want to look up those times.... it's been a while since I've looked at allergy research). So, my kids (all of whom have reacted to dairy in my diet) have never responded differently based on how much or how little dairy I've had on a given day. The only confirmation of a reaction in them was for me to eliminate it completely for about 10 days, then I'd re-introduce it with a one time thing, like ice cream or lasagna. Then we'd see how miserable the baby gets and I'd have to give it up for months

How many folks have started working out? I gain lot's during pregnancy and my body holds onto it jealously while nursing, but I'm 30 now and I can't get away with just waiting it out this time around. I'm considering doing the couch to 5k program and starting to run cause we can't get a gym membership so I won't be able to swim and I hate biking in the winter. I'm a little hesitant to start though cause my pelvic floor is shot after DS2 sat so low for so many weeks. It feels a little scary to start running like maybe things will start falling out I've been doing my kegels daily and it just doesn't seem to be making that big of a difference.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I'm getting out of the house tonight without any children!!

I'm sooo ready for a little break. Annabelle took a bottle for me earlier this week when I did a trial with it, so I'm sure she'll do just fine for daddy. I know some women don't ever leave their babes or give them bottles and whatnot, but I don't know how they do it! I need my mental health break.

[LindsayK]

Originally Posted by Evie's Mama

I'm getting out of the house tonight without any children!!

Woo-hoo! What are you doing?

I, too, need mental health breaks away from babe, and DH enjoys the bonding time.

[MonP'titBoudain]

Originally Posted by Evie's Mama

I'm getting out of the house tonight without any children!!

I'm sooo ready for a little break. Annabelle took a bottle for me earlier this week when I did a trial with it, so I'm sure she'll do just fine for daddy. I know some women don't ever leave their babes or give them bottles and whatnot, but I don't know how they do it! I need my mental health break.

Ooooh, how fun! I hope you enjoyed it! Where did you go? I need mental health breaks too, but we haven't tried a bottle yet. Plus dh has been working nearly constantly since ds2's birth so there hasn't really been a chance yet. Soon, though or I'm gonna lose the bit of sanity I'm hanging onto!

[DreamsInDigital]

I leave DD with her dad all the time. I'm rarely gone more than 2 hours and tank her up right before I leave and she's usually hungry but perfectly fine when I get back. It's usually nothing too fun, grocery shopping or doctor's appointments, but I definitely need it for my sanity.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Originally Posted by LindsayK

Woo-hoo! What are you doing?

I, too, need mental health breaks away from babe, and DH enjoys the bonding time.

I went out to dinner with a friend and then to a place that had live jazz to get drinks and dessert. We were gone for a little over 3 hours and she took a bottle and went to sleep great for daddy! It was very freeing.

My DH said that he wants to let me do stuff like that more often. I'm so glad he sees the value in me having some non-mommy time. He was a little stressed about having both girls by himself, but he did really well and feel more confident about it now that he's done it once.

[mamabearsoblessed]

Originally Posted by Evie's Mama

I went out to dinner with a friend and then to a place that had live jazz to get drinks and dessert. We were gone for a little over 3 hours and she took a bottle and went to sleep great for daddy! It was very freeing.

My DH said that he wants to let me do stuff like that more often. I'm so glad he sees the value in me having some non-mommy time. He was a little stressed about having both girls by himself, but he did really well and feel more confident about it now that he's done it once.

Sounds like a great night!!!! Congrats on the time to decompress .