April 2010 Mamas, through October 16th

[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

waiting2bemommy, Alisa Giselle, 4/21, born just shy of 7 lbs, I *think* 19 inches (gotta go back and look), at 41 weeks. An intended home birth that ended up being a hospital induction; they broke my water and labor was fast and furious, no pain medication, but LOTS of pain, lol.

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

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!

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

[Peace+Hope]

good morning, everyone!

don't miss the last few posts from out last thread, and welcome to the new one. btw, if anybody wants to start the next one if i don't happen to be around that day, i don't feel like i have the corner market on it...

it's almost 7:30 here, which means charlie has slept 12 hrs! he ate like 5 times in the night though, weird for him. and each time he cried out like, i'm STARVING here, why have you let me get like this???

[jenfl]

P+H -- We have the chair/highchair from One Step Ahead -- well, an older model we found at a resale store. LOVE it for Nugget, haven't tried it with Sprout.

[Peace+Hope]

thanks, jenfl, that's definitely one i'm reading reviews on. glad you find it durable! does the tray go on and off easily? some of the ones that can pull up to the table require a screwdriver to take the tray off

[Peace+Hope]

serial posting , jenfl, i can't find as many reviews of the euro II as some other similar high chairs. the one i did read said the cushion is not durable... what's your experience with that?

8am and charlie is still sleeping.....

[rhiOrion]

P&H- The mesh feeders don't always have to be used for food, though. You can put ice cubes in it, which is honestly the biggest hit around here when it comes to the mesh feeder. I think it feels good to her gums. At a play date the other night one woman called her husband to bring the mesh feeders over because her twins were screaming and she knew the mesh feeders with an ice cube would make them happy.

I don't really find it all that gross with the food, though. To wash it I just wash it under some hot water really well. The food does squish out if you fill it full, but some things are worse than others. Watermelon not so bad, banana bad.

Highchairs, we have the fisher price booster, which we love. But, here's the high chair that I wanted. Probably way more than you want to spend, but I thought it was awesome. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3368240

It's a highchair, infant booster, toddler booster, and kid's chair all in one (well, really all-in-two, I think)

[loveneverfails]

Well, while SOME OF YOU PEOPLE have 6 month olds, I only have a 4 1/2 month old. She is toothless and decided that sleeping the night is nice when you're a newborn but not so much when you're a Big Fun 4 Month Old!?!?!?

Where the heck is SilverSpook, my Pachydermic Pal!? Someone else in here needs to have an actual baby instead of these gigantic, sitting, tooth sporting and solid food eating preschoolers.

[rhiOrion]

my sitting, eating, (toothless) preschooler can now scoot backward reliably.

This is what happens when you go take a video of said scooting and walk away from scooting baby to upload it

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5429583_n.jpg

[jenfl]

LNF -- Oh, no! The dreaded 4 month sleep regression that we were all so happy to leave behind!

P+H -- We've only used the seat with a preschooler, so never used the straps or tray. And, yeah, the cushion was in pretty bad shape even when we got it, but it's useable. I guess my endoresment is more for that TYPE of chair, rather than that particular implementation. But it's worked well enough for us.

[momto4plus4]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

This is what happens when you go take a video of said scooting and walk away from scooting baby to upload it

Oh No! Funny & sad at the same time!

Jen: I'm sorry you had such a frustrating day yesterday. Thanks for the poo story though I'm sorry if I laughed at your pain. I hope today is better.

LNF: If it makes you feel Any better, mine still can't sit, crawl, scoot and only rolls tummy to back and no teeth though mine will be 6 months on Tuesday!

SO, put JR in the swing at 7am cause I had to pee so bad. Came back into bed and a few minutes later decided to turn on the clock light to look at him bcuz the swing didn't sound like it was swinging properly. He was fine but wide awake leaning up to play with the toys that hang down!

[jsh7809]

P&H, thanks for keeping us on track and starting the new threads!

My "preschooler" (heh) is 24 weeks today, can I call that 6 months? Otherwise we've got another 2 or 3 weeks before it's official. She's talking to the ceiling right now, has grown out of another diaper size (we're up to 3s!), and is now rolling and wiggling with such ease to get where and what she wants, that I'm thinking we're really going to have to keep these hardwood floors clean. We've been putting her down on her playmat and a little quilt area but right now she's just about rolled off of it.
And yet, she stillllll doesn't suck her thumb. Just keeps faking me out. We hung out with her 3.5 month old buddy the other day, and HE just found his thumb and goes to town on it and falls asleep. Never good to compare the children, I know - but I also realized that his thumb is like 3 times as long as S's little stubby tiny one. So I see her problem!

I got the same seat as Rhi and it's GREAT! We don't have a chair that will work for it, so I've just used it on the floor. Very cute banana eating pix to share at some point. I think that's the only food she's actually gotten into her system on her own, which I know because the next day I was like "does she have worms?!" before I remembered bananas put weird string looking things in their poops.

Jen, you asked how sleep is going - it's hard for me to say. I've just given in to sleeping on the futon with her in her room, since she wakes up a LOT more in the crib (or anyway, it's easier for me to just be right next to her when she wakes) but our bed is so lumpy and small that no one was sleeping when we were all 3 in there last week. So... I don't know. It's going a little better, but far from great. She doesn't really wake up much, but she cries in her sleep a LOT. Many times per night. And I'm still kind of confused because she appears to be fast asleep unless I actually turn on a light or take off her diaper or something... yet most of the time she doesn't want to nurse... she seems to primarily want a finger in her mouth, and any time she rouses enough to realize that she doesn't have one there, she gets upset.

I know all babies have a suck to sleep tendency, but... we're going on 6 months here, and that's still the only way I know of getting her to sleep. So that is a little frustrating, but I'm trying to postpone worrying about it. Does anyone have any advice for me?

In other news, I cut my hair off, and now am kicking myself for it! Sigh, I slept on it slightly damp last night and it's an insane curly mess this morning. Also, had one of my last big weddings for the season yesterday, was home at 9:30 and DH had the baby all day by himself... I guess it went well up until 7ish and then he texted me "she's screaming nonstop like she's being murdered". So he was pretty upset and burnt out when I got home, but it's so much nicer than when a similar thing happened when she was 3 months, because we both feel more confident in general, and I know that this morning they will be best friends again. Phew!

LNF, so sorry about the sleep! Hopefully Miss Merce will chill back out soon...

[ann_of_loxley]

Just when I felt like I was finally catching up with the last thread.... lmao

[Peace+Hope]

Originally Posted by jenfl

P+H -- We've only used the seat with a preschooler, so never used the straps or tray. And, yeah, the cushion was in pretty bad shape even when we got it, but it's useable. I guess my endoresment is more for that TYPE of chair, rather than that particular implementation. But it's worked well enough for us.

ahhhh.... i'm finding pretty much all of the positive reviews of that model are from families that started using it with toddlers... not so positive with those using it for infants. thanks for the extra info!

lnf, ack, sorry your TINY baby is not sleeping well. i have to say, when charlie slept so easily and well as a tiny one, i was like, great, i got a sleeper . totally a first timer, heh.

jess, sorry. do you read much in nighttime parenting? the only ideas i have, i know you've already tried.

rhi, yeah, it would be nice to put ice in the mesh feeder. i just hate the idea of him sitting around damp. maybe i'll try it w/ a bib.

speaking of bibs, how do those of you who let your babies self-feed deal with mess? i have very few clothes for charlie, which works cause he can wear stuff again and again. i'm thinking a bib will not hold up in the way of BLW fun. i wish i could sew cause i have an idea for a baby smock with adjustable sleeves to grow w/ baby

[jenfl]

Originally Posted by peace+hope

speaking of bibs, how do those of you who let your babies self-feed deal with mess? I have very few clothes for charlie, which works cause he can wear stuff again and again. I'm thinking a bib will not hold up in the way of blw fun. I wish i could sew cause i have an idea for a baby smock with adjustable sleeves to grow w/ baby

nekkid baby!!!

ETA -- Oh, and solids mostly just at dinner, when the bath is just a few minutes away.

[rhiOrion]

food apparel- diaper and bib (usually a newborn bib, since we have a kagillion of them and never used them) only, and just before bath time.

[ivymae]

Yup, we just dunk her in the bath afterwards, which honestly is one of the things holding us back from going full force with solids - I give her a bath every few days right now, and the idea of bathing her every night after dinner with the girls makes me feel faint, because it's just one.more.thing in an already hectic bedtime (which I just slipped and wrote as "badtime") routine.

Becky HATES mush from a jar, just like her sisters. She can eat cheerios like a champ, but if I try to spoon-feed her she gags. I've been x-slicing apples/pears on the core, and then 'shaving' the slices with a potato peeler. The pieces come off tiny and thin, so I don't stress about her choking on them. That is a little easier to clean up, but what she really wants is bananas, avocados, cooked carrots, peaches, steamed peas, sweet potatoes - you know, the squishy stuff.

The mesh feeder is weird, and honestly if my husband didn't take on cleaning them I wouldn't use them. Becky likes to play "gravity!" with hers, so I bought a pacifier clip for it, but it still gets disconnected and splatted on the floor.

Jess - My older girls sucked to sleep into their first year, and I didn't really think it was strange or something to be fixed I guess. They never found their thumbs, and I didn't know any other way for babies to be, so I assumed all babies nurse to sleep, so I didn't overthink it. it CAN be exhausting (mentally and emotionally, not to mention physically) to be that person, but it WILL end, I promise. Try not to look at your sleep issues from the outside, of what she "should" be doing - just find what is not working for your family and try to work on one small thing at once.

Boosters: I recommend testing out the tray on whatever you look at. We have a booster that is a huge PIA, because the tray doesn't quick-release, and when it is covered in slime, baby is DONE with sitting there, and you have to wrestle the tray off one handed because you are also trying to get the 2 year old to eat, it pays to have the quick release tray.

AFM: i had such a good day yesterday, and it was just the fact that i was happy. I woke up happy, i smiled and laughed all day, I was able to be calm and responsive with my kids, I was able to talk to my husband without getting snippy... It was weird. It brought into focus just how not-okay I've been doing okay. It's not crisis mode or anything, but one day of being the mom/wife I want to be made it more apparent how far I am away from that goal on a daily basis, and it is ME that is kinking up the works. I can't believe I am still struggling with this "Is it depression? is it bad enough to do something about it? Maybe I'm just tired/sick/not eating enough?" dance. I've had some other health stuff lately, so I've been hoping someone would look at me and say "Oh yes, your fatigue/mild depression is likely caused by your asthma/arthritis/stomach issue, let's fix that!" but alas, no one has pulled out their magic wand yet.

[jenfl]

No matter how far to the foot of the crib I start Sprout at night, before he goes to sleep he's tossed and turned and wiggled himself up to the top so his head is on or nearly at the head of the crib. So as soon as he wakes up a little and tosses around to get comfy... he bops his head and wakes up.

*sigh*

Both of my kids are the tossiest sleepers I've ever seen. At least we have a video monitor so we can be amused by it.

[loveneverfails]

Had a GREAT day off today! My midwife helped me prank my husband. She asked what he had brought me back from San Fran, and I told her about the infamous 6 pieces of salt water taffy. So, she talked to one of the pregnant moms there and they got a positive pregnancy test result and sent it home with me to prank Steve.

I brought home flowers from the farmer's market, dinner was chicken soup cooked in the crock pot all day from leftovers from last night's dinner. It was just really awesome! And I think I'm going to make some apple cider muffins now.

[jenfl]

LNF, that's great to hear! And you remind me -- I'm vaguely surprised that no one has claimed the Platinum Bejewed Birth Stool of Winning at Darwin. Not it!

AFM -- We got out a jumper for Sprout today. He LOVED it! He'd stand still, then jump... jump... jump-jump-JUMP-JUMP-JUMP!!!! Then stand still. Then JUMP JUMP JUMP again!!! I put him in there 3 times today; the last time, I finally pulled him out after 15 minutes because I couldn't imagine that much time in there was great for his huge noggin. But, wow, he was fun to watch.

[smeisnotapirate]

HI!

Wow, that was a long hiatus from MDC. Holidays are over and I have a little bit of my life back.

We've found some answers on the food stage, and while DS has never been doing better, I'm losing weight like crazy (below 100lb now) and have been diagnosed with an intestinal parasite. Turns out, while DS has NO food allergies (just the same parasite), I tested SEVERLY intolerant to dairy and eggs and mildly intolerant to oats. I was prescribed an anti-parasitic, but it's scary and not so good for breastfeeding, so I'm going to ask for a different one. I just don't like the risks associated with it.

As for Nomi, she's still the sweetest, sunniest baby ever. I'm soooo in love with her. She's sitting and really gnawing on stuff, but no teeth have broken through yet (that thing at 3mo turned out to just be a little pus thingy). Some picture love here.

Hope all is well. I've missed you ladies!