Postpartum Chat - June - Page 10

[Smokering]

erigeron: I hope you don't feel like we're blowing you off by saying it might "just" be latching-on pain! It really is very unpleasant, even if it's "normal". It's a sharp, wincey, hissy pain, and whenever I see a nursing woman make that face as her baby latches on, I wince in sympathy! With both of my babies, it disappeared kinda gradually, and took me a few days to realise I wasn't wincing any more.

Random anecdote of the day? DH hasn't had a cellphone for years, and I have an old one I almost never use. Recently one of DH's clients wanted to contact him via mobile, so DH charged my phone up and gave him the number. Neither of us gave any thought to the voicemail message, which I'd set... maybe five or six years ago?... and which said something along the lines "Hey, this is Smokering's voicemail. If you don't know what to do after the beep, please hang up and never call me again".

So, yeah. The client's wife ended up calling DH for some reason, got my voicemail, and was mega-offended. DH got a followup phone call on our landline, in which she informed him stiffly that he'd better change it ASAP. Oops.

Off to google "how to burp a baby". None of my techniques are cutting it.

[JosieAK]

Whew it's been a long time!  I don't know where to start to catch up, but I thought about you ladies and the fact that this forum won't be here forever, and I felt a little weepy.  So I came back to hang out with you as much as mothering two lets me while I can.

I am so thankful to be on the up-side of postpartum healing.  My first week was pretty crummy, but thankfully I had lots of postpartum support.  Little by little, I feel more human every day.  I haven't attempted to take both girls out of the house on my own yet, but I can keep my girls fed and cleaned up on my own and am little by little getting on top of other things (don't look at the monster pile of unfolded laundry in the baby room!).  My one lingering annoying symptom is sweating like crazy with the slightest exertion.   I am wondering if my thyroid meds are just really off after having the baby or if I'm STILL sweating off my excess fluids.  Hmm.  Not sure.

Lydia is being a sweet baby for the most part.  She's a little bit more demanding and fussy than her sister was.  She has a 3 hour window in the evenings especially where nothing will settle her, but since she doesn't spend the whole time screaming and can be consoled by bouncing and such, I consider myself blessed!  Of course, I think she is the most beautiful baby in the world and love smelling her sweet baby, milky scent and touching her soft downy hair and kissing her plump cheeks.  She's starting to respond with little smiles to having her diaper changed and the sound of my voice.  I love her!  So does her big sister!  She's being a sweet helper and is exceptionally gentle and kind for being two and a half.  I feel blessed that she is not trying to show off with her or harm her in any way.  She is very genuinely loving and uses OTHER opportunities to get our attention!

Anyway, I hope I can keep up here to some extent!  I feel bad for all the birth stories I have missed out on and hope the late June Mama's aren't feeling generally neglected, but I have only so many typing minutes in my day!  I hope all understand!

[Snowflake777]

Originally Posted by Smokering 

erigeron: I hope you don't feel like we're blowing you off by saying it might "just" be latching-on pain! It really is very unpleasant, even if it's "normal". It's a sharp, wincey, hissy pain, and whenever I see a nursing woman make that face as her baby latches on, I wince in sympathy! With both of my babies, it disappeared kinda gradually, and took me a few days to realise I wasn't wincing any more.

Random anecdote of the day? DH hasn't had a cellphone for years, and I have an old one I almost never use. Recently one of DH's clients wanted to contact him via mobile, so DH charged my phone up and gave him the number. Neither of us gave any thought to the voicemail message, which I'd set... maybe five or six years ago?... and which said something along the lines "Hey, this is Smokering's voicemail. If you don't know what to do after the beep, please hang up and never call me again".

So, yeah. The client's wife ended up calling DH for some reason, got my voicemail, and was mega-offended. DH got a followup phone call on our landline, in which she informed him stiffly that he'd better change it ASAP. Oops.

Off to google "how to burp a baby". None of my techniques are cutting it.

Heh! Some people have no sense of humour.

I was googling that the other day. This little one spits up a lot. Let me know if you find something that works! I've had most luck with laying her on her tummy over my leg or a pillow. The pressure on her chest seems to help.

Originally Posted by JosieAK 

Whew it's been a long time!  I don't know where to start to catch up, but I thought about you ladies and the fact that this forum won't be here forever, and I felt a little weepy.  So I came back to hang out with you as much as mothering two lets me while I can.

I am so thankful to be on the up-side of postpartum healing.  My first week was pretty crummy, but thankfully I had lots of postpartum support.  Little by little, I feel more human every day.  I haven't attempted to take both girls out of the house on my own yet, but I can keep my girls fed and cleaned up on my own and am little by little getting on top of other things (don't look at the monster pile of unfolded laundry in the baby room!).  My one lingering annoying symptom is sweating like crazy with the slightest exertion.   I am wondering if my thyroid meds are just really off after having the baby or if I'm STILL sweating off my excess fluids.  Hmm.  Not sure.

Lydia is being a sweet baby for the most part.  She's a little bit more demanding and fussy than her sister was.  She has a 3 hour window in the evenings especially where nothing will settle her, but since she doesn't spend the whole time screaming and can be consoled by bouncing and such, I consider myself blessed!  Of course, I think she is the most beautiful baby in the world and love smelling her sweet baby, milky scent and touching her soft downy hair and kissing her plump cheeks.  She's starting to respond with little smiles to having her diaper changed and the sound of my voice.  I love her!  So does her big sister!  She's being a sweet helper and is exceptionally gentle and kind for being two and a half.  I feel blessed that she is not trying to show off with her or harm her in any way.  She is very genuinely loving and uses OTHER opportunities to get our attention!

Anyway, I hope I can keep up here to some extent!  I feel bad for all the birth stories I have missed out on and hope the late June Mama's aren't feeling generally neglected, but I have only so many typing minutes in my day!  I hope all understand!

I've been abnormally sweaty too. Yuck. I figured it was some hormonal thing.

I'm sure everyone does understand. It's been really quiet here since everyone had their babies. I've actually been on more than usual. My laptop is pretty much my one source of entertainment while breastfeeding.

[Snowflake777]

Oh hey, I just got projectile pooped on. Seriously, I feel like we can't go 5 minutes without something being pooped on, peed on, puked on, or breastmilk-leaked on. How did people do this before washing machines?

In less gross news, think our baby finally has a name! We're going with Rosa. To be honest I still have some slight misgivings, but seeing as we can't come up with anything we both like better, and she's over 2 weeks old, it's time to make a decision. We've yet to announce it. I hope the grandparents like it!

[erigeron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smokering 

erigeron: I hope you don't feel like we're blowing you off by saying it might "just" be latching-on pain! It really is very unpleasant, even if it's "normal". It's a sharp, wincey, hissy pain, and whenever I see a nursing woman make that face as her baby latches on, I wince in sympathy! With both of my babies, it disappeared kinda gradually, and took me a few days to realise I wasn't wincing any more.

Originally Posted by Snowflake777 

To give you a frame of reference, the latching-on pain was bad enough to make me grit my teeth and mutter four-letter words under my breath. I asked my midwife about it and she said that if it only hurts badly as the baby latches on, but is ok for the rest of the feeding then your latch is probably fine. That's been the case for me, and sure enough the pain went away within 2 weeks.

That's definitely helpful! And it isn't blowing me off at all. I like to know what kinds of different experiences people have had--gives me a context for my own. I can much easier stick with it if I know it's likely to dissipate in a little while. Though I still do want to get it checked out. I think I'll call the lactation consultants tomorrow, and also we see our family doc tomorrow so I'll ask her about it. I mentioned to her at the last appt that the LCs thought Amelia might be mildly tongue-tied, and she kind of blew it off, but didn't really check to see if she was. But we'll talk about it some more.
 

Originally Posted by Snowflake777 

In less gross news, think our baby finally has a name! We're going with Rosa. To be honest I still have some slight misgivings, but seeing as we can't come up with anything we both like better, and she's over 2 weeks old, it's time to make a decision. We've yet to announce it. I hope the grandparents like it!

I like Rosa! I'm sure it'll grow on you and then you won't be able to imagine her being named anything else. We went through a ton of names before we settled on Amelia, and yesterday I was watching her sleep and running through all the front-runners in my mind, including the ones I loved that hubby vetoed, and none of them seemed to fit her. This may just be confirmation bias, but now I can't imagine her being anything but an Amelia. Go figure.

[Snowflake777]

Originally Posted by erigeron 

Quote:

I like Rosa! I'm sure it'll grow on you and then you won't be able to imagine her being named anything else. We went through a ton of names before we settled on Amelia, and yesterday I was watching her sleep and running through all the front-runners in my mind, including the ones I loved that hubby vetoed, and none of them seemed to fit her. This may just be confirmation bias, but now I can't imagine her being anything but an Amelia. Go figure.

I think so too. :)

I'm freaking out a bit right now. This baby has suddenly developed a lazy latch - lots of "clicking" and swallowing air. I'm having trouble correcting it. She's been reflux-y and cranky all day, sleeping for 5 minute stretches and generally acting uncomfortable. I'm so touched-out right now. DH tried to give me a hug before, just being nice of course, and I almost flipped out on him like "Can't I have 2 seconds of personal space?".

I just want her to go to sleep and stay asleep for more than a few minutes at a time!

[Smokering]

Sigh. I'm depressed. Want to move to Spain... alone. Actually the baby isn't bugging me too much, but DD and even DH are really getting on my nerves, as is life in general... the house, the garden, my hair, our finances, eating... and my usual "I don't know what to do with my life" problem. I don't know that it's PPD, as I was depressed before and during pregnancy as well. Snowflake777, my DH is getting short shrift in the hugs department too. I keep thinking "I don't want you to kiss me, I want you to clean the kitchen!" :p

[jshannyn519]

Erigeron, I still have latching pain, and Ezrah will be a month old on Wednesday. It's a combination, I think, of him having a short upper frenulum (between upper gums and the inside of his top lip) and a really high, arched palate... and my let-down always hurts. It only lasts for a few seconds, but I still have to do my deep breathing until the initial sharpness goes away. I never dealt with latching issues or structural issues in my other kids' mouths that affected nursing so it was really frustrating, and PAINFUL, until we got things figured out this time around. It really doesn't help that my let-down feels like such intense pins and needles that BURNS so that's kind of added to everything else. Yuck. I'm glad you're talking to your ped again about the tongue tie. Hopefully that will help solve the painful latch issue.

AFM... my mom gave us 30 days to be out of the house. She's apparently completely fed up with the fact that when my kids do their chores they are half-assing it. It makes me bad too, especially since I'm the person that has to tell them over and over and OVER again to do it over, do it again, do it right, etc, etc, ad nauseum. It probably wouldn't be such a big deal to her, except that we have this flea infestation and when the vacuuming isn't being done properly it doesn't do much to get rid of the fleas.

I'm really not sure what we're going to do. I'm fairly certain that we'll end up in a homeless shelter since I have $20 to my name until August and no way to get any more money. I'm hoping that my dad can lend me money that I'll repay someday. Like when I graduate and have a job. I'm praying harder than ever for my big scholarship with the living stipend to come through, which I won't know about until the END of August anyway. I'm so unbelievably stressed out right now that I can't sleep or eat. I don't want to be around anyone, least of all my children who I feel are responsible for this while thing. I've had an upset stomach and I've been randomly dry-heaving since she dropped that lovely bomb on us this afternoon.

If I wasn't dealing with PPD before, I surely will be now. All I want to do is cry.

[tracymom1]

Lots of hugs, Jenni. I know this isn't the best advice, but can you beg? Can you just lay it all out there and hope she lets you stay until your student aid comes in? Maybe post in the finding your tribe section here and see if anyone knows of any cheap, safe places to rent or if anyone can help you out in any way. You and your kiddos will be in my thoughts.

Snowflake, I love Rosa. What a beautiful name!! I think you picked well!

I seriously have no time to post anymore. As I write, Jude is crying, Gabe wants a snack and Kaya is up and ready to get out of her crib. I still need to shower and I am working on 2 hours of sleep. Whenever DH holds Jude, he cries and fusses which makes me just cringe. None of the other kids were like that and I don't quite know what to do about it.

Survival mode. It's my only gear these days.

[Mommy2Austin]

Originally Posted by Snowflake777 

I think so too. :)

I'm freaking out a bit right now. This baby has suddenly developed a lazy latch - lots of "clicking" and swallowing air. I'm having trouble correcting it. She's been reflux-y and cranky all day, sleeping for 5 minute stretches and generally acting uncomfortable. I'm so touched-out right now. DH tried to give me a hug before, just being nice of course, and I almost flipped out on him like "Can't I have 2 seconds of personal space?".

I just want her to go to sleep and stay asleep for more than a few minutes at a time!

I'm right there with you. We must be leading parallel lives!

Sounds like we're all in a crummy rut. Laurelyn is going through some sort of weird phase. Last night was the worst. She starts cluster feeding and fussing around 5-6pm. Which lasts until nearly midnight. Some nights I can get 2 hrs baby free in bed before DH brings her to me. Last night it wasn't even 5 minutes. She did.not.sleep. I think I got maybe 3 hrs of broken up sleep. Every time I would get her settled like she was going to sleep SOMETHING would wake her. Dh turning over, snoring, coughing, sneezing, kids screaming when they woke up, neighbor starting up his obnoxiously loud and clanky lawnmower. I gave up at 8 am. I'll be damned if DH gives me any crap about taking a nap later. He's still sleeping at quarter to 10.

I want to start back working out. Anyone else getting to that point yet?

[Buddhamom]

I am sorry for all of you who are battling something unpleasant right now when this is suppose to be the happiest time   Feeling tired and emotional never helps either. Lotus has figured out that Mommy sleeps with the milk makers hanging out and she manages to wiggle her way over and hook up on her own through out the night *LOL*  I definitely am having a hard time keeping up with a lot of things but we seem to be figuring out a schedule.  I do miss hopping on the tractor and mowing since that has always been my job but I gracefully have turned it over to DH this year.  Unfortunately the pool isn't as crystal clear as usual because he is doing the mowing more. Now I am trying to figure out how i am going to get my winter knitting done before we need the items.

[Snowflake777]

I'm sorry everyone's having such a rough week!

Jenni - that sounds so stressful. Any chance your mother was just blowing off steam and will change her mind?

I'm having an awful day too. I just had a nasty argument with DH and don't even want to look at him right now. And no it's not PPD, it's MHBJD (My Husband is Being a Jerk Depression).

[Momsteader]

Hugs to all the mamas having troubles!  My now 11 yo was a cranky fussy baby and all your posts put me right back there. I remember how hard it was getting through day to day. Thankfully this babe is his polar opposite so far and a dream. Put him in the carseat, he falls asleep until you get where you're going. Lie him down in the crib for a moment to catch a shower and 15 mins later he's still happily lying there. No fussy can't figure it out spells yet. He doesn't like his diaper changed, but as soon as you close the fresh diaper, it turns the crying off like a switch--so funny!

Those of you with fussy babes, do you have a sling?  I had several when my 11 yo was a baby and it was the only way I got anything done. He seemed to prefer to tightness/confinement of the Moby type wrap sling. I could tie him on and he'd sleep for an hour or more (the ONLY time he'd do that!). They can be challenging to get the hang of using, but I found them to be great for my fussy baby.  This time, I'm using an Ergo and so far I just love it too!

ETA:  I just weighed the babe at the post office! He is up to 9 lbs 6 oz which is a gain of 14 oz in the last 6 days (He was down to 8 lbs 8 oz at his jaundice check at 4 days old). Pure cream milk strikes again! My babies are always little porkers LOL  So were my surro-babes when I pumped for them. Going to start pumping for donation/storage here in a few days.

[Janae]

Originally Posted by jshannyn519 

Erigeron, I still have latching pain, and Ezrah will be a month old on Wednesday. It's a combination, I think, of him having a short upper frenulum (between upper gums and the inside of his top lip) and a really high, arched palate... and my let-down always hurts. It only lasts for a few seconds, but I still have to do my deep breathing until the initial sharpness goes away. I never dealt with latching issues or structural issues in my other kids' mouths that affected nursing so it was really frustrating, and PAINFUL, until we got things figured out this time around. It really doesn't help that my let-down feels like such intense pins and needles that BURNS so that's kind of added to everything else. Yuck. I'm glad you're talking to your ped again about the tongue tie. Hopefully that will help solve the painful latch issue.

AFM... my mom gave us 30 days to be out of the house. She's apparently completely fed up with the fact that when my kids do their chores they are half-assing it. It makes me bad too, especially since I'm the person that has to tell them over and over and OVER again to do it over, do it again, do it right, etc, etc, ad nauseum. It probably wouldn't be such a big deal to her, except that we have this flea infestation and when the vacuuming isn't being done properly it doesn't do much to get rid of the fleas.

I'm really not sure what we're going to do. I'm fairly certain that we'll end up in a homeless shelter since I have $20 to my name until August and no way to get any more money. I'm hoping that my dad can lend me money that I'll repay someday. Like when I graduate and have a job. I'm praying harder than ever for my big scholarship with the living stipend to come through, which I won't know about until the END of August anyway. I'm so unbelievably stressed out right now that I can't sleep or eat. I don't want to be around anyone, least of all my children who I feel are responsible for this while thing. I've had an upset stomach and I've been randomly dry-heaving since she dropped that lovely bomb on us this afternoon.

If I wasn't dealing with PPD before, I surely will be now. All I want to do is cry.

Hey Jenni...I'm not even in the Postpartum club yet, but I wanted to give you a virtual hug!

And this may or may not help, but I'm in TX too and I think the whole state is having flea problems!! UGH!

But recently someone told me about getting the yellow Listerine and spraying that on the carpet.  Never tried it, but they swore by it.

Hope that things brighten up for you soon!

[tracymom1]

Originally Posted by Mommy2Austin 

I want to start back working out. Anyone else getting to that point yet?

Yep - I did my first workout today. It was all of 30 minutes - mostly squats, kicks and jumping jacks. I started bleeding a bit towards the middle of it, so I might have to start even more slowly than I had thought. I am really, really itching to exercise. It is my main route to sanity. I am only 2 1/2 weeks postpartum, though, so I know it might just be too early.

Holly, I can't believe you weighed the baby at the post office! That is too funny! But a pretty good idea. I weighed Jude yesterday and he is a whole pound heavier! Not bad for 2 weeks old!

Jude is sleeping the day away which means he will be up all night again. We have guests coming any minute now so I can't take a nap. Bah. I am so damn sick of the parade of visitors.

[junebug2011]

Originally Posted by Smokering 

 I keep thinking "I don't want you to kiss me, I want you to clean the kitchen!" :p

Right there with you! I established a 2x 2 foot space in the house (right in front of the bathroom sink) where no one can touch me or talk to me unless it's absolutely necessary.

[erigeron]

Sorry people are having such a crappy day! I hope it improves! Hubby and I had a stupid argument earlier, but it has more or less passed (I think a lot of it was just sleep deprivation more than anything). We took Amelia back to the doctor today and she weighed at 8 lb 7 oz, while she weighed 7 lb 5 oz last week; however, that was while wearing her harness, so some of the weight is the harness, and also in a heavier diaper than last week. So until we can weigh the harness separately, I don't really know how much weight she gained, but I am sure she gained at least a few ounces. I hope we can give her a bath tonight and pop the harness on the scale while she's out of it. The doc said she does look slightly tongue-tied but she doesn't think it's something she would worry about until she gets old enough to eat solid food and then we'll see if it's still causing her problems. So I guess now we are just waiting out my nipple pain and seeing if it goes away. I think it is getting better at least on the right side. I need to keep using the lanolin--I keep forgetting about it, and I also have these gel-pad things to keep in my bra but they hardly seem worth it when she's feeding every hour.

Also we took a totally gratuitous field trip--went to Volunteers of America to get some old T-shirts to cut up to make wipes, and then to Sears so hubby could fix my lamp. It's kind of fun taking Amelia out in public and watching people coo and melt over her. Although after a while my arms get tired, and it's so darn hot I haven't wanted to use the wrap carrier, especially since I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet and also I want to talk to the orthopedic nurse just to make sure it's okay to use.

[Smokering]

Jenni: Yikes, that's the pits. :( Is there any chance you'll get child support for the new babe coming through before you have to move?

Right now a lady from church is planting strawberry plants in my garden! She came over bearing three hunks of frozen soup and three small children, who are playing with DD in the living room. Well, sort of. She's watching them balefully as they play with her toys and ignore her, and muttering "That's mine!" under her breath from time to time. I think having a sibling will do her good. :p

Tomorrow our flatmate's mother is coming over for dinner, so I have me some baking to do! I need to make olive bread, garlic butter, chocolate layer cake and white chocolate ice cream... and a roast chicken and veggies, but DH will help with that. Oddly enough, it makes me feel less depressed. I guess having small, concrete goals is never a bad thing. Especially when they involve chocolate.

It's kind of fun taking Amelia out in public and watching people coo and melt over her.

Heh. We took Miles to the supermarket yesterday, and an old lady in the checkout queue was appropriately coo-ey... but then the checkout lady was all "What's wrong with his eyelids?" He has some red pressure marks on them from being born. But sheesh, lady, what's wrong with "Aww, isn't he cute"?

Had a nice visit from my MW today. She weighed Miles, and he's 10 pounds 12 now! Gained 260 grams in the last five days. We had a nice cosy chat about vaccinations and homebirthing and other such controversial matters - and namely, how to keep people from bugging you about them. :p I don't know whether or not she vaxed her kids, but she does own a copy of A Shot in the Dark, and didn't seem at all disapproving of me not vaxing. So that was cool.

[Mommy2Austin]

I'm officially calling it colic. She just isn't happy. I've nursed her hours on end. Burped endlessly. Held and snuggled her. Bounced her. Changed her diaper. Massage. I even broke down and had DH feed her two ounces of formula because NOTHING seemed to be working (and I desperately needed a shower.) She's running on as much sleep (or as little I should say) as I am. She WON'T sleep for more than 5 minutes in arms or out.

I've never dealt with this before. And I really don't have the ability to just sit around all day with no sleep trying to keep her calm and happy. I have 3 other kids. One of which is still a baby herself.

[jshannyn519]

Originally Posted by erigeron 

It's kind of fun taking Amelia out in public and watching people coo and melt over her. Although after a while my arms get tired, and it's so darn hot I haven't wanted to use the wrap carrier, especially since I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet and also I want to talk to the orthopedic nurse just to make sure it's okay to use.

I have to admit, I LOVE this part of having a new baby! I adore him and think he's the sweetest baby ever and it thrills me to no end when everyone else feels that way too. :)  It's been hot here too, over 100 for the high every day since Ezrah was born. I put him in my Faurgo (faux Ergo, aka Infantino Union carrier) and haul him around anyway because it's just easier that way.

Originally Posted by Smokering 

Jenni: Yikes, that's the pits. :( Is there any chance you'll get child support for the new babe coming through before you have to move?

Right now a lady from church is planting strawberry plants in my garden! She came over bearing three hunks of frozen soup and three small children, who are playing with DD in the living room. Well, sort of. She's watching them balefully as they play with her toys and ignore her, and muttering "That's mine!" under her breath from time to time. I think having a sibling will do her good. :p

Tomorrow our flatmate's mother is coming over for dinner, so I have me some baking to do! I need to make olive bread, garlic butter, chocolate layer cake and white chocolate ice cream... and a roast chicken and veggies, but DH will help with that. Oddly enough, it makes me feel less depressed. I guess having small, concrete goals is never a bad thing. Especially when they involve chocolate.

Heh. We took Miles to the supermarket yesterday, and an old lady in the checkout queue was appropriately coo-ey... but then the checkout lady was all "What's wrong with his eyelids?" He has some red pressure marks on them from being born. But sheesh, lady, what's wrong with "Aww, isn't he cute"?

Had a nice visit from my MW today. She weighed Miles, and he's 10 pounds 12 now! Gained 260 grams in the last five days. We had a nice cosy chat about vaccinations and homebirthing and other such controversial matters - and namely, how to keep people from bugging you about them. :p I don't know whether or not she vaxed her kids, but she does own a copy of A Shot in the Dark, and didn't seem at all disapproving of me not vaxing. So that was cool.

Actually, no. No child support, not ever, from Ezrah's "father". He refused to sign the birth certificate, which is necessary in the state of Texas because we're not married. My other option is to pursue the whole thing through the Office of the Attorney General, establishing paternity, getting child support, figuring out custody and visitation... But I'm not going to do it. His father has made it extremely clear that he doesn't want to be involved in Ezrah's life at all so I'm not going to force the issue. It will end up being a situation where Baby Daddy will make promises and not follow through, or be sporadic with visitation, and I doubt I'll ever see child support from him anyway. It's not worth the emotional and psychological damage to my child for the potential of child support. I'll be done with school in 18 months and I won't need a penny from his sorry hide anyway. Besides, his "reasons" for not wanting to be involved are so incredibly stupid that I'd rather have the negativity and pure stupidity out of our lives anyway.

Originally Posted by Mommy2Austin 

I'm officially calling it colic. She just isn't happy. I've nursed her hours on end. Burped endlessly. Held and snuggled her. Bounced her. Changed her diaper. Massage. I even broke down and had DH feed her two ounces of formula because NOTHING seemed to be working (and I desperately needed a shower.) She's running on as much sleep (or as little I should say) as I am. She WON'T sleep for more than 5 minutes in arms or out.

I've never dealt with this before. And I really don't have the ability to just sit around all day with no sleep trying to keep her calm and happy. I have 3 other kids. One of which is still a baby herself.

I'm so sorry! I've never dealt with that either so I'm not really a help. Have you tried gripe water? I have friends who swear by that for their colicky babies. I think Rescue Remedy helps too, for some babies anyway. And apparently probiotics are now showing some effects on reducing colic. I hope you can get some sleep soon!

Of course, since I've been all stressed out it's totally leaking over to the baby. He's been nursing constantly for the past 2 days and only takes cat naps and ONLY ON me. As soon as I set him down to sleep in the bed, he wakes up. That makes going anywhere or doing anything almost impossible because he fusses & cries in the car and anywhere else we go. And then my mom yells at me for not doing anything with my kids. ARGH!!

There is some good news. My mom and I are going to talk tonight. I'm not sure what about exactly, other than our situation and what's going on. We do need to clarify some expectations I think. She wants me to be little Suzy Homemaker and do all kinds of craft projects and such with the kids. But it's all I can do to eat 3 meals a day and clean the kitchen, with the occasional trip to the store for milk. I don't want to exercise, I don't want to go traipsing around the Nature Center and every museum in all of the DFW metroplex. It's a huge hassle to go to the lake for the day with just the kids and I. I have to relearn how to do EVERYTHING with this new person in our family. And there isn't anyone else that can run to the store or make the phone calls or whatever else needs to be done to keep things going. Add the whole no money thing and it equals a lot of stress, which makes me shut down.