mamas with babies

[Peony]

I guess there are enough of us now to start a thread about life with baby. How's it going?

DS2 is 9 days old and it's going. Actually better then I expected. He has one blocked tear duct and then a nasty diaper rash that came out of nowhere and has been really difficult to get rid of. He is generally fussy from 8-10pm, course when I want to go to bed but is generally mellow during the day. Nursing is fine, he has been sleeping more the last two days and hasn't wanted to eat as much which means my breasts are certainly feeling the difference. He isn't a fan of the carseat yet, getting buckled is the part he doesn't like, he seems to like the actual ride. Crossing fingers it stays that way since we have to do a lot of driving!

Other kids are adjusting. That part has been better then I expected I guess. The two middle ones have been more whiny and want mama. Currently going round and round with my 4.5y at this very moment because she wants to be touching me at all times, and I need a little space! The oldest has been a pill but I'm hoping that will improve next week once she gets busier. 

I'm doing fine. Tired and having to take a short nap every day to get through the day. I took kids to open gym, park, and then lunch today because they were driving me nuts at home. It has wiped me out but at least they aren't bouncing off the walls this afternoon! DH shouldn't be working this weekend so I'm hoping to get a little more sitting time in then I have in the last few days, I started bleeding more again so I know I need it. 

[SynEpona]

Cate is now on 'day 9', I'm counting off days the way the MW do for visits ... she was born on the 28th.

She's gained weight, never actually saw her dip below birth weight, and as of yesterday she is 7lb11oz (up 1lb2oz from birth). Her newborn screen had a couple of rare positives, so we are going to the genetics place at the university hospital on Monday to re-test. They thought it was odd that she had 2 rare things come back positive, and as she shows no symptoms for either at present, the doc there feels it is an issue with regards to the samples being compromised in some way.

It's a good thing she likes her carseat b/c she'll be in it a lot over the next couple days! MIL is having a family reunion tomorrow, about an hour away, and the uni-hospital is actually walking distance from her house, and we'll have to drive back there Monday. That is good news for DS, as hopefully he'll be able to visit with MIL and not have to come to the hosp. with us.

Yesterday, we had to see a pediatrician, as all breech babies get referred for an U/S for their hips ... apparently they can be dislocated, but the only sure way to tell is U/S, and the midwives can't do the referral, so we had to see the Ped. We waited in the exam room for about an hour, saw him for 4 min. Got lots of fun advice, and practiced my 'smile & nod' technique. Vitamin D, how much sleeping, how often nursing, bath every day for flaky skin, followed by aveeno or vaseline all over (only her hands & feet are flaky ... and wouldn't yours be if you lived in water for nearly 9mth?!).

She's not fitting in any of her clothes yet! Only the tiniest 'NB' things, so we're doing a lot of laundry to keep her in clothes.

She's a great sleeper, and a quick eater. Very strange for me, as DS was a eat 23 hours a day & only sleep while touching mama sort of baby -- he would also eat & sleep at the same time. I got used to it, and was prepared for the same thing. However, Cate eats in 10 - 15 min, and un latches herself when she falls asleep. She sleeps in solid 3 hour sets at night, and 90min-3 hour blocks during the day. I'm feeling very spoiled & well rested.

I'd forgotten how long it takes to do everything with a newbie. Not b/c the baby takes more time, but b/c every.single.person in the store/park/sidewalk ... feels the need to stop & chat. "is that a baby?" ... one day I'm going to tell someone it's a puppy! Of course it's a baby, no you can't touch her, yes she's quite fresh, yes I know she's tiny, now can I get to the bananas please? It took 10 min to get from the shopping carts to the produce section at the grocery store the other day! It's only 30 feet!

[copper.kettle]

I'm not on the "other side" yet, but I was just going to come and start a "post partum mamas" thread to see how everyone is doing!

Glad to hear the nurslings are doing well

Peony, are you cloth diapering?  I only ask because A&D ointment was like magic for DS's skin, but I don't think you can use it with CD.  Glad to hear your other kids are adjusting slowly but surely :)

Rochelle, your post gives me hope b/c DS was totally like your first and had to be ON or TOUCHING mama at all times to sleep (and even still at 3 years old won't make it more than a couple hours without me!).  I'd LOVE to maybe have a baby who can sleep a *little* more independently this time around, lol!

Can't wait to hear from more mamas with babies!  It gives those of us who are waiting hope that we WILL give birth one of these days, lol!

[Baby_Cakes]

  Anxiously awaiting my turn to post here, and happy to read along!  

[Peony]

I'm not CDing this babe. I fell off the bandwagon last baby and then ended up giving away all my dipes which I'm fine with. I haven't tried A&D, I might have to. I usually use some herbal stuff from a local shop with some Boudreaux when I need to break out the heavy guns. This looks blistered, very odd actually. 

Rochelle- I'm having the opposite problem, DS2 is so long that nothing fits! All the Carters 3 month outfits have 1/2 inch of room at the feet, if that. I have a couple more outfits with a little more wiggle room but not by much in the 0-3 month clothes. 

I don't know about weight gain, I haven't weighed him since his birth. I did decide to do the PKU this time around, and since my insurance is crappy I was going through do it through my MW since I don't have to pay for it like I would at the pedi office but she hasn't been able to come back since his birth. I'm not concerned about it but don't really feel like trying to get in with our pedi yet either. 

[sarahmck]

My little guy is 10 days today, born on the 27th.  So far he's very easy.  He sleeps constantly.  I'm CDing him and I've started with some EC, with surprising success!  I started on day 5 or 6 and I've been catching at least a few pees each day and a few poops in total.  At first I was bringing him to pee when I thought he looked like he was going to pee (during diaper changes), but now there have been several occasions where he isn't showing any signs of needing to pee and I've taken him and he's peed immediately.  So I'm very pleased with that.  I wasn't sure how quickly that stage would come.

This one is a good overnight sleeper, which is a real treat for me, having had bad ones only so far.  He sleeps on top of me and generally only wakes up twice between when I go to bed at 11 or midnight and when we wake up, between 7 and 8.  He's also a very peaceful sleeper, not a squirmy grunter like my others where as newborns, so it's really lovely to sleep with him.  Last night he *was* squirmy and it reminded me of what my other two were like and how different the quality of sleep is.

My one problem with him is that he has a tendency to puke up his whole feed within a couple of minutes of finishing.  He burps or gets the hiccups and the whole thing comes up.  I hadn't been concerning myself with it but then he only gained 20 grams from day 4 until day 8.  We now speculate that he must have lost more after day 4 such that he actually gained more than 20 once he bottomed out.  The next day he weighed a full 100 grams more, so hopefully there's no problem with weight gain.  He'll get weighed again on Monday.  He pees and poops tons, his skin doesn't look dry, his soft spot isn't sunken, etc., so I don't think he's not getting enough, but it's just such a bummer when he gets a really full boob, sucks a lot of it down, and then proceeds to puke the whole thing up straight away!  If it were a reflux thing he wouldn't do it until he had digested it somewhat, right?  He always does this within about 3 minutes of finishing and it looks totally undigested.

My older child totally loves him and the only problem with her is that she won't leave the poor kid alone.  She's always smothering him with kisses and coming up with cute things to say to him which she then proceeds to repeat endlessly to him and I go a bit crazy listening to the same sickly sweet endearments over and over.  My DS (3) also really likes him, but he struggles more with me not being able to do everything for him any more.  This was a bigger problem in the first few days when I really couldn't do anything.  Now that I'm mobile again and can often say yes it's gotten a lot better.  He's also gotten more used to papa.  He wants to nurse a whole lot and is driving me crazy asking to nurse early in the morning before it's time to get up, but I'm hoping that will ease off.  I keep giving the baby credit for putting lots of milk in the booies and he has clearly taken that in.

Oh, and the baby's latch isn't very good and I hadn't really realized that that was a problem for him too, not just me.  I've nursed daily since May 2005 so my nipples can tolerate a bad latch, but I am now working on the latch for his sake so he'll be better able to empty the breast and get at the hind milk.  The kid just doesn't open his mouth very wide and it's tricky to try to get him to do better.

[Agatha_Ann]

I'm so happy to see this thread! I was hoping we would have one soon.

Peony, sorry about the baby's bottom. Poor little guy. Have you tried breastmilk? I've always had the best luck with leaving them open to air for a few minutes and then a little milk on the rash before the diaper goes back on. Might be worth a shot?

Sarah, that is exciting about ECing! I've never tried that and it always fascinates me. Do you think maybe the baby is reacting to an overactive letdown? A few things you could try- nursing in a semi-reclined position so that baby is eating "uphill" and the force won't be as strong, expressing a little milk before latching on so the flow slows down, cluster feeding could slow down production some, but I would be careful with that so early in the game...I hope you figure out what is going on.

Rochelle, you seem to be very busy already! I hope all the testing goes well. It is interesting how different each baby is isn't it?!

AFM- My little guy is 8 days old today. Today is also the day I was scheduled to have him! He has been a champion nurser since day 1, easily the best of all my kids. He does now and then have trouble keeping up when let down occurs and he'll click with each suck. It is kind of funny though, because it is really loud.

He is a decent sleeper. He has an awake period in the morning and again in the evening. He eats every 1-2 hours in the day and 2-3 at night. I've woken up three times so far with him latched on and helping himself   I'm really happy he has taken to side lying nursing so easily. I really took that for granted with my first three kids, then DS3 came along and he would NOT nurse that way until after he was 1! It makes a world of difference, I can't even describe it!

Baby really really hates having his diaper changed, but it is getting better. He used to scream the second you unwrapped him, then it was just when I took off the diaper, now it is when I wipe him. Hopefully he continues to get over that, it makes me sad to hear him sad.

The other kids are doing fantastic. I was really only worried about my 2 yo, and he thinks baby is the cats pajamas. Loves the little guy

I'm healing pretty well. I'm still a little sore at my incision and my back gets pretty achy if I stand or walk too much. My family is being really helpful though and so I am able to rest quite a bit. My incision is held with steri strips that will come off in 3-4 more days and I am really anxious to see my scar. I have had staples 4 times and glue once, and every time they have taken my staples out at 10 days. This time though, they took them out on the morning of the 3rd day and I was really not happy about it. The three staples on either end were very tightly in there and it was very painful for them to come out. I'm hoping everything looks ok when it is all said and done, but I told DH if we have another one I do not want them out that early no matter what. All my others have practically fallen out with no pain whatsoever. This was a very different experience.  

[Beckily]

Originally Posted by Agatha_Ann 

I'm healing pretty well. I'm still a little sore at my incision and my back gets pretty achy if I stand or walk too much. My family is being really helpful though and so I am able to rest quite a bit. My incision is held with steri strips that will come off in 3-4 more days and I am really anxious to see my scar. I have had staples 4 times and glue once, and every time they have taken my staples out at 10 days. This time though, they took them out on the morning of the 3rd day and I was really not happy about it. The three staples on either end were very tightly in there and it was very painful for them to come out. I'm hoping everything looks ok when it is all said and done, but I told DH if we have another one I do not want them out that early no matter what. All my others have practically fallen out with no pain whatsoever. This was a very different experience.  

That seems very early to be taking out the bits that are holding you together! I'm so sorry! I hope that you've healed up well.
 

[Agatha_Ann]

Originally Posted by Beckily 

That seems very early to be taking out the bits that are holding you together! I'm so sorry! I hope that you've healed up well.
 

I know right? My biggest fear ever ever with c-sections is that something will happen and they will have to open me a second time. Either side of my incision are a little open from what I can see under the strips and it freaks me the crap out. I'm thinking that I have a slight memory of it being slightly separated maybe with DD? I don't know, but I don't like it!
 

[Beckily]

Originally Posted by Agatha_Ann 

I know right? My biggest fear ever ever with c-sections is that something will happen and they will have to open me a second time. Either side of my incision are a little open from what I can see under the strips and it freaks me the crap out. I'm thinking that I have a slight memory of it being slightly separated maybe with DD? I don't know, but I don't like it!
 

.... I don't like it either!

I'm so sorry! That doesn't sound okay in the slightest.
 

[egmaranian]

I guess I can join this in now

DS2 is 2 days old and we're still getting adjusted to life with a new baby and a toddler. DS1 seems to like "baby" as he calls his brother. But he has a very hard time sharing his "nummies" and it is making nap and bedtime very difficult. I was in tears earlier today because I feel like I'm neglecting ds1. But I know it will just take time for us to find a groove. If I could figure out an easy way to nurse both boys at the same time it will help a lot.

Ds2 is developing jaundice. I'm not too worried yet because we dealt with it when ds1 was the same age and resolved it by increasing bf'ing and keeping the windows uncovered during the day to let sunlight in the house. Unless it gets really bad in the next couple of days, I'll just wait to see what the pedi thinks when we go on Tuesday. ds2 is nursing like a champ and has already developed a better latch than ds1 ever had as a newborn. I'm hopeful this will help me establish my milk supply better this time around and avoid all the horrible things I had to do to keep my milk up enough to not starve ds1.

All in all, things are going pretty well. I'm totally sleep deprived though and need to find my groove soon or I'll slowly start to go nuts! I haven't shared my birth story yet because I haven't had time to sit at the computer to write it up, but I plan to do that very soon. However, I will say that I'm still processing how this baby entered the world and trying hard to let go of the trauma involved with the hospital transfer. I'm just a bit numb still and I have a feeling that some strong emotions are on the horizon for me. Physically, I am very sore...everywhere. I feel like I was in a car accident. All my muscles are sore, on top of the serious swelling I have going on in the vaginal/perineal region. I really hope I can get back to a fraction of normal in the next day or two.

Despite all my gripes, I'm on cloud 9 with my baby boy!

[HawaiianBlesing]

DS1 is just over 4 days old now and I must say is a really "easy" baby so far.  He was born late Tuesday evening and never took that 3-4 hour post birth snooze that I was told about so the first night was a bit long especially seeing I was up for 30 hours.  He fussed for a bit but finally was able to doze off.  The second night was pretty much the same.  Fussy till about 3 then off to sleep.  We are co-sleeping and my mom is worried about it so I had a mild anxiety attack that first night thinking I may have smothering him or something.  All was fine and has been ever since.  He had a bit of trouble with a "good" latch those first couple of days and still does occasionally but we are working on it.  He's much better one one side vs the other and I'm thinking it's got to be with the way I position him.  I'm playing around with different positions to see what helps.

MW came back on Thursday to check him out and do the newborn screening.  He took it like a champ and barely whimpered at all.  Only lost about 5 oz and looked great.  She said my tear was healing nicely as well.  I've found that I don't really care for the iodine was she gave me for the peri bottle so I've been using the recipe Italiamom recommended in the after care thread and find it to be much more soothing. 

Feeling a little awkward in the breastfeeding department as well.  My milk came in on the second night and my oh my!  I have these massive lumps under my armpits that I was expecting.  The right side is about the size of a baseball and the left a golf ball.  ( I have very sensitive lymph tissue under there due to cat scratch fever as a child)  I've been doing some lymphatic drainage--mostly in the shower because it's so painful.   I'm also leaking like a siv and can't seem to keep up with it.  Have plans to call my LLL in the near future just to make sure everything is A-ok and baby is getting what he needs.

I've been fortunate enough to have been able to stay in bed the last couple of days.  I was up and about the first 2 days but the pressure was just too much on my lady parts and perineum.  We had a yard sale yesterday so I did have to get up in the am and help just a little with the organization for that.  Put LO in the wrap and he just snuggled up and went to sleep.  People were amazed that there was a baby under all that material.  Didn't stay out long then it was back to bed for me.....I must say it did feel good to rest and nap.  It's been really nice to have DH home and my mom is here for a month to help out.  DH is getting a little frustrated that some things just aren't getting done and I keep trying to reassure him it's ok.  We just had a baby so some things are going to have to wait a few hours or days before they get done.  Not the end of the world.

We tried to completely restrict visitors for the first 3 days.  We allowed DH's mom to come on day 1 seeing she was in the area and it was only "fair" seeing my mom was here.  (Mistake!)  She complained to my mom that she didn't agree with what we were doing by not allowing visitors for 3 days or letting anyone hold the babe for the first week but she would "support it."  I was pissed that I let her come by after that.  Oh well....water under the bridge. 

I need to make the switch to cloth seeing all the mec has passed so I'm excited about that.  I can't get over how much he's peeing and pooping already. 

We are scheduled to see the pedi on Tuesday and that will be our first trip out of the house at just under a week old. 

I'm absolutely in love and can't even imagine that I'm going to have to leave him to go back to work at some point.  We are going to look at our budget and see if we can make something else work. 

 

[Peony]

Becky- DS2 did that as well, never did the post birth sleep. He was wired and I had been up for two days straight, it was almost 24 hours after his 3am birth that he finally allowed me to get some sleep. And it is so hard to look at them and about leaving them. I didn't return to work as planned after my first, i just couldn't leave her. I took some years off and then went back to part time employment when the right job came along. 

This weekend wasn't as restful as I had hoped. DH ended up having to work yesterday. The neighborhood is putting in a new playground this weekend and despite being initially told we were "cleared" not to help because of baby, we keep getting pestered to help. Or rather DH does. We have very limited time with him as it is, the small kids need some good daddy time, he barely sees them at all M-F. He went and helped out for 3.5 hours this morning and it wasn't enough. 

Getting out with 4 hasn't been as bad so far as I expected. We went to the skatepark this morning while DH volunteered, and Friday I was all over town. My MW is going to come by in the morning and do a hearing screen for DS2. I didn't do one with DS1 when he was a baby and then ended up having to do an extensive one later when he got older, which did turn out for the best because he does have delays and we would of been required to get one anyway, but hoping to avoid all that this time around. One typical child out of four would be really, really nice! My wallet and sanity would agree.  

[noorjahan]

I was looking for such a thread, and I am glad it's here!

My daughter is 12 days today. Yesterday, she had her second ped visit and she gained a pound!! She was oly 5 lb 13 oz at birth (labor was induced due to she not growing much in last month)..and within a week (from her first ped visit) she is now 6 lb!! I am sooo happy. However, getting here has been very tough. She had problem nursing..latching issue...so I was pumping and pumping and pumping..in addition to giving her formula. I am happy to say that last 2 days she didn't need any formula...and she is finally latching quite right..and only getting milk directly from breast...I have pumped only once yesterday! I can't even describe how happy that makes me. Healing has been tough for me physically and on top of that constant pumping..I felt totally out of whack! And now haven't pumped in 24 hours...what a difference it makes! I hope baby continues to get better at latch.

She sleeps through day time and becomes a night owl after 1 a.m....and that's tough. She is up until 5 a.m...and wants to be on me constantly...last night was bit better as I have learned a way to lie down with her on my arm..so I can rest up and while she is still on me as she thinks! And last night for the first time I have nursed her while laying down..side ways..another big relief. She still has some latch issues..sometimes she latches on and moves her head and then she can't get it back! But then I move her to the other breast and she does fine.

I have a question regarding baby's skin- since her skin is now so flaky...not all over..legs, hands. and stomach...I am wondering what to use to get rid of those flaky skins? Ped told me to use anything unscented..aveeno..etc...but I am not going to use Aveeno..or Johnson..not at all. Any other options?

[SynEpona]

Originally Posted by noorjahan 
I have a question regarding baby's skin- since her skin is now so flaky...not all over..legs, hands. and stomach...I am wondering what to use to get rid of those flaky skins? Ped told me to use anything unscented..aveeno..etc...but I am not going to use Aveeno..or Johnson..not at all. Any other options?

I just 'buff' Cate's skin lightly with a soft bamboo terry washcloth (dry) to get the loose flakes off, and don't put anything on it. She's had 2 baths, and when I dried her off, I gently rubbed off the worst of the flakies. The M/W said to just leave it alone, the Ped said to 'cover' her in lotion or vaseline. I'm not fond of coating anyone's skin in lotion w/o cause, so I didn't bother.

At 12 days now, the worst of the flaking is gone, and I think it'll be completely finished in another day or two, the best thing I can suggest is time. They went from living in water to our much drier environment (even with the insane humidity!), so it's the natural thing for their skin to do.

[earth-mama]

DS is now 4 days old! So, I figure I will join in. DD is super excited about DS and wants to smother him in kisses. She has been pretty good about being gentle with him, but sometimes gets over excited. She seems to be adjusting pretty well, we'll see how things go as the novelty wears off.

DS is nursing like a champ. My milk came in yesterday and he is loving it. So, far he has been quite mellow, but this isn't much of a surprise because he was pretty mellow in utero too .

[lovingmommyhood]

Moses is almost two days old now and I'm definitely still adjusting! We just got home from the hospital earlier this afternoon and introduced him to two very excited brothers and one very excited sister. I'm nervous for how we will all adjust but am confident that we will find a way. I did send him to the nursery last night because I had had no sleep in two days and I'm concerned about developing PPD and wanted to get some bit of sleep. He did sleep in the hospital bed with DH and I from about 4 am on and he slept well then so I guess we'll see what he's like tonight! I like having a thread where we can discuss these things because after 3 years since I've had a newborn I feel like a noob all over again. 

[HawaiianBlesing]

Rafe had his first trip out of the house today.  Hour drive to see the MW, then after that we went to see the Pedi.  Pedi said he looked great!  He's gained 8 oz which I was nervous about.  Wasn't sure if I was nursing him "correctly."  We did a little shopping afterward-- I need to find some tops to nurse in.  I feel so clueless.  I thought maternity wear sucked but finding clothes to nurse in aren't much better. 

I'm feeling very fortunate.  He slept "through the night" for the past two nights.  Last night was 10:30 to 6:30  I gently roused him twice each night so he would nurse.  Today was the first day that I allowed anyone other than DH and myself to hold him.  My mom was so excited.

We are having family over on Sunday for a meet and greet (about 15 people) for about 3 hours.  I'm not looking forward to passing our son around like a football and all the over stimulation that is going to occur.  I will try to limit it as much as possible for DS' sake. 

[Italiamom]

Originally Posted by HawaiianBlesing 

I need to find some tops to nurse in.  I feel so clueless.  I thought maternity wear sucked but finding clothes to nurse in aren't much better. 

I've found that wearing a spaghetti strap tank top over a nursing bra, and underneath your normal shirt, works great.  Then you can lift your normal shirt, pull down the tank top under the nursing boob side, unsnap your nursing bra on the nursing side, and it still leaves your stomach covered.  And then you can wear normal clothes.  I had a bunch of spaghetti strap tank tops that I got at Costco for super cheap that worked great for this purpose, and I often wear a tank top under my normal shirts anyway.  But then no expensive nursing clothes need to be bought.  Just wear your regular shirts with a spaghetti strap camisole underneath.  If that's helpful at all...

[noorjahan]

Originally Posted by SynEpona 

I just 'buff' Cate's skin lightly with a soft bamboo terry washcloth (dry) to get the loose flakes off, and don't put anything on it. She's had 2 baths, and when I dried her off, I gently rubbed off the worst of the flakies. The M/W said to just leave it alone, the Ped said to 'cover' her in lotion or vaseline. I'm not fond of coating anyone's skin in lotion w/o cause, so I didn't bother.

At 12 days now, the worst of the flaking is gone, and I think it'll be completely finished in another day or two, the best thing I can suggest is time. They went from living in water to our much drier environment (even with the insane humidity!), so it's the natural thing for their skin to do.

Thanks for the reply.. will do as you did...hopefully it'll go away soon!

I'm anxiously looking forward to baby's "sleeping through the night" phase!! Right now it's 3 am here and she is up...on my lap..she has her eyes closed but the moment I'm gonna put her on bed she'll wake up and cry!! She has been like this since day 1.....and I almost don't believe in "sleeping through the night" thing!! It's really tiring.