December Chit Chat « Back to Group Discussions

[Jaimee]

To add your name please include the following with the formatting below (choose a color for your bolded names):

Your screen name- Your first name: Had her baby girl/boy date

Early November

meb2-Morgan:  Had her baby boy 10/27

Caracol8- Michele: Had her baby boy 11/12

A-time-to-live- : Had her baby 11/

Beccawprice- : Had her baby 11/16

Paigekitten- Katie: Had her baby 11/12

rhombus - April:  Had her baby boy 11/9

berry987- Lindsey: Had her baby girl 10/30

MrsKatie- : Had her baby girl 11/10

LunaLady- Christina: Had her baby boy 9/19

Mal85- Mallory: had her baby girl 11/2

Seraf, Sara: Had her baby boy 11/1

KayPea- Kirsten: Had her baby boy 11/13

Lilstar- Rachel: Had her baby boy 11/16

2011mama- MK: Had her baby boy 11/19

SoCaliMommy- Kami: Had her baby boy on 11/4

TalkToMeNow- Amanda: Had her baby boy 11/12

Ablemec- Mishy: Had her baby boy 11/7

Mid November

Krystal323- Krystal: Had her baby boy 11/18

Autumnshades- Sonja: Had her baby boy 11/7

Lula's Mom- Kristi: Had her baby boy 11/10

Octanebeetle- Wendy: Had her baby boy 11/23

birdhappy85- Joanie: Had her baby girl 11/24

Motivated Mama- Nina: Had her baby 11/24

Breed210- Ang: Had her baby 11/25

Jbk21- Jacquelyn: Had her baby boy 11/24

Saharaswims- Sarah: 11/18, #1, can't wait!

musicmama08 - Crystal: Had her baby girl 12/1

Late November

mleh1979- Emily: Had her baby girl 11/21

Willsmomm- : Had her baby boy 12/4

abraisme- Abra:  Had her baby girl 12/1

IwannaBanRN-Becky: Had her baby 11/19

Eternal_Howl - Raewyn: 11/21, #1, Had ovarian cancer at 27, so feel very blessed.

mcacat - Catherine: Had her baby girl 11/23

crazykittymomma- Sarah: Had her baby 11/17

mamabelle- Michelle: Had her baby girl 11/22

AmanitaMama: Had her baby boy 11/23

meesh933- Michele: Had her baby 11/24

Code Name: Mama- Dionna: Had her baby girl 11/23

justamama- Dennie: late November with #4

dashley111- Ash:  Had her baby girl 11/24

EonJourney- Nicole: Had her identical baby boys 11/3

miriam_bat_avraham- Julie: Had her twin girls 11/11

Jaimee- Jaimee: Had her baby boy 12/3

KaliShanti-Kali: Had her baby boy 11/29

mommy55- ML: Had her baby boy 11/19

Early December

Viriditas- Amy: Had her baby girl 11/25

Edited by Jaimee - 12/12/11 at 12:09pm

[Krystal323]

Subbing--and big, huge hugs to you Jaimee ;)

Nothing much to talk about here.  I think I'm having more trouble taking care of my older kids emotionally than physically/practically since the birth.  My poor 2yo is angry a lot!  He doesn't want to be babied either.  I ate dinner tonite with baby in the sling on my hip, and my two yr old in my lap, eating from my bowl.  He was happy at least!  :p

[dashley111]

Im having some issues with my older daughter.  Not so much parenting her, but helping her with the emotional adjustment of not being the youngest anymore.  Tonight was the first nigh I saw jealousy in her.

[Abraisme]

Coralie Katherine is here after 7 hours os early labor and 4 hours of active. It was a perfect, gentle water birth and we couldn't be more happy. She was 8lbs1oz (so much for a small baby, she was my largest), 19.75", born at 2:00pm. I will update with pictures and a birth story soon.

::hugs:: to everyone that is still waiting.

[TalkToMeNow]

Originally Posted by Abraisme 

Coralie Katherine is here after 7 hours os early labor and 4 hours of active. It was a perfect, gentle water birth and we couldn't be more happy. She was 8lbs1oz (so much for a small baby, she was my largest), 19.75", born at 2:00pm. I will update with pictures and a birth story soon.

::hugs:: to everyone that is still waiting.

Ahhh!! Abra! Yea!!! Congrats

[Jaimee]

Yay Abra!!!!!!!!!!!!    I can't wait to hear all the details!!!!   Welcome to the world Coralie!

[TalkToMeNow]

J, I'm responding to your nov chat post here. Re weight loss: I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight, too. I gained 28 lbs and have lost it all... I'll be three weeks postpartum on Saturday. It's been a steady loss and I feel like it is too quick and will continue. I'm eating as much as I can, but it's tough to get enough. I'm worried I will end up really run down, like you said. Not sure what to do... Being alone without dh, there's not really an option to hand off the baby so I can cook something. All the girls will hold him, but it only lasts for a minute or so... He wants mommy! I think I'm going to suck it up and buy a bunch of protein smoothies and granola bars. Sigh.

PS- So glad you are having a wonderful recovery period and that your dh is being so awesome!

[SoCaliMommy]

Yay Abra Congrats

 to anyone still waitng for baby

We had our visit and Harlan was 9lbs 13.5oz and roughly 23" they were happy with his weight gain and made no mention of a follow up visit.

[Code Name Mama]

Congratulations Abra!!!

[jbk21]

Way to go Abra!  What's up with these surprise big babies?!  Dylan was always measuring super behind, but he was big.  I know towards the end they measure "small" because when they drop the fundus isn't as high, but he had been measuring small since 28 weeks.  Whatevs :-)  We'll be packing up most of the newborn sized outfits tomorrow!  Bittersweet but I actually am kind of excited about it.  I don't want him to grow too fast but I also know each age/stage is so fun so I am looking forward to it.  

Thanks Amanda- I feel like I am eating like crazy but I also know that I am not having a big enough breakfast and I'm not snacking, so I have some room to add some calories.  Once my milk really picks up (once he starts really growing and eating more) I will be even more famished.  But I also don't feel super hungry- I did with DS1- so I need to kind of force myself to eat.....

Anyway, yeah DH is being super amazing which is great because he wasn't able to stay home for a babymoon with DS1.  This is awesome!  I think we feel like old pros now, too.  We anticipated things being much harder but it's been a really easy transition so far!  FX this continues.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by TalkToMeNow 

J, I'm responding to your nov chat post here. Re weight loss: I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight, too. I gained 28 lbs and have lost it all... I'll be three weeks postpartum on Saturday. It's been a steady loss and I feel like it is too quick and will continue. I'm eating as much as I can, but it's tough to get enough. I'm worried I will end up really run down, like you said. Not sure what to do... Being alone without dh, there's not really an option to hand off the baby so I can cook something. All the girls will hold him, but it only lasts for a minute or so... He wants mommy! I think I'm going to suck it up and buy a bunch of protein smoothies and granola bars. Sigh.
PS- So glad you are having a wonderful recovery period and that your dh is being so awesome!

[IwannaBanRN]

Originally Posted by Abraisme 

Coralie Katherine is here after 7 hours os early labor and 4 hours of active. It was a perfect, gentle water birth and we couldn't be more happy. She was 8lbs1oz (so much for a small baby, she was my largest), 19.75", born at 2:00pm. I will update with pictures and a birth story soon.
::hugs:: to everyone that is still waiting.

Congrats, Abra! Can't wait to hear a story and see pics! Now I believe it's Jaimee's turn.

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

Oh, Becky... I'm so sorry you're dealing with all this stuff!  Not fair!  ((HUGS)) to you!  Oh, and jump over to the December thread!

It doesn't seem fair. I feel like a leopar. I'm worse off with having had a natural birth than I was with my medicalized births. That makes me kind of sad, because it made me lose a bit of faith in non-intervention birth.  Fever seems to be gone, but these sores are not making it easy to keep my mind at ease. Instead of a hospital, I might go to a community clinic tomorrow to get them looked at.

[Motivated Mama]

Congrats Abra!

Re: bottle feeding and pumping - I would also pump after feeds at this point to save up for a future time point when breastfeeding is well established. If you do decide to do some supplemental bottle feeds with breastmilk, make sure you're still doing a middle of the night (3am-ish) pumping or nursing as that is a BIG supply contributor in these early weeks.

Jaime - My midwife said some horrible things with my postdate pregnancy and the way you reacted sounded eerily similar to my response. I went into labor that night so FX that the ole midwife wrath trick works for you!

AFM - I have had little to no postpartum help. DH is here in the mornings and has taken over bringing DS to pre-K and picking him up, but that's it. He works from 12-3 and again from 4-12. The only day he has off is Sunday and sometimes Monday. Despite this, I have been in a great place emotionally I felt euphoric the other night during the kids' baths and downtime. I'm really liking the idea of an even larger family, then I get a call from the pediatrician yesterday...

The metabolic screen (one of the only things I agreed to do) came back positive for cystic fibrosis. After giving me a heart attack, we learned that there's a 1/30 chance that she has the disease and a 97% chance she's just a carrier. We won't know for sure until December 20th when they will perform a sweat test to see. I don't want this to play into my postpartum recovery. I am the happiest I have ever been postpartum and she is the healthiest baby since DD1. All of my kids have something that makes them "special" and I was hoping for a baby that didn't have to see any sort of specialist for once. ::sigh:: It's going to be a long 18 days.

[Mal85]

Originally Posted by TalkToMeNow 

J, I'm responding to your nov chat post here. Re weight loss: I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight, too. I gained 28 lbs and have lost it all... I'll be three weeks postpartum on Saturday. It's been a steady loss and I feel like it is too quick and will continue. I'm eating as much as I can, but it's tough to get enough. I'm worried I will end up really run down, like you said. Not sure what to do... Being alone without dh, there's not really an option to hand off the baby so I can cook something. All the girls will hold him, but it only lasts for a minute or so... He wants mommy! I think I'm going to suck it up and buy a bunch of protein smoothies and granola bars. Sigh.
PS- So glad you are having a wonderful recovery period and that your dh is being so awesome!

I'll be interested to see where my weight is at. I don't have a scale at home, so it'll have to wait until my 6 week check up on the 14th. I went to the doc for a UTI at one week PP and I was only 7 lbs above pre-pregnancy weight, so I wouldn't be surprised if I've lost it all already. I was a little overweight when I got pregnant though, so I'm really okay with losing the weight. I've been eating well, but like J I kind of have to make myself eat. I'm just not that hungry for some reason and when I am hungry, nothing really sounds good. I've been extremely thirsty though, so lots of water. I remember people saying with my first that nursing makes you so thirsty, but I never really got that feeling. I get it this time though! I'm constantly thirst for ice cold water. 

I'm getting a Mirena put in at my 6 week appointment. I'm a little nervous about it. I didn't respond well to BC pills and haven't been on any hormones since then. I had a long conversation with my midwife about it and she thinks I'll do well with it since it's such a low dose hormone. Anyone here have any experience with the Mirena?

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by Motivated Mama 

Jaime - My midwife said some horrible things with my postdate pregnancy and the way you reacted sounded eerily similar to my response. I went into labor that night so FX that the ole midwife wrath trick works for you!

Unfortunately, not so much...

The metabolic screen (one of the only things I agreed to do) came back positive for cystic fibrosis. After giving me a heart attack, we learned that there's a 1/30 chance that she has the disease and a 97% chance she's just a carrier. We won't know for sure until December 20th when they will perform a sweat test to see.

Yikes!!  How terribly nerve wracking for you!!!  But as recessive disease you and your dh would both need to be carriers and even then you would have only had a 25% chance of passing both those recessive genes onto your child.  So that's why the odds are so low that she actually has it.  But apparently one of you likely carries it... that 97% must mean there is a 3% error rate?  Sending positive thoughts your way!!!

[Motivated Mama]

The 97% number comes from the fact that a mutated gene WAS detected. There are over 100 and something mutations though for CF gene and they only test for something like 28. She is definitely a carrier...so I guess the number should be 100%. What I meant though is that she has a 3% chance of having the disease OR a 97% chance of JUST being a carrier. And if DH and I do both carry the mutated recessive gene, it would be a 1/4 chance for each of our children. Our state didn't start screening until 2008, so 2 of our children have never been tested. And the adult cheek swab screen they did when we were pregnant with DD1 only detects 60-90% of carriers...not very convincing. DH and I are both of Irish descent where the disease is most prevalent. I just have to focus on that very small 3% number.

NAK or I would post some references, but I am regurgitating valid information both read and reiterated by her pediatrician.
Edited by Motivated Mama - 12/2/11 at 7:58am

[Jaimee]

Thanks for the info, Nina!  I didn't realize it was more prevalent in Ireland.  Thinking of that 3% for you, too! 

[mamabelle]

The toughest part about this post partum adjustment is definitely our 2-year-old's adjustment. We read a lot of books to prepare him, and one of the sweetest things is seeing that pay off: he's super sweet to baby and hasn't acted out directly about the baby. He has, however, had some trouble sleeping and definitely a few more meltdowns than before. He has also brought up the concepts of "being a bad kid" which my husband interprets as pushing us for attention (though he's actually getting tons of attention lately) and I interpret as his wanting to be reassured of unconditional love from us. 

Luckily this baby is very sweet and sleepy, and my husband is home with us for a month, so we can help DS process this. Hugs to all going through this, it's hard to watch the big kids struggle emotionally... and I have a feeling we're just beginning.

Originally Posted by dashley111 

Im having some issues with my older daughter.  Not so much parenting her, but helping her with the emotional adjustment of not being the youngest anymore.  Tonight was the first nigh I saw jealousy in her.

[birdhappy85]

As of this morning 8 days pp, I'm down 20 lbs. That has to be all lost from the baby, tissues and fluids leaving my body....... It's not like I'm not eating! But I'm definitely not eating as much or as often as I was while pregnant. I'm so happy I finally was able to cook myself something for lunch. Sora is asleep in her swing and I'm enjoying some time with my hands free. DH was so sweet and cooked me a huge protein-filled breakfast this morning when he got home from work. I don't think I'd be eating hardly at all if he weren't taking care of preparing meals for me. My hands are NEVER FREE!

I'm thinking of looking into joining a La Leche League group. DH went back to work last night and it was hard on me to see him go, I cried for a little bit. Then the rest of the evening I ended up having a horrible time trying to get Sora to latch correctly. She has been great at latching since right after birth, but in the evenings it seems like she has a harder time and I think it's my fault. I don't know if I'm just so tired at night that I'm not as vigilant about how I'm holding her or what is going on. I tried a million different positions last night, different angles, but she would suck for a little bit and then extend her head back with my nipple being pulled and then lean back in to suck again. Not a continuous latch. It was excruciating and I was crying practically all night. I felt so bad crying over her. She was crying off and on then, too, because she seemed so frustrated. And since she kept going back to my breast every 30 minutes trying again, she pooped after nearly every feeding too so I was changing diapers nonstop. DH felt bad when he texted from work later to see how things were going and I was having a meltdown. I finally got Sora to latch long enough to get her fill and we fell asleep in bed together. Everything this morning is better but I'm just feeling like I should seek out group support so I can keep my spirits up with the commitment of breastfeeding and not get too discouraged when things don't go perfectly all of the time. Breastfeeding is so important to me, it got scary for me last night to be doubting my decision to do it.

Question: Has anybody here had very minimal to no soreness during your first week pp but then soreness set in later? I woke up today barely able to walk, my pubic bone and pelvis are hurting so bad, everything there feels stiff. It could just be that I was sleeping on my sides all night next to the baby and forgot to put a pillow between my legs... It just really really sucks having pain NOW when I didn't have anything after the birth. *sigh*

[birdhappy85]

Oh, I want to also add that I did take note of everyone's advice in the November thread about not giving my baby a bottle before 3-4 weeks until breastfeeding is well established. I wasn't aware of that guideline until you mentioned it but I've seen it all over the instructions for my breast pump and milk storage supplies now too. Thanks for letting me know that! That could've been disastrous. I also read up on how to feed a breastfed baby a bottle too to more mimic the breastfeeding session since milk comes out so much faster from a bottle. DH and I feel a lot more aware of these things now. I don't think the latching issue last night had anything to do with my giving her one bottle two days ago for a brief time since she doesn't have an issue the rest of the time. But man, I sure do wish I could give her a bottle at times like last night when we were both so frustrated trying to nurse!

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by birdhappy85 

She has been great at latching since right after birth, but in the evenings it seems like she has a harder time and I think it's my fault. I don't know if I'm just so tired at night that I'm not as vigilant about how I'm holding her or what is going on. I tried a million different positions last night, different angles, but she would suck for a little bit and then extend her head back with my nipple being pulled and then lean back in to suck again. Not a continuous latch. It was excruciating and I was crying practically all night. And since she kept going back to my breast every 30 minutes trying again, she pooped after nearly every feeding too so I was changing diapers nonstop. I finally got Sora to latch long enough to get her fill and we fell asleep in bed together. Everything this morning is better but I'm just feeling like I should seek out group support so I can keep my spirits up with the commitment of breastfeeding and not get too discouraged when things don't go perfectly all of the time. Breastfeeding is so important to me, it got scary for me last night to be doubting my decision to do it.

Hmmm... if she's latching fine during the day I would not at all assume that you are doing something wrong just b/c it's night.  It sounds more like she has some competing need while she's nursing at night.  My first guess would be elimination needs such as the need to pee/poop, an already wet diaper, or gas.  Many an EC convert started out by realizing that elimination was getting in the way nursing and found that by putting baby on the potty the breastfeeding issue was resolved.  Any signs of gas or other discomfort?  My second guess would be different flow at night.  If it's been longer between sessions due to sleep then the flow might be surprisingly fast at first, she may gulp, get air and then gas.  Milk production is also at it's highest at night.  After going at it for a while off and on, off and on, the flow may get frustratingly slow.  This would be something you could just sort of take note of to determine if it's an issue and then there are things you can do to help.  

Definitely seek out your local LLL chapter and always keep in mind (if there is more than one) that they are not all the same and not all leaders are the same.  So if you get a bad impression from one group,  try out another.

I'm sorry it's been frustrating, but you're still in the learning and milk regulation period.  Things WILL get better!  Once side nursing is mastered and she stops pooping at night, night feedings will be a breeze.