Chat Thread: Dec 27th Jan 3rd - Page 6

[tank]

wow a lot to catch up on now that I spent a day at work and not sitting here with a kid attached to my boob on the computer

nicole that story you tol of your dd spitting up in the older kids mough reminded me of something that happened to me when I was little.  It is actually one of my first memories of my little brother.  I was talking to him and singing to him really close to his face when he was a little baby and he threw up in my mouth!  I got him back a few years later though when we had to share a bed on vacation and I got food poisoning and threw up all over the bed and him after eating spagetti from a buffet. 

drooling:  my DS has been drooling more and more.  I keep worrying he is going to start teething but I am having a hard time checking in his mouth for any peeking teeth.

Beth I don't envy you at all trying to potty train a little one while taking care of a newborn too.  props to you. 

wiping:  we only wipe for poops but i have a boy.  sometimes i need to wipe all over when things get gunky.  we dont bathe everyday so he needs a little extra wipedowns i think.

AFM:  survived my first day back at work.  I go back tomorrow then don't go back till sat.  DP did good and he said it was hard but he managed.  I was able to pump twice during the day and only teared up once.  DS went on a hunger strike though.  He only took one ounce of his bottle all day!  DP said it got to the point where he just saw the bottle and DS started bawling.  Poor kid.  He's making up for it though, wanting to be on my boob all night.  I am hoping he will get it tomorrow.  I think I will have a shorter day tomorrow so I hope that helps too.  He ate a ton before I left in the morning and they went through a TON of diapers so maybe he was storing up all his nutrients.

thats all i got in me right now.  babe is back on the boob

[Amy May]

Tummy time- we love it. Palesa isn't happy forever doing it, but is happy enough and looking around for several minutes. You can prop up her chest with a rolled receiving blanket, and sometimes we play on the big medicine ball and roll her around. My favorite is tummy to tummy though! We believe tummy time to be very important in terms of her learning to crawl, which is also very important because of the cross body motion that helps coordination. Also, one big reason we think tt is so important is that it may reduce sids. It is thought that babies may rebreathe their air too much especially if they don't have strengh to turn head away if for some reason they do end up on their bellies or too close to a surface. Distinct from.suffocation, but rebreathing carbon dioxide may contribute to sids. Anyway, tummy time has huge benefits and even if your baby doesn't like it, there are many reasons to keep trying (someone suggested propping them on their arms, or using the ball, and giving them something to look at and talking to them)

Laundry issues... Ugh. The other day Dh did laundry. Actually he put the cloth diapers in the dryer. Instead of putting it on "more dry" he put it oon "less dry" because he thought that the wet clothes were already less dry. Sometimes I think he plays dumb so I'll tell him to not do laundry any more. A day later when I checked diapers were still wet.

We wear or hold Palesa most of the time. She's fine playing on the floor while we are packing but likes being held. I usually put her in moby, most of the time facing me and with her legs tucked inside. But tonight I tried her facing out with her legs pulled through. She prefers being able to look around.

Wow, after hearing what all of you do, I think I need to change her more often. I've not given it too much thought but try and change poop asap. I put coconut oil on her butt.

Packing has been stressful, a bit. A while ago dh bought an industrial sewing machine with a motor and table the size of a rhino. The motor weighs probably 100 lbs and the table has metal stuff sticking out of it so you can't even lay things flat and use it as a table. It was only $150 but takes up so much room in our basement and is a total monster eyesore. I keep thinking about how we're going to drag it across country and then pay to store it until we find a place to live. We've been fighting over this stupid table for days...bane of my existence!

Anyway we also had a wild NYE... By 11:30 we were in bed. Oh well. We did have a glass of champagne though.

Okay, Palesa waking up. I also love that our ddc is active long past the birth of our babies.

[not_telling]

Anyone else having trouble getting to the DDC's?  I had to get here by doing a search for this chat thread in the "I'm Pregnant" forum.  If I just click on DDC's I don't get the list of months.

Drooling - DD is drooling  a lot now, too.  Not worried about a tooth yet.  My understanding is that starting around 2 months, saliva production really kicks in and babies are still trying to figure out how to manage all that excess moisture...hence, drool.

Amy May - You have my packing sympathy.

theboysmama - Your poor DS (but not really, right?).  Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode when George's dad fell onto th elittle "fusilli Jerry" and he had to go to the proctologist...."million to one shot, doc...million to one..."

Pinterest - Thanks for  the lowdown, ladies.  I may have to join.  I certainly am a bookmarker and it can get a bit confusing.

AFM - Lordy, it's cold here right now (19 degrees I think).  DH is back to work today...not fun.  DS is home cuz we don't do preschool on Wednesdays.  Yesterday DH and I got over to the bank to open a savings acct. for DD, so we were able to check that off our list.

DD slept 7 hours last night.

So, I told the playgroup mommies that I didn't think we'd be doing our weekly get-togethers for the next few weeks.  The reason is that DS has his visits this month to the schools we're applying to and I don't want him to pick up any new "inappropriate" behaviors from 2 of the kids in the group.  Of course, this is not what I said to the mamas.  I told the truth, but in a more general way.  I said we'd been doing a lot of visiting with friends and family  the last couple weeks and DS was getting really wack-a-doo (totally true) and I thought perhaps we needed a more subdued beginning to our new year so that he could present his "best self" at these upcoming visits.  Whadya think?  Tactful?  Not potentially offensive?

[theboysmama]

not-telling- definately tactful! Good job!

DDC- the way I got here was once you click on ddc it takes you to a page that looks like nothing but there is a box and you click the down arrow and all of the ddc come up. A little annoying but not as difficult as doing a search.

[RosemaryS-F]

Pinterest: I had been using amazon wishlist, but this pinterest thing is so pinteresting to look at that I get inspired for more things that I want! Not sure this is a good thing...

Potty:  Another vote of sympathy, Beth.

Amy May: Why do you need an industrial sewing machine, out of curiosity? Does it serge? Good luck packing.

Tummy time: tummy to tummy with me is often the only way dd will calm down. So she gets lots of it. Can they rebreathe in carriers if their faces are inside (albeit their noses not covered, etc.)?

Teeth:  I spent way too much time yesterday trying to figure out if the MOLAR and CANINE that look to be budding in dd's mouth are actually the real thing or just the way her non-teething mouth looks. No sign of bottoms or tops, just these ridiculous anomalies. Looking for a clove-based numbing gel or something. Anyone ever tried that?

Tank: I hope work stays "survivable."

Cold: I'm breaking out the down snowsuit. She's still little for it, but it's in the teens.

Bathing: I bought a used tub for dd this morning. I hope she likes it, because she's kind of smelly. Our hot water just got fixed yesterday (I was very gross. Also, the dry shampoo was making me look like I had frosted my hair which stopped being cool when I was 7.)

not_telling: 7 hours!!! Woot!

AFM: Soooo much has happened since I wrote last (jk.) But I've been meaning to say that I still have major linea negra. I'm brown to begin with (unknown racial origins) and this line is BROWN. Also, I wasn't aware that I'd tanned through my shirts so much during the summer, because my stomach is also really brown. All the shrunken skin is just so dark. Anybody else have brown belly?

DS started his Montessori school. We love it. So happy that it worked out for him!

[LaBruja]

Pinterest: I'm with Rosemary...I'd simply get too covetous. Not good for me.

Potty: We are going through this with my DSS right now...I think it has maybe been a little more difficult just because he has two homes (two routines, two different potties to get used to, etc). Also, I think he has regressed a little at our house because of DD...he sees her getting her diaper changed and gets a little jealous (I kid you not, he tried to snatch the diaper right off her bum the other day because he thought it was one of his), which I think makes him more inclined to poop HIS pants too. I've been teaching him to play patty-cake with her after she gets changed and that seems to have helped with the jealousy, but I'm at a loss as to how to make him want to use the potty.

Amy May: sympathy on the packing, and I'm so sorry to not be on your side about this but the sewing machine sounds AMAZING! However, I totally understand about storage space...I have an 8-foot, steel-framed craft table that my MIL gave me that I refuse to get rid of, even though it takes up half the spare room and takes a platoon to move.

Tummy time: Elodie is pretty ok with it for a while on the floor, but really prefers tummy-to-tummy with me or daddy. We don't worry about it too much, as she is already alarmingly strong and both her dad and I were early crawlers/walkers.

Teeth: I hope not! She is drooling like crazy and has been chewing on her fists and anything else within reach, but I haven't seen any bumps or anything...hopefully it'll be a while.

Bathing: she hates sponge baths and doesn't like the tub, so I just have her daddy hand her to me while I'm in the shower...she seems to enjoy that.

Rosemary: hooray for your DS and his Montessori school! And I do still have the linea negra as well, although my belly is far from tan.

AFM: I'm sorry if I missed anyone...I've been reading along but not posting much. My family is doing well, but it's been a pretty rough week here in the wake of the shooting death of one of my colleagues here at the park...although I didn't know her well, I did interact regularly with both her and her husband in the course of our jobs, and her death is a huge loss for her family, for our park, and for the NPS family. Please keep Margaret and her family in your thoughts this week.

[starling&diesel]

Labruja ... I've been following that story. and my heart goes out to your colleague and her family.  What a terrible tragedy. 

Bathing ... Thank goodness, both of my children looooooove baths.  We usually have one all together each night.  Or myself with one of the children.  The baby loves to hang out on his back and float and kick his legs.  He likes to be in a hot, hot bath, which is awesome for me.  My daughter did too.  That way, we can all enjoy it!  The baby hangs out in for for at least half an hour, which his sister was happy to do to at that age.  I love that they like the bath so much ... it's a great way to restart a crappy day, so we sometimes get into the bath after a hard morning or miserable afternoon and when we get out we're all that much happier for it.  There's a pic over in the pic thread of baby H in the bath with me. 

Teeth ... We put on his amber necklace the other day for all drooling and fist- chewing.  We also got him a little natural rubber chew thing that he's thrilled to nosh on.  He's quite good at getting it into his mouth, which impresses me to no end. 

Potty ... I hope today is a great success, Beth!  And well wishes to anyone else pottying their babies or small children.  I was lucky with dd, she just decided that she was done with diapers one day.  No muss, no fuss, no accidents, no pull-ups, no gnashing teeth or wringing hands ... which makes me think that I'll have a really hard go with baby number two!  That's why I never brag.  I figure the minute I do, I'll be taught a Big Lesson from the universe about humility.   So yes, each child gets it in their own good time! 

Amy May ... We moved two towns and four houses in my older child's first year.  I wouldn't wish a single move on a young family.  You have my sympathies!  Thank goodness for babywearing, eh? 

[RosemaryS-F]

bath went great!

[beautifulmoon]

not telling Sounds tactful to me!

Rosemary I have a brown belly where my rash during pregnancy was. So my entire mid-section, basically. Boo. No more bikinis.

Tank Congrats on a successful day back at work. I've talked to my work about possible complications, like going over break time while pumping, etc. They were very understanding and said that if I have to pop back home for a minute to attend to business (I live nearby), so be it. I also went to my LLL meeting and got a lot of good suggestions.

Amy May You make good points. I tried tummy to tummy this morning like many of you suggested. It worked out great! She was happy and curious and swung her head all over. Also toppled off the belly a few times, but I'm not certain that counts as rolling over yet. Have to try it on a level surface. Good luck on your move. Sounds like a great adventure that you can look back on as a family someday.

Edited by beautifulmoon - 1/5/12 at 3:31pm

[lifeguard]

I've been reading but I have gotten so far behind.

Ds woke up in the night with his goopy eye sealed shut so naturally he started screaming. The screaming started him into a coughing fit so by the time I got the eye completely cleaned up that along with the continuous cough, sniff, cough, sniff had him completely awake. He was up for 3 hours. My sore throat is back. It's funny that at this point it is still ds interrupting my sleep so much & not the baby!

[livacreature]

On phone keyboard w bia

Tummy time: aura loves it in all forms. I might try her on the yoga ball when we go to work later.
Tank: good luck starting back!

Hip update: it looks good, the doc couldn't detect any dislocating or shifting, so it should only be another month of full time harness.

I had my first negative nip response, by some old geezer who first said I should smack my slightly fussy baby, then ccame back to the corner where we were happily nursing to tell me that was not to be done in public. An older lady employee of the store told him he was welcome to leave, it wasn't polite to try to catch a peek of a yound lady's chest! Someone got a ver nice comment card because I was rather bewildered. Everyone has always been nice or not commented at all before. I even had a blanket because it was chilly!

[tank]

I had a really good NIP experience last week.  I was nursing him and a little boy about 8 came over and asked me what he was doing.  I told him that he was eating his breakfast and the mom came over and explained to him that he used to eat like that when he was little too.  I thought it was really cute.  I think I am a little more nervous nursing near young kids just because they have no filter and if they notice I am afraid they will draw attention to us and people who would have not normally had a problem with it or even would have noticed, might, kwim?  I don't know if that is a reasonable fear as I don't have a child in that age bracket where they don't remember nursing and aren't used to seeing a bit of boob in public.  I'm sorry that happened to you though livacreature.  It is wonderful how the employee responded to him though.  There need to be more third party people who speak up for women who NIP.  I think it really helps the cause when the person defending the breastfeeding rights isn't the one who is actually doing it.  Sad but true.

[emmaegbert]

I have done a lot of NIP over the years and have never had anything but positive responses. So nice. And good for that employee. Its what she should be doing :)

bath- I just put baby in with olders once a week or so. She ins't mobile yet so it doesn't seem important to me. I wash her bum in the sink with warm water at least once a day (as needed)

oh my goodness LaBruja. that is awful about your colleague. What a shock.

no time to comment more right, just was checking in for some fun procrastinations...

[Hykue]

nak, as always

tummy time - she hates it, so we pretty much only do it by leaning back on the couch when we're tummy-to-tummy

babywearing - she wants to be held 90-95% of the time, and although she likes her swing it seems to give her the hiccups, so if i want to get anything done i have to wear her.  my husband usually stays up all night to get her back to sleep then and sometimes feed her pumped milk, so he's asleep during the days.  if i put her in the stretchy wrap when she's already upset she won't settle down, and she gets upset sometimes if i put her down even for a minute, so i got a beco gemini the other day.  now I can put on the carrier while I'm already holding her, and that is working better.  I can finally get a few things done around the house, although I haven't figured out how to do dishes without soaking her feet.  in town i've been using the stretchy wrap, and it works great for that because it's so easy to put her in and take her out.

nip - haven't done much yet because i can usually wait until i'm back at my truck when i'm doing errands, and i'm not in public much otherwise.  i did get a nursing cover for when i'm at the mom's group that i'm going to go to.  i also got a few nursing shirts when they were on sale (100% cash back from a store that also has nursing bras, and boy do i need some bigger nursing bras) so i can nurse without it being very obvious at all now, even if i don't have the cover on.  i live in a very small fairly conservative town, i would feel pretty obtrusive nursing without some kind of cover-up, unless i was in my truck.

playmats - I used to think these were for suckers, but now I wish we had one.  I think she would like it.

afm - I've been keeping up with the reading, but I hate typing one-handed, so I seldom reply.  Raven's in her bouncy seat now or I wouldn't be typing anymore.  The weather here has been totally loony - it's raining out right now.  RAINING, in northern Saskatchewan, in January.  I can scarcely believe it.

I have a question about bath time - she LOVES baths, absolutely adores them, will stay in for 30 minutes or more.  This is great!  But she hates getting out, like with the fire of a thousand suns.  She starts crying as soon as she's lifted out of the water (even when I've had the heater going and the air is just as warm as the water) and doesn't stop for a long time.  Like sometimes an hour.  She's crying before she even hits the towel, so my best guess of "towel too rough" is not a very good guess.  Anyone else have any insight for me?  I would like to bathe her more often because it makes her so happy to "float" around (I hold just her head) and to talk to me while we're in there, but I don't because I fear the aftermath.

[lifeguard]

nip - I've really been lucky in this regard & it was something I was pretty nervous about before ds. A few weeks ago at ds' gymnastics a little girl bounced over to me & got almost in my lap asking questions about nursing (is she sucking your blood - heeheehee) but I couldn't figure out who the parent was. Finally dad came in after the class was started & I warned him she might have questions or say something unexpected - fortunately he wasn't fazed by it.

hykue - how about putting a small receiving blanket into the tub with her & then wrapping her in that before you take her out to the towel?

livacreature - that's great news about the hip!!!!

[not_telling]

crying after bath - DD's been doing this, too.  I think she just likes the bath so much, and our house is kinda chilly (though we try to warm up the bathroom by bumping up the thermostat and keeping the bathroom door closed)...so maybe she cried cuz she feels chilled and sad not to be in the water anymore...?  At first she cried as soon as she was taken out.  Then she started crying sometme during dry off, and now she cries when getting her in her diaper and sleepy gown.

nip - haven't really done this much with DD yet, but she did have a dog stand on her while she was nursing at my cousin's.  small dog.

livacreature - yay for a light at the end of the harness tunnel!

lifeguard - hope you and your DS are soon fully recovered from all your ailments.  goopy eyes are not fun.

afm - from the sound of DS's (kinda fake) crying downstairs I think dinner is almost ready and DH turned off the tv.  DD often starts sympathy crying when DS cries.  Anyone else's babe doing that?

[Amy May]

Oh hearing all these bath stories makes me want to wake Palesa up right now and take a bath with her. We only ever have taken showers with her. Except once when she was about two weeks she had such a blowout we bathed her in her laundry hamper before we even took off her onesie. She likes the shower just fine, but now I really want to go take a bath with her!

[MN BabyDust]

My DD cries when she comes out of the tub too. It seems for her to be an over stimulation thing. She LOVES the bath, but when we taker her out and her attention is no longer held so perfectly, she realizes that she is WAAAY over stimulated and freaks out. It's the same reaction after she has a long session of realizing she is using her new found hands or other highly exciting events.

[Katico]

Dudes, I'll have more to say tommorow, just popping in to say...holy crap I'm tired.

Just back from 5+ hrs of waiting at the ER for Claire - she's had that cough I mentioned and today she started sounding like she was having trouble breathing past the mucous.  Cue terrified mama.  Took her to our doctor who sent us to the ER ("you don't really need an ambulance but go right there, don't stop longer than it takes to drop Lila off with your husband"  Cue extra terror)

So, 5 hrs + chest xrays = RSV and brochiolitis (sp?)  THANKFULLY, they sent us home, said she should be fine - may get a bit worse but she's probably almost at the worst of it and her lungs look okay.  Doctor, before seeing her xrays said something to the effect of "even though it sounds bad, she won't actually choke to death during these coughing fits, it will be a slow decline"  Well THAT's reassuring.  Eep.

Anyway, she is the sweetest easiest baby and smiled and napped through all that waiting.  So thankful.  So glad she's okay.  Couldn't even be annoyed about the wait because it meant we were low priority - that her initial exam put her in a safe category to wait, when other little people needed to be seen first.  So thankful for our healthy family, can't even imagine the agony of long-term illnesses and waiting.

And so proud of my big girl who got dragged to the doctor when she really needed a nap and a meal, got thrown out of the car to daddy (who isn't the best at our routines) and STILL kept her panties clean and dry all afternoon/evening!  She had another dry night last night, too!  Whoot!

[not_telling]

Katico - Oh my!  Scary scary for you, but glad DD2 didn't appear distressed (smiling and napping...couldn't ask for more!) and that docs think she'll be on the mend soon - despite a "slow decline??"  what??  And a big for DD1 who sounds like she managed the unexpected break from routine with grace and no potty accidents.

AFM - It's a "no preschool" day, so I just stayed in bed with DD when DS woke up.  He's gotten to the point where, when he gets up in the morning without me or DH there, he'll go the bathroom, take off his pajama pants, put his diaper in the diaper pail, wash his diaper cover, go potty, go back to his room, get dressed...and then come see if we're up yet.  Let's hear it for independence!  I said to DH recently that soon we won't have to get up at all when DS wakes up early....