February 2012 Whatever Ladies and Babies - Page 15

[onetwoten]

Had two dur! moments tonight as a mama, one funny, one not so funny. 

Not so funny, I had to get something out of the mailbox, so I placed DD on the couch with her feet towards the edge (ie so she couldn't roll off), and then walked to the front door. In the literally 7 seconds it took me to walk to the door and open it, I heard a loud THUD. She wriggled herself off the couch and hit the floor!! Near as i can tell, she starfished herself, and that was enough momentum for her to totally slip off the edge. Gah. I thought she was fine because she'd have to completely turn sideways to roll off the side. Not so!  I feel horrible. She's totally fine, it was like an 18" drop, and she only cried for like 10 seconds, and then stopped almost as soon as I picked her up, and she's been acting fine all night, but man I feel like dirt!

And the funny one-- I arranged to sell some yarn today that I'm not using, and then went to open my "current projects" box, that hasn't been opened since the week before Tenley was born, and found an almost brand new cloth diaper and insert I had forgotten about. I was using it to help me size for a pair of pants I was crocheting, and mistakenly assume that I would finish them right away, but never even got a chance to open the box again. Whoops! That's almost 3 months of use I could have gotten out of that diaper! lol

Speaking of diapers, I have three FB mediums that I think I'm going to sell and put the money towards more of our AMP's. I love having such a matchy stash right now :) Silly, but DH likes it too, so at least he supports my craziness. 

Also, we ordered 5 yard of bamboo to make inserts with, and then after we ordered got told that they're back-ordered on it, but hopefully should have some in soon. *sigh* Once we get them made, it'll come out to about $2.95 per insert, (AMP sells them for $8) so it's worth it, but so frustrating that they wouldn't put the bamboo out of stock if they know they don't have it! 

[akind1]

JJ: that is frustrating! so exciting that you are making diaper inserts. If I had a sewing machine and a place to put it, I would totally sew. (I can and have in the past, but nothing hard - just curtains mostly)

ITA: we are all rockstars! maybe March thread should be Whatever Rockstars and babies!

I will be so glad when this cold is over for Norah; I hate hearing her cough. It's not a whoop, it's not the seal bark of croup, just a dry hoarse cough. It makes all her cries pitiful, and even her happy noises.

Sometimes Norah is perfectly happy with one boob. Sometimes I double boob her. it just depends. But during the day (a normal, not sick day) she gets fed every 2-3 hours . . . .so yeah, a boob goes 4-5 without being emptied. I rarely leak. When I pump I usually get 3 ish ounces on the right side and 4 or more from the left.  so that sounds about right to me.

I haven't ever done a long trip with babies without DH, I don't think I'd want to. I like the idea of late summer, early fall for our trip - if we do one - Gabe will be almost 3, and hopefully potty trained, Norah will be almost one and should be easier to travel with (less fussyness in the car) For us it's probably like 8 hours or more in the car. Eastern NC is 5-6.

Carrie - your airport plan sounds feasible. hope you get to go and have lots of fun!

[MarineWife]

Carrie ~ I didn't see your post about the airport. Sometimes when I get email updates that are supposed to go to the first post after my last, they go a few posts down and I don't always think to check up. Anyway, we took Ethan's carseat with us to use in our car but we didn't use it on the plane. It was checked with the luggage.

JJ ~ Glad Tenley wasn't hurt. I would sew if I had room for a sewing machine. My mom keeps asking me if I want one. Apparently, she has a friend who sells them so she can get a nice one really cheap. I do actually have room in the bonus room upstairs but I'd have to leave it out in the middle of the room and the boys would mess with it (and probably break it).

Kat ~ Dylan has had an awful sounding cough for maybe a week. It's gotten better the last 2-3 days but, for a while there, it sounded really bad. Sometimes he would cough so hard his whole face would turn red and he'd even choke on the mucous.

[akind1]

She's not to the choking point - thank goodness - but we (DH really - I just get to hold her still) suck her out frequently with the Nosefrida. She does so much better outside in the fresh air and also upright. so I have been trying to keep her as upright as possible. In bed she sleeps best propped up in the crook of my arm. Granted, *I* don't sleep best that way, but I would sleep far worse if she was up coughing all night, so I guess, I will take what I can get!

oh, and yes, - Glad Tenley was ok! Norah hasn't had a fall yet, but I am sure it's only a matter of time. I think it happens at least once to everyone.

[AnnieA]

JJ, that's so scary! I have a recurring nightmare that DD falls off the changing table. Glad she's o.k.!

DD is sleeping better which is good but I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep today! I switched my schedule for today from 4-midnight to 8-4:30 PM. Yikes! So I worked last night until Midnight, got to bed about 1:30 AM and then had to get up at 5:30 AM to get ready for the day and get out of the house by 7AM w/DD. Whew! I'm nannying this weekend and I have to pick the kids up from aftercare this afternoon so that's why I had to switch.

[Baby_Cakes]

I just had the craziest afternoon. Finn woke up from his nap early, and I went to feed him to see if he would go back down. I realized my boob was completely blocked on one side. I've never felt anything like it, it was definitely a clogged duct. I whipped off my shirt and put him to the boob but he really wasn't hungry.

It was so painful and lumpy. It happened so fast!! I was fine all morning!

I jumped in the shower and started massaging the lump, it was the whole side of my breast. Massive. I had no idea what to expect. As I was working it, I finally noticed a white string like thing coming from one tiny little spot on my nipple. I heard about that but have never seen it before. I worked it and worked it, hand expressing as firmly as i could, and finally it came out. It was tiny!! A speck!! Milk literally shot out of that tiny spot. It sprayed forever!! Slowly, my boob got soft, and I was able to breathe.

Nuts. Totally nuts. And ouch!!

Anyway. Sorry for no personals, as soon as I can get on the computer, I'll catch up!! I just had to share. I can't believe it. I can't believe that tiny pin dot was enough to block off half my boob.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

[MarineWife]

That's crazy, Carrie! I have read about those strings, too, but have never seen one.

Annie ~ Do you have to stay up for the rest of the day with all those kids? I'd be dying. I have to do that sometimes on just a few hours of sleep with just mine and I feel like I will lose my mind.

We had a good, busy day. We went to the park with our homeschool group. The boys had a lot of fun. Then Ethan had a dental appointment. Then we went to GameStop so they could get some new video games. Dylan napped for only about 20-30 minutes while were at the park but fell asleep soon after we got home, around 4:30. I hope he will sleep for quite a while. Then he should be ready to sleep tonight at a reasonable hour. He's been falling asleep around 9-9:30 every night, which is good, but gets woken when we go to bed. So far, he hasn't been too much trouble getting back to sleep.

[onetwoten]

I had a clogged duct several weeks ago, and it took me a whole day to fix it. Same thing though, it popped up literally overnight. I'm pretty sure I saw exactly when it dislodged because Tenley made the worst face ever when she was nursing, and then let go. So weird!

Guys I'm craaazzzyy... I know I said I was considering selling my non-AMP diapers and replacing with AMP, well I found someone selling 32 of them, with hemp inserts, with a pail liner and pail freshener for $350, so less than $11 per diaper... and she won't split them up, so DH said go for it, and just sell the extras at a profit. They're generally worth around $15-18 with a hemp insert, so even if I keep 12 (which I don't need that many) and sell 20 of them, I could totally make $5 a diaper, so spending 350, and ending up getting $300 back, plus my own 12 diapers (at less than $5 a piece). If I sell them for $17.50 each, it'll even pay for my diapers! lol

[akind1]

JJ what an awesome deal!

I don't know what is up, I only got 7 ounces at work today, I usually get 12. Norah is getting enough, but I need to add to the freezer stash! Guess I need to add some pumping sessions at home.

Yay for good, busy days!

I hope to never get a plugged duct. Glad you were able to fix it!

[Baby_Cakes]

JJ, that's an awesome deal. Go for it!!!

Kat, are you drinking enough water? That always gets me.

So, the stroller is a bob revolution ce. As soon as Chris gives me the go ahead, I'm ordering it!! So excited!!

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

[MarineWife]

JJ ~ That sounds like a great deal! Go for it. I love hemp. I was going to ask why not just use prefolds rather than spending more for bamboo and/or sewing your own. Don't prefolds only cost around $2-3 each?

I can't wait until Sean gets home so I can go through my stash and put things together to sell. I have some FBs and inserts, some NB fitteds and some woolies to sell.

[onetwoten]

We were using prefolds with her small AI2s before we got rid of them, but the inserts just seem to fit better, and they're more absorbant. We haven't had a leak-through of a night diaper since switching to bamboo and hemp. 

[MarineWife]

Originally Posted by jeninejessica 

We were using prefolds with her small AI2s before we got rid of them, but the inserts just seem to fit better, and they're more absorbant. We haven't had a leak-through of a night diaper since switching to bamboo and hemp. 

I found that, except for the Joeybunz hemp inserts made specifically for FBs, the inserts seemed to narrow. The PFs are kind of a pain because I have to trifold them before putting them in but they seem to provide more layers of absorbancy. I don't know what kind of inserts I have, though. They are just rectangular microfiber that came with the pockets. I don't like them. I have a ton of them I've never really used and need to sell. I wish I could find more hemp inserts but hemp is so hard to find these days. I don't want the Joeybunz anymore since I'm not using FBs. I really don't like pockets, though. I find it to be a pain having to restuff them all the time. My fitteds are so much easier. They are always assembled, no taking apart or putting together.

Cloth diapering is like babywearing. No matter what anyone else says, you just have to try things out and find what works best for you.

[onetwoten]

Originally Posted by MarineWife 

Cloth diapering is like babywearing. No matter what anyone else says, you just have to try things out and find what works best for you.

Totally! 

The inserts AMP makes look almost like prefolds, they're just a bit smaller, so it's not a long rectangle, it's an almost square two or three layer fabric, and then you double or trifold it. We trifold them right now, so she's getting 6 layers of hemp/bamboo. I like them like that, because they're easier to dry, but then they're also made to fit these diapers really well. But yeah, I've found you're right, a lot of the time, unless you use the inserts made for a specific diaper, they don't seem to fit properly. We made a dozen microfibre inserts just before she was born, but we made them from a template of an AMP microfibre insert, so they fit really well. I'm just... not feeling the microfibre. 

I don't mind stuffing them, but I'm also lucky because DH actually asks me to leave them for him, and usually stuffs them at night while watching tv. We stuff them all as soon as they come out of the dryer, so that when it comes time to use them, there's nothing to do. For me, the worst part about the pocket is actually un-stuffing them to wash. Sometimes that's not so fun! lol

[MarineWife]

I've never liked microfiber, either. I stuff all mine as soon as I take them out of the dryer, too, as much as I can. Dylan interrupts me a lot. Most pockets you don't have to unstuff. They are made to unstuff themselves in the wash. Have you tried that with your AMPs? It works pretty well for all my Wonderoos, FBs and random other pockets. Everyone once in a while one will come out of the wash with the insert still in it but I have enough that I can just throw that one back in the bucket and wash next time.

[akind1]

JJ: I was so happy once I realized I didn't have to unstuff my pockets for the wash! I might have one or two inserts per load that don't come out, but I just make sure everything is separate before they head to the dryer. They still seem to get clean, even if they don't come out.I wish I had a clothesline so I could line dry things when I wanted.

It is ridiculously hot. My MIL, bless her heart, asked if we wanted the HEATER on last night. I said, the low is 67 degrees, why would we want the heater????argh

I think the kids are 90% better; they still cough on occasion, but neither is miserable anymore, hooray!

as for water . . . I drink the same amount I always do at work, maybe I need to increase it? or maybe my AF is trying to return? It came back at 4 months PP exactly with DS, but hasn't really shown much sign of returning this time.

So glad it's Friday! and I took most of next week off - hooray! -

[Baby_Cakes]

Oh maybe AF!  Do you feel any different otherwise?

It also could have just been an off day.  You could throw in an extra pumping session during a non-work day.  Will Norah drink thawed milk or only fresh?

Did I mention that to you guys?  Finn won't drink thawed milk.  He'll drink it from the fridge, warmed, but not frozen and thawed.  

It does taste different.  I wanted to make sure it wasn't sour.  It def didn't taste right or anywhere near close to how the fresh tasted.  I wonder if I have high lipase.

JJ -  I don't unstuff diapers before tossing into the was either!  Save yourself from that gross job!

A low of 67!  Ahhh!  Our highs lately are 57, so that sounds dreamy!  I can't wait for warmer weather.  Today is rather gray and dreary.

Finn was up all night again.  Up hourly to nurse.  He's making my milk production go thru the roof with this constant nursing!!  Is there another growth spurt supposed to happen at 6 mo?  I'm so tired!!!  I need at least 2 hour stretches to feel like I've gotten any rest.

Last night I put Finn down to bed at 730 (with no naps and horrible sleep, he was ready).  I wanted to get DD down early but instead, she wasn't cooperative and ended up throwing a fit and woke the baby up at like 830.  I was so pissed and exhausted.  DH went in with her to read her books and I got Finn down again.  Then I went in to sing her her song and she was being a pill, and thrashed around and accidentally head butted me in the face.  I just gave up.  I put my head on her pillow and started to cry. I was just so done!  I cried and said, "bubba I'm soooo tired, please just close your eyes and go to sleep.  I really need you to do this for me, please."  

She gave me a hug and was like, "Please don't cry, it'll be ok.  I'm always here," or something along those lines.  It was sweet.  She did go to sleep easily so I was very happy about that.

Lots of coffee on the menu today.

O/T - we have been getting frozen vegetarian nuggets from chinatown, and I think they mimic real chicken.  Does anyone have any good chicken slow cooker recipes they could share? Something with indian flavors or anything really?  I want to throw something together but since I've never cooked chicken I don't have any recipes marked.

[AnnieA]

Yes, I had to stay up yesterday with the kids that I'm nannying. It wasn't so bad once I left work but during the day, man my brain was NOT working! They settled by 8:30 PM though and I laid down with DD at 10 PM so not too bad. She was up a lot during the night but I had plenty of milk already pumped so no big deal. I got up at 2 AM to pump and then DD was up at 5:30 AM. One of the kids is home from school today but he's pretty self sufficient so I'll lay down with DD when she takes her nap this morning. 

Pocket dipes, I usually unstuff them before I wash them. I've been meaning to ask you guys, for those of you that have the OS dipes, do you unsnap them before you wash them? I've been unsnapping them but maybe I should leave them snapped? I don't want to wear out the material around the snaps if I should leave them snapped. I need to get in the habit of stuffing them right out of the dryer. If I leave them unstuffed, DH or my mom come up with crazy combos of a BG 4.0 and a flip insert or putting the BG insert on the outside (yikes!) or putting a PF in the BG (which I guess isn't that bad). I've shown them multiple times how to stuff the BGs if they are unstuffed but it's not getting through for some reason. 

DD willingly opened her mouth to food last night! I let her suck some olive oil off a plain piece of pasta. She seemed in to it. My milk production is better so I'm not going to make a big deal out of solids but I do want her to start tasting different flavors. People keep talking about rice cereal IRL to me and I'm just like, ummm no. I'd rather her get used to eating flavors that we normally eat. We don't eat rice cereal. 

[Baby_Cakes]

Oh I don't unsnap my OS dipes.  Maybe if I were using them for 2 different size kids, I could see doing that.  I would just leave them snapped.  All the material inside gets clean either way, right?

If I don't stuff them immediately, I tend to ignore my cloth and only use sposies.  It needs to be fast and ready for me!  I'm super lazy when it comes to diapering.  I need to do all the work at one time or I don't feel like dealing with it.

I agree with your reasoning on the rice cereal.  She's old enough now that she doesn't need bland flavors!

I need ideas for foods for Finn.  I keep giving him fruit and veggies...but i'm out of ideas.  Going to go food shopping this afternoon.

[MarineWife]

I woke up this morning sweating and wondering if I would need to turn the AC on. My upstairs thermostat said either 71 or 74 but the heater is set to 66. I'd like to open the windows but it's wet and rainy out and I don't like the way the house feels wet when the windows are open on such days.

yes, there is a growth spurt at around 6 months.

I've been giving Dylan fruits and veggies, too. Last night I gave him some butternut squash. I don't think he likes squash much because he gets the most disgusted faces. He did like it better on a spoon. I think that was because he liked playing with the spoon. I might give Dylan some shredded chicken if I made it but I haven't made any in a long time. I had to run to the store last night to get some more bananas and a sweet potato. The cashier commented that it was the smallest sweet potato he'd ever seen. I explained to him that it was for the baby so I didn't need a lot and would probably end up throwing half of it out. I like to mention that babies can get "regular" food as soon as they are ready to eat solids and don't need "baby" food. People seem astounded by that. Ethan asked me yesterday when Dylan would be able to just eat whatever we are eating. I don't remember. Maybe at around a year?

I think fruits and veggies are perfect for right now. (Isn't that all you eat, anyway? ) Finn is getting protein and other nutrients from your breastmilk. The solid food is still just a sort of experimental filler at this point, even if he does eat a lot of it. Your breastmilk is still his primary source of nutrients.

One of my local homeschool moms was talking yesterday about how her 3rd child refused to nurse anymore at 5 months. She kept trying to get him to nurse for 2 more months but he wouldn't have anything to do with it. She had breastfed all of her children and the other older women in the family were very supportive of it so it's not like she didn't know what she was doing. However, she also said she started giving him rice cereal at 2 months because he seemed so hungry still after nursing. Turns out she gave all of her children baby mush very early and bottles a lot so it's really not surprising that they weaned from the breast early.

Dylan had a pretty good night. He fell asleep the first time around 10 pm but woke up again around 11 and stayed up for about an hour. I was ok with that. But...I stayed up way too late knitting in the peace while all 3 boys were sleeping and now I'm regretting it. I think I was up until about 2 am. Stupid! Dylan woke for the day around 8 after waking me at 6 and 7 so I only got maybe 5 hours total of sleep last night. I'm one of those people who needs at least 8 hours to really feel rested.

I can't nak anymore because Dylan kicks the computer table and the computer. Oh, and he's definitely mobile now. He got himself from one end of the room to the other this morning. I think I'm a little in denial because he's still not quite crawling on his hands and knees. He sort of pushes and slides himself. I don't know how I'm going to keep this room safe for him.

I need to restart my attitude this morning. Kellen started bombarding me with questions as soon as we got up and I got really aggravated. I could barely think about just getting downstairs much less answer all of his questions. So, I wasn't nice to him and I don't want to be that way. I don't want to make him feel like he's an annoyance just for being him.