Queer, Pregnant, and Parenting! November, December, and January 2013!!! - Page 46

[carmen358]

Seraf, Soren is really working hard!

Planet, I guess I missed this but can your mom not hold him even when she's sitting down? I would imagine that will be very challenging for a variety of reasons. I'm not trying to freak you out but what if there was an emergency? Could she pick him up at all?

Cordelia, good to hear the anatomy scan went well

Cananny, no, we will wait until baby arrives to find out the sex....we love the surprise, it's super exciting and at least for DD's birth really added to an awesome experience

[stel]

Hey- I'm a parenting queer mama but I mostly just read. I wanted to say that we tried everything to get my son to take a bottle and what finally worked was me being out of the house and my partner wrapped in a shirt I'd been wearing for a couple of days. It helped him turn a corner and then he quickly learned to take a bottle like a pro. Hope it works for you, too!

[planet]

Thank you for your replies!! My mom can hold Wylie, she just has to be sitting down. She is able to carry him down the stairs and walk with him for short periods of time. W will try the bottle suggestions! We never give him a bottle when I'm home, but we can try wrapping papa in one of my stinky shirts. The weird thing is that he was fine with it before.

seraf, I appreciate your optimism!

We are now looking for a friend who can watch him for the second half of the day. So my mom can still have her time, just not got a full 9 hrs...

[seraf]

9 hours is a long time for anyone to be with a baby. Breaking up the day will probably e nice for everyone.

[Cananny]

Originally Posted by seraf 

Planet, I would still let your mom have a day or two alone with him unless she is uncomfortable with it. Babies are very different when their parents are home, especially when their parents are home but not responding to them. Just because he doesn't go to sleep on the bed or in a rocker or stroller for you doesn't mean he won't for her. Our solution to the bottle thing was just to offer it when the milkies were out of the house. My older kids refused bottles. That meant Ari went 10 hour days without milk starting at 5 months. She was offered bottles, cups and solids. If he has already successfully taken bottles, he will come around again probably. One other thing about milk, do you taste it? If I freeze milk immediately after pumping, it tastes sweet when thawed and served. If I leave it in the fridge for a day before serving it, it has a funky (soapy?) aftertaste. Sara's does the same. They boys took one suck on a yucky bottle while Sara was out of town and they refused the next several bottles.

seraf... your milk probally has high lipase .. ive had several moms I have worked for who had this same issue.. the fix is to scald the milk just a little bit.. then freeze it... 

heres one article about it

http://breastfeedingbasics.info/lipase-and-bad-tasting-breast-milk

:) my last night nanny family had this problem and she was able to scald the milk and then freeze and the baby would drink it again :)

[seraf]

CaNanny, I knew it was an enzyme but had forgotten the name. My boys drink it fine if I simply freeze it immediately. When Sara was out of town, she brought back fresh milk that was frozen once home. I gave the boys some in a bottle. They refused all bottles without tasting for several bottles after that. So we don't really have a problem, I was mentioning it to planet in case that was part of W's (hmmm, can I do that? Lol) deal.

I actually tried scalding milk a few babies ago. It didn't seem to help for us. O says he remembers nursing with his mama with the SNS and said that he didn't like it because the milk tasted funny. He was under a year and he still took it, so I'm not sure what that means exactly.

[AmandaHope]

Has anyone heard anything from AmandaHope or LibraryLady recently? I've been wondering how they are doing.

Hi to everyone else!

AFM: Our 15-month-old is never a great sleeper, but he is having an especially tough time this week. It's hard--we're not willing to let him cry much, and since he reverse-cycles I want him to get as much breast milk as he needs, but I am tired. My current hope is that at some point in the next year I will sleep 6 hours in a row.

Funny you should ask...

I had fallen out of the habit of checking this board, in part because I'm trying to finish my book manuscript this spring (finally, and as required to keep my job...), but I'd been missing you all and wondering about all the newbies, so I came over to check in and found your message, Esher. I was so happy to see you here! And Max! (so sorry about the heartbreaking adoption news, though...). And many other familiar folks, along with all the newer members whom I'm looking forward to getting to know.  I'm on the Facebook MDC board and depend on it for help with parenting issues...mostly Lilah's sleep challenges.  But I like the longer updates here and the other people.  So I'm back!

Brief intro for those who need it:

Name/Username? AHope

Who is in your family? Me (37), DP (39), DD1 (akaZ) age 10, and DD2 (Lilah) age 18 months.

What pronouns do you and your family members use? she all around (even the dog, though who knows? maybe she'd prefer he)

If you're pregnant, when are you due? sadly, no.  I loved being pregnant both times and really miss it some days, but we are DONE!

If you already have kids, tell us two interesting things about each of them.

Z: She still adores taking baths, especially bubble baths with Lilah; she is learning Mandarin.

L: She just started experimenting with plurals and possessives; she is obsessed with music of all kinds whenever she is awake.

If you work outside the home (or inside the home at something other than parenting), what do you do?

I'm an assistant professor of Women's Studies and History.

If you stay home with your kids, what do your days tend to look like?

Some days I wish I did, though I suspect I'm not cut out for it.  My dream job would be my current one, but only half time and on the west coast. (I'm a Seattle girl stuck in the midwest because of my career). 

What are your favorite things to do when you're not working/doing the grunt work of parenting?

Singing songs and dancing around the living room with my girls; yoga (though I find it hard, both physically and mentally); hanging out in bed talking with DP (which happens rarely); visiting friends and family on the west coast; skiing.

[bigfoot]

Hi AmandaHope! I guess I am new and have never filled this out:

Name/Username? bigfoot

Who is in your family? me (36), DW (username mrsandmrs, 30), the teenager (16 and learning to drive, ack!)

What pronouns do you and your family members use? she, she, he

If you're pregnant, when are you due? DW is due early September with twins (so perhaps late August?)

If you already have kids, tell us two interesting things about each of them.

Our little nerd is a Knowledge Bowl superstar. When he was born one of the first things the doctor said was, "This baby has dimples!"

If you work outside the home (or inside the home at something other than parenting), what do you do?

I am a 911 dispatcher. It's a pretty cool job. Never a dull day at work, unless it is a dull day and I get to read a book. So never a dull day.

If you stay home with your kids, what do your days tend to look like?

I wish!  But I have alternating 3 and 4 day weekends and look forward to lots of long, fun days with the twins.

What are your favorite things to do when you're not working/doing the grunt work of parenting?

Cooking, baking, taking photos, going on road trips, growing food, taking DW on dates, family movie dates, watching chicken TV in the backyard.

[Tourneymama]

Wow, just realized that I have not been around in months!! Life has been busy arond here :) We are now 19 weeks pregnant & found out that we are having a baby BOY!! So thrilled and excited! Time is just fying by with this pregnancy. I am going to try and catch up here somewhat, hope al is well with everyone!! I will do my best to be around more often. <3

[pokeyAC]

Hi Tourneymama!  Congratulations on the baby boy!  Feel free to join us over on the new February/March thread.  I will also add you to the July due dates if that's ok with you.

[Tourneymama]

Thanks Pokey! I will head out of here and try to find that one!! Congrats on your boy also!! I did get to read far enough back to see what you were having ;)

[pokeyAC]

Thank you!