November Chit Chat « Back to Group Discussions

[Jaimee]

September

LunaLady- Christina: 9/19, baby boy Rhyko

October

Meb2- Morgan: 10/27, baby boy Ezra Ryan was born at 6:46 PM

TTCChloeorConner- Nicole: 10/31 baby boy Conner Dean, 8lbs2oz. 20'' long. 6:14pm

Early November

Seraf- Sara: 11/1, baby boy Shay born in the car, 8lb14oz

Mal85- Mallory: 11/2, baby girl Greta

EonJourney- Nicole: 11/3, identical twin boys Ember Trail 5.7 oz and Roam Freely 5.6 oz

SoCaliMommy- Kami: 11/4 baby boy Harlan Drake,  6:48pm at 10lbs even 21 1/2"

Autumnshades- Sonja: 11/7, baby boy Elijah Matthias, 6:25am, 6 lbs 10 oz, 20 inches long

MrsKatie- Katie: 11/10, baby girl Catherine Anne was born at 1:21pm.  7lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. 

Mid November

Jill the Pill- Jill: 11/11, baby girl Audrey Catharine 6lbs 5oz 19 inches long

miriam_bat_avraham- Julie: 11/11, twin girls

TalkToMeNow- Amanda: 11/12, baby boy Jasper Conley, 12:42 pm,  8 lbs 11 oz.

Paigekitten- Katie: 11/12, baby girl Eowyn Jane, 6:09 pm, 8 lbs 3.9 oz, 21 inches

KayPea- Kirsten: 11/13, baby boy Oren Edward Adams, 5:45pm, 9lbs 11oz, 21 in long, 15in head!

wellforth - Carey: 11/15, baby boy Luca Qrzwin, 9:52 p.m., at home natural waterbirth, 7lbs9oz, 22"

LiLStar- Rachel: 11/16, baby boy Evan Curtis, 11 lbs, 15" head

Xakana- : 11/16, baby girl Katarina Xylia, 11:42am, weighing 8lbs, 13oz, 20"

Krystal323- Krystal: 11/18, baby boy Oliver Davis, UC

IwannaBanRN- Becky: 11/19, baby boy Levi Jaxon, 10:50am, UC

jhsmama11-Amber: 11/19, baby boy Jack Henry

Late November

jbk21- J: 11/24, baby boy Dylan Timothy born in the caul

Motivated Mama- Nina: 11/24, baby

dashley111- Ash:  11/24, baby girl Bettie Grey, 7:03pm, 7lbs15oz, 21"

birdhappy85- Joanie:  11/24, baby girl Sora Nina, 3:39pm, 7lb 6oz, 19-1/2 in long

ZippyGirl- Anthia:  11/24, baby boy Bode McGuire born at 6:14 a.m.

glassesgirlnj - Kathy: 11/28, baby girl Annamaria Sigyn Estelle, 7lbs even, 19.75 in, 8:09pm

KaliShanti- Kali: 11/29, baby boy Enoch Noble Grandison , 8 lbs 7 oz. 21.25 in, 11:45pm

Zoopath: 11/30 baby girl Teagan 5lbs 9oz, 19 inches long

December

abraisme- Abra: 12/1, baby girl Coralie Katherine, 8lbs1oz, 19.75", 2pm

Jaimee: 12/3, baby boy Avery River, 6lbs14oz, 21", 4:21pm

Edited by Jaimee - 11/1/12 at 11:33am

[Jaimee]

Welcome to our original due date month!  Now it's the birthday month (for most).  Time is flying!  Funny how different the discussion is this year.  I recall being glued to the computer for all the birth stories, labor symptoms, and end of pregnancy woes.  I also remember waddling around and almost peeing my pants while trick-or-treating last year!  This year was much improved in comparison!

[seraf]

It was so much warmer this time last year! 

It has been quite a year, we had two babies and the world just keeps flying along.

[Autumnshades]

Autumnshades- Sonja: 11/7, baby boy Elijah Matthias, 6:25am, 6 lbs 10 oz, 20 inches long

I am missing from the list...

I just did a double take!  How did we get to November already!!!!!!!!!!!  Eek!

[CDsMom1031]

Thanks for the new thread... I'm just going to copy and paste my post from the October thread to carry the conversation over here. LOL (And happy birth month to most of our babies!)

Conner doesn't really throw tantrums. He's pretty laid back. And when he does get upset because he physically can't do something he wants to do, he'll just look at me all pitiful-like and give me this silly fake cry until I pick him up.

He also hasn't taken to signing... NOR will he freaking clap!!! But he points at everything, too... So that does help a little bit. And he has his own ways of telling me things. Like when he's full, if I give him another bite, he does the whole, "Pfft" thing with his lips and spits the food out. Or if the food is in front of him to feed himself, he'll just give it all to the dogs. LOL It's so cute. And now when he's tired, he lays his head on EVERYTHING and tries to cuddle with it. He'll just be crawling around or walking along the furniture, and he stops every few seconds and lays his head down. I love it!

At the same time, he's not sensitive. If I sternly say, "NO!" when he's pulling on cords or something, he looks at me and laughs. O_o The only thing I've found that works for him is by saying, "NO!" then redirecting him to an acceptable toy. Usually his baby ADD takes over and he forgets what he was doing prior and plays with the toy I put in front of him.

[KayPea]

Wow, November! I'm also copying and pasting from the post I just mistakenly put in October's chit chat...

Even though Oren is usually pretty laid back, he has always been really sensitive about redirection and having his toys taken away (like by another kid, or DD). Since he could play with toys, really, he would get really upset. And now he'll yell and cry and arch his back if he isn't able to go on with his usual curious exploration, and sometimes hit. And he gets a little upset now if he can't do something that he wants to, like fit a lid on a container. He's not a screamer, though, like my DD was, so I'm able to be calm about it all. And his upsets don't last long either, the way DD's did. He either just gets over it, or I am able to successfully distract him. And usually if he is repeatedly getting upset, I know he's either tired or hungry.

DD was really intense with her tantrums from about 12 months on (until about 3, though the lessened considerably just before she turned 2, when her imagination started developing and her language started to incorporate abstract concepts and longer sentences), and the ear-piercing, gut-wrenching screaming would go on for hours sometimes. She just couldn't get over it. And so I learned to do all I could to prevent tantrums: try to keep her fed (difficult, as she didn't eat much), try to keep her rested (difficult, as she was a cat-napper), go out all the time, and relax my standards. A lot. Like pretty much anything that wasn't going to harm person or property was fair game (oh the messes we made! oh, the 3-hour 4-block walks we took!). And when the tantrums started was when I started developing our daily rhythm, and that helped a lot too, eventually. That was the beauty of being a SAHM to my first child. I had the time to focus on her and her needs. 

[TalkToMeNow]

Hey, guys. I know I've been MIA recently, but I lurk regularly. Trying to keep up... I entered Jasper in the Halloween picture contest. He's a hobbit! I made his little costume. I'd super appreciate votes. The thread (and his post) is here: http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1366791/show-off-your-spooky-style-enter-the-mothering-halloween-costume-contest-sponsored-by-barefoot-books/40#post_17157638

Thanks! Hope everyone is having a great birthday month. And Happy Birthday to the early babies, Conner and Shay. 

[dashley111]

Last night Bettie ended up in the ER with an allergic reaction to peanuts :(  It was super scary.  SHe had a reaction after licking some chocolate off of my finger on Halloween, but it was mild compared to last night.  I gave her some peanut butter last night and her eye began to swell, she got hives around her mouth and down her neck and chest, and her hands started to swell.  Benadryl helped it, but we went to the ER anyways where they monitored her and sent us home with 2 epi pens. 

So...now she will have a lifetime peanut allergy.  And the only way to know how sensitive she is is trial and error.  Its going to require a huge change in my house. 

[Autumnshades]

Eli is doing the backarching thing too.  Quite frustrating... and he has been screaming loudly when he is mad.  He recently figured out how to clap his hands which is cute and he loves giving high fives.  His waving is a little limp wristed - but it melts peoples' hearts.  We take the bus alot and each bus driver gets frantically waved at   Ha, when Eli is done eating, he swoops his arms over the highchair tray and knocks all the food down in the process ... and the other night it was right after I vacuumed :(  what a bummer!  Oh well.

[Mal85]

I voted for Jasper! And had to enter my own as well, go vote for my dancing bear and flower child! http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1366791/show-off-your-spooky-style-enter-the-mothering-halloween-costume-contest-sponsored-by-barefoot-books/60

The girls and I have had a busy week with Halloween and today is Greta's birthday!! I consider yesterday to be my birth day since I labored with her all day and she was born just after midnight. I reminisced and snuggled with her all day yesterday. Today, DH and I both took off to spend the day with her. We had a big breakfast then let her open her presents from us. The hard part is keeping her big sister from taking over her new toys! Tomorrow we're having her big party with all our friends and family, so we've been trying to get the house ready for that as well. 

Off to get caught up on the rest of the thread, hope you're all doing well!

[birdhappy85]

Originally Posted by dashley111 

Last night Bettie ended up in the ER with an allergic reaction to peanuts :(  It was super scary.  SHe had a reaction after licking some chocolate off of my finger on Halloween, but it was mild compared to last night.  I gave her some peanut butter last night and her eye began to swell, she got hives around her mouth and down her neck and chest, and her hands started to swell.  Benadryl helped it, but we went to the ER anyways where they monitored her and sent us home with 2 epi pens. 

So...now she will have a lifetime peanut allergy.  And the only way to know how sensitive she is is trial and error.  Its going to require a huge change in my house. 

Ash, I'm sorry about Bettie!  I'm so very glad she is okay. Allergies of that kind are so scary. My nephew has a peanut allergy and it was really nerve-racking for my sister this Halloween. He wanted to eat the candy he got trick-or-treating, but my sister had to take most of it away from him.  Having a severe bee allergy and other food allergies myself, I know it is frustrating to change so much in your lifestyle to accommodate these kinds of things, but once you get the swing of things it'll be like second nature and not as much of a stressor! Bettie is lucky to have such an attentive mommy to keep an eye on her.  Maybe you'd like to join us in the GAPS thread?

[birdhappy85]

I voted for both Jasper and Greta/Owyn ! Such cute pictures!

Happy belated birthday to Greta! 

[ZippyGirl]

We just got our power back after Hurricane Sandy.  This has been an exhausting week for us, but we are okay and our home didn't get any flood or tree damage.  We had heat and could cook.  We weren't able to get our cars out of our drive for a few days, but it wouldn't have mattered because the roads were blocked and the stores and restaurants were closed.  That said, I cried the first time I drove around our town.  The destructive power of this storm was unreal.  Several friends have flooded homes. 

I learned a couple of things through this experience.  First, preparation helps.  I had cooked a lot of food in preparation, and it got us through the worst of the storm aftermath.  We had soups ready, and I had planned easy-to-cook meals for when our fresh food ran out.  I was a maniac about getting laundry done before the storm, which was great because we were fully stocked with clean clothes.   Second, we had 10 gallons of local spring water (taken straight from the spring), which was such a blessing to drink *living* water when our fresh food supply ran low.  Third, the little things really do matter.  Drinking hot chocolate made out of almond milk I had made (and was going to spoil, so we needed to use it) and chocolate bars by candle light was a special moment that made us feel so warm, happy, and grateful.

Finally, attachment parenting was such a blessing.  Breastfeeding ensured that I never worried about my ability to nourish my little guy.  When we turned off our propane fireplace at night, I knew I could keep him warm since we co-sleep.  After a few days, though, once we could leave our house, I knew we could stay with friends out of state who had power.  We were blessed that we had options and a relatively easy time getting through this storm.   

Has anyone heard from GlassesGirlNJ?  I hope she and her family had no problems!

Now, I have a lot of chit chat reading to catch up on!!!

[KayPea]

I'm glad to hear that you are OK! I'm impressed with your level of preparedness - sounds like you made it through fine because of your work beforehand!

We had Oren's birthday party today, even though his birthday isn't for 10 more days. We're moving next weekend, though, so this was our last weekend in the city before moving day, and I wanted to have a party with all of our Vancouver friends. It was kind of crazy, because I over-invited, not wanting to miss anyone. Oh well, it was fun chaos, and Oren had a good time. A friend of mine, who does cake-decorating as a hobby, made us two dozen carrot cupcakes and an adorable bear-shaped smash-cake for Oren. He ate pretty much the whole thing, yellow pound cake, chocolate icing and the whole deal. Ha. My first didn't even get icing on her first birthday cake - just plain carrot cake. We weren't supposed to have it here, since we are more than half-packed right now, but our original venue got flooded on Halloween, and they just told us Friday that it was a no-go. So we did a massive clean/organize last night and today. SO TIRED.

I'll post about it in the birthday thread once we upload the pictures.

[Mal85]

ZippyGirl, so glad to hear you all made it through okay! My thoughts and prayers have been with everyone on the east coast dealing with this storm. It's like I just can't tear myself away. I can't imagine what some of you up there have been through.

Allergies: So scary! I'm so glad she was okay. My nephew has a severe peanut allergy. His mom (my sister) found out when she was making peanut butter cookies. He wasn't quite a year old and he didn't even eat any of it. She had the oil on her hands from making them and touched him when she picked him up. He broke out all over and swelled up. It was so scary! Halloween was always tricky for them, too. Once his little sister was old enough to go trick-or-treating, she would always trade candy with him to give him things he could eat and she'd get the stuff he couldn't eat. He's 13 now and they are doing a peanut allergy study in Dallas right now. They just got him into it. They had to take him down there and they had him eat  peanuts to see how severe his reaction would be. They had him hooked up to an IV before he ate them and were prepared for the worst. First he just ate one and had no reaction. Then he ate 4 peanuts. He broke out, swelled up and passed out within 15 minutes. My sister said it was so scary to watch even though they were prepared for it. The idea is that they are slowly introducing peanuts into his diet in a controlled manner to build up a resistance to the allergy. Much the same way allergy shots work for seasonal allergies. They have to travel to Dallas either once a month or every other month for his "treatments". Once this is complete, he should have a resistance to the allergy for the rest of his life, but will have to consume peanuts in some way every single day. I think it's really interesting.

[Autumnshades]

Did the daylight saving switch surprise anyone today?  It did me :(  I could totally still be in bed, but instead I showered etc and got ready for my day only to sit down at the computer and realize it is in fact only 6:30am instead of 7:30am!  ugh ... hopefully it won't bother Eli as much as it did a few months ago.  He had a really hard time with the switch thing.  Must be foggy out, I can hear the fog horn in the distance...

I am in the midst of planning Eli's party.  Just a small get together in our apartment... there will be a few of the invited kids that are a little wild ;) so I am hoping the downstairs neighbours will be at work and not annoyed with the amount of noise!  Oh well... whatever!  I am really feeling a little nostalgic right now with Eli almost being one... he has grown so fast and I love how he is learning things.  It is just so cute!

Anthia - wow ... you were really prepared!  I am amazed!  I am glad you guys were able to survive and are doing well under the circumstances.

Kirsten, where are you moving to?  

[dashley111]

Zippygirl- so glad to hear that you made it through ok!  That must have been so scary.

Mallory- it is interesting that you mention your nephew was less than 1 when he had his first reaction.   The 2 docs we saw Thursday commented on how usually its kids who are not introduced to nuts/peanuts before the age of 1 or 2 that have allergies, and how its a common misconception that early introduction will cause an allergy.  They were very surprised that she had a reaction so young, because its not at an age they usually see it. 

Her first reaction was in response to sitting in a giant dumped out pile of Halloween candy.  I didn't associate it with peanuts because she has had peanut butter many times before.  The second reaction was after I fed her peanut butter on a spoon.

...I need to go over to the birthday thread!  I did not realize it existed.

[birdhappy85]

I'm so torn on the peanut introduction issue. I want to introduce it to Sora now but I'm afraid to at the same time. It seems like so many children have peanut allergies these days and I just don't understand why! But if delaying introduction could potentially cause an allergy [too], then where is the middle ground? 

[dashley111]

The allergist we spoke actually believed that more recent experiences say that delaying introduction as well as mothers avoiding high allergen foods (especially nuts) while they are pregnant/breastfeeding is causing a higher rate of nut allergies.  The reason is, because about 7-10 years ago docs started suggesting delayed introduction because they were fearful of allergies.  I guess its had the opposite effect.  Children are NOT being exposed, and more are having allergies...and some old school thinkers and doctors are unwilling to change their stance, so its a continuing trend. 

[seraf]

Ash, that's awful she had a reaction. You said you used to feed her peanut butter without trouble?

It had to have started more than 7 years ago, it was a big deal a decade ago before my first pregnancy.

Why are people avoiding nuts while nursing? And formula was the norm for so long that most babies who took formula would miss nuts in breast milk, right?

Joanie, what I have read about allergies said that the specific allergy doesn't necessarily pass on, but if a parent is allergic, the child is more likely to have some allergy. You generally can't tell from a first exposure, the body sees whatever as an attack and builds antibodies to fight it off on some subsequent exposure.

I thought my DD was allergic to milk because she reacted when I ate it. She "grew out of it." Shay had bloody diarrhea when I ate dairy, so off I went again. He has no problem when Sara eats it. Soren, same blood and mucous if I eat dairy and other issues if I eat wheat (green slimy poop, tons of eczema) but no issues when Sara eats those foods. Anyway, it still makes me worry about testing him on dairy. He had a cookie once with a smidge of dairy that messed him up bad, so I'm holding off. He has had nut butters from about 6 months without issue, tho.