Chit Chat December!! « Back to Group Discussions

[sere234]

It's December!! Many of our DDC's babies have arrived but I know some of you are still waiting! Also, seems like we had a batch of "early" babies the end of October and then a lot of "late" babies mid November. Who else went overdue? I was 1.5 weeks late with DS2 who ended up coming out 3 pounds heavier and 3 weeks later than DS1. Kinda glad we're not having any more kids, I could handle birthing a 10 lb 13 oz babe but I would worry the next one would be even bigger!! 

Right now little E is cuddling happily with me, DS1 and DH are outside sweeping the deck of fall leaves, and I'm sipping my latte. What a nice morning! BTW, after being away from DS1 for a week, I loooooove hearing his sweet voice calling out "Hey Mama! Come here!!" Can't get enough of it :)

How are all the big brothers and sisters doing with your new LOs? DS is doing great though he does come bouncing close to DS2 a few times a day. Working with him on staying calm around the tiny boy. DS1 loves to "pet" his new brother, look at his toes and fingers, watch him for a minute, and then dash away and play. It's pretty dang sweet. And DS1 wants to nurse a lot more now!

Overall things are going well! DH and I got on each other's nerves on Thursday but then he went back to work on Friday so it all worked out.  Being in the NICU for a week sucked but now I"m extremely grateful for my messy but oh so comfortable home, my energetic but delightful toddler, and my supportive but now germaphobic husband ;) Our babymoon week was a week delayed but I'm so happy my tiny boy isn't being poked and can recover peacefully at home. 

Also- NICU and really all mamas, my kiddo was only there for a week but do you worry about long term effects from all they went through while there? He's being held almost non-stop now  but looking at his tiny heels and seeing all the pokes from blood draws and the spots where he had IV lines in his arms hurts my heart.  

[leafylady]

On Allison's 4th day, I had a hormonal sobbing fit, sure that my milk wasn't coming in. Baby daddy got me through that and sure enough, the milk was coming in after all, just more gradually than with my first two. Now, on day 6 I'm engorged, making plenty, but happily not flooding baby Allison. She's done plenty of pooping, but no spitting up yet. My nipples are still very sore, ugh.

Anyone else feeling the lower back or pelvic region effects of a rough labor? Once I start walking around, I realize how fatigued that whole area is. I don't have any one sore area, other than the separated pubic symphysis. It just feels like the whole area took a beating and needs time to get back into shape.

[wendelberry]

Leafylady, I am so with you on the hormonal sobbing fits!!  I'd somehow forgotten that part of postpartum... luckily DH remembered from the other 3 and was ready with reassurances.  This time I've been freaked out about in one week, off the top of my head:  Baby is deaf and/or will develop cerebral palsy from jaundice; I have chunks of retained placenta; I have a uterine infection; Baby isn't getting enough to eat because I only had two days of engorgement (that worry was followed by me guzzling about a gallon of water and feeling sick afterward, then worrying about that, DUH).

At a week postpartum, I'm finally starting to relax into it.  Inside of sacrum still sore from that amazing pressure.  

Does anyone else have experience with soreness from different birth positions?  Silas was birthed in water from a supported squat but I wonder if that's partly why my bones feel so sore.  The other three were all birthed from left-side-lying and I don't remember this kind of soreness (of course, I may just not remember!).  Or maybe it's like the midwife pointed out when she sent me back to bed 5 days PP, and I'm just not as young as I used to be... sigh.  :)

Sarah, I can hardly imagine what you must have gone through for that week in NICU.  You are amazing, and I'm sure little E is loving being held all the time now!  Our MW is coming this week to do the heel stick PKU stuff because she says it's better to wait until their fluids are stabilized rather than poking a newborn.  That's great that he hasn't been hurt yet in his little life, but it's also given me a week of worry about his bilirubin levels and various other things.  So there are advantages both ways, I guess.  So glad that you have little E in your arms now, and the scene you described sounds idyllic-- especially the latte!!   :)

[franjapany]

we had quite a roller coaster ride these past few days... on thursday morning our 2yo DD fell from the open window in the playroom onto the paved yard about 4 meters below. She was responsive and was bleeding from a cut to the back of her had. We called 112 (german equivalent to 911) and she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance and DH went with her. I packed up the baby and a couple of things and followed them (about 30 mins by car). before I had been pretty calm and collected but on that ride I almost lost it.

First examinations revealed no further injuries and she stayed for another two days for monitoring (DH stayed with her and I went back and fourth with DS1+2) and is now back home with us, and if I didn't know what happened I wouldn't believe it, just looking at her. she is perfectly fine and I am still shaking when I think about how easily things could have turned out differently. how our happiness could have been shattered within an instance.

She must have such an amazing guardian angel, probably a whole bunch of them and we are so, so grateful!

That's her in hospital a few hours after the fall, finally asleep after the exhaustion, DS2 next to her.

[babychak]

Franjapany, I'm glad your daughter is okay! How scary.

We are doing pretty well. Nursing is going quite well now and K had surpassed his birth weight at his 2 week check! I can't believe he'll be 3 weeks tomorrow but at the same time, it feels like his birth was so long ago! My husband is back at work and works long hours so I'm feeling sad that he doesn't have so much time with K. Overall K is a really mellow baby- nighttime is the biggest struggle because he wants to be held constantly. We're trying to get him to sleep in the arm's reach cosleeper but it's tough.

[finnegansmom]

franj - so scary, glad she is OK. 

We just had our 1 month birthday.  Ack.....he needs to stop growing.  He's starting to look less like a newborn and more like a baby. 

He has his 1 month check up tomorrow...I'm guessing he's about 11# now?  He was 10#3 at his 2 week appt.

Nursing is going well, no more sore nipples or anything and he seems to have settled into a pretty good rhythm where he gets 1 or 2 good 3 hour stretch of sleep a day (not necessarily at night) each day.  Otherwise he wants to nurse about every 1-2 hours. 

I made the mistake of weighing myself this weekend.  Sad.  I weigh the same as I did when I got home from the hospital.  Hmmm. 

I'm under the delusion that breastfeeding will magically make the chub melt away and I can eat whatever I want.  I'm going to be embarrassed at my 6 week midwife check up if I don't lose a little more weight.... (considering I gained over 60#....zoinks).

Hope everyone is well...juggling the 4 boys is impossibly hard so it's a treat to have a few minutes of down time to post.  :)

[tekcez]

nak

Oh, franjapany!!  So glad your sweet little girl is ok!!  We just found out that our niece, who was born 3 weeks after ds, likely has retinoblastoma.  And our friend, who is 38, had a stroke right before Thanksgiving due to a trauma she received weeks earlier in a fender bender.  All this to say I really feel you on the fragility of happiness thing!  Whether you believe in the grace of "God" or just luck, we are all closer to tragedy than we think.  

On a lighter note :) I am trying to embrace the chaos after this the second day of my stint as solo day time care taker of 2 beautiful children under 2.  I guess we all adjust to the situations we find ourselves in, but I don't know how you mamas with more than 2 little ones do it.  i dumped on dh this morning because he, through no fault of his own, didn't get home til 7:30 last night.  After that he had to stay up til almost 2 to finish a work project.  He held dd the whole time so that I could get some sleep without her grunting me awake.  Then as soon as he finished, ds woke up and stayed up for an hour and woke every half hour til 5:30 when he was up for good.  Dh dealt with all of that without complaint, made breakfast and let me sleep until 7:30 and then I pouted at him like a brat for being busy at work   I'm really looking forward to that moment I know will come when I feel that there is a nice flow to the day and I'm not just putting out fires all day long.  At this point I feel like I'm doing well just to keep everyone fed, clean, and dry, and that includes me. Today I realized I couldn't remember the last time I took a shower, so ds and I took a bath together while dd slept in her rocker.  

Ds is adjusting to sharing mama.  He is still using a super shrill voice to shout, "MAMA UP!" every time I pick up the baby, but I'm getting used to it, so it's not bothering me as much.  Overall I think he is doing super well, and I find myself really enjoying the times I am able to put dd down and just focus on him for a bit.  He had his first day at MOD on Friday.  The plan was to send him every morning, but I'm feeling so so about the place after his first day.  I used to lead a preschool language group which was basically just like teaching preschool, so I guess I have pretty high expectations.  Honestly, I just didn't feel like it was a very warm place.  DS cried quite a bit while there, but didn't seem traumatized and talked about their sand box for 2 days, so we'll give it a go for the rest of the month.  It would be really nice if it worked out, but if he shows any signs of weirdness, I'll just pull him out.

DD is 5 weeks old!  I find myself comparing her to ds quite a bit, and am trying to let go of that.  DS did/is doing everything early except walk.  So far no cooing from dd, but that's because whenever she is awake she is grunting furiously.  I think it's going to take growing out of the grunting baby syndrome for her to find her coo.  She has a bit of a stuffy nose.  Probably picked up the cold that ds brought back from his 4 hours of MOD. It's made her very sleepy.  She had a lot less actual spitting up today, but I could still see/hear lots of reflux, and when she did spit up, it was obviously painful for her.  She's a trooper, though.  The fourth trimester is tough!  We just got a peak at our proofs from our the newborn shoot.  They are really nice and made me feel all warm and fuzzy about our little family.  

Hope December treats everyone well!

[wendelberry]

Tekcez, I remember the days of 2 under 2.  Hang in there!  

[sere234]

Leaflady- how are you feeling now? Any better? I still don't feel awesome down there yet and it's been nearly 2.5 weeks. I guess I did tear pretty well though so it'll just take time....

Wendelberry- DH and I were laughing about how 1 day after E was born certain muscles were sore, the next day even more, and the day after even MORE. Then things started to improve. Helped me remember what positions I labored in though! 

Franjapany- Oh my gosh, how terrifying! What an ordeal to have to cope with while having a new baby! I bet you were just living moment to moment for those days your daughter was in the hospital. Certainly hope your little girl is fully recovered and your lives are getting back to normal.

Babychak- My DH went back to work and his project is running behind and has a deadline soon. So he aso has been working long hours and putting in time when he can at home. Wish he could rest and see his boys! Hopefully our husbands can relax over the holidays at least!

Finnegansmom- Juggling TWO boys is hard enough for me, bless you and your four kids!!!

Teksez- My DS, 27 months, is having a rough time now that my DH is back at work. And of course that mean I'm having a rough time too! He's yelling and hitting a lot now, though really never at the baby, just at me and DH. Whenever I talk to anyone for an extended conversation, he panics and demands my attention by screaming or hitting me. Add to that the fact that he freaks out when we're separated and calls for me when he's in another room and it's been tough. (I think this last part is due to us being separated for a week with E's NICU stay). Of course it's not all bad, DS1 is so sweet to DS2, though not exactly always as gentle and careful as we'd like him to be! He loves to "pet" and hug and hold him and the rest of the time he ignores him! But yeah, having 2 littles is hard!!

AFM- Today I was so worn out with DS's hitting and roughness that we packed up and went to our children's museum. Ended up meeting my mom and sister there and staying for 6 hours. DS had such a good time and until the end (when he got tired from no nap) behaved so well. Got home and ended up carrying 2 crying boys in the house at the same time, nursed them both, plopped DS1 in his bed, and nursed DS2 more. Whew. And DH just got home finally, sigh! 

Now I'm going to lay on the couch and watch Netflix all night!

[leafylady]

I'm feeling a lot better now and trying to get back into the swing of things, with baby in tow. I'm taking baby and my 10 yr old out today for a girls day out. We'll see how it goes with multiple diaper changes and nursings.

[kateaton]

I'm feeling so much better from the mastitis, but still on abx.  Now both older girls are sick and I'm just exhausted from that and the fact that it's almost christmas.  there is so much to do in december- and we've scaled back considerably this year.  the school doesn't help either with all the additional activities and concerts etc.  I can't wait until january.

thankfully Baby is healthy and doing well.

[sere234]

Kateaton- Oh no, your other kiddos are sick? Hope things calm down for you soon!

DH returned to work almost 2 weeks ago and had a huge deadline approaching. Since then, he's been working 60 hour weeks but hopefully it will end tomorrow with the deadline almost here. Kinda stressful parenting from dawn till late at night for days on end! Plus with Everett deciding he hates the car, I'm pretty much homebound and getting a bit bored. We've had a few visitors so that makes things better but I'd love to get out more and take DS1 to some fun activities. Certainly hope the boys and I get to see DH this weekend though! If not, I have a feeling this tired mama is going to be getting a bit less patient and accepting of his long hours. 

The good thing is that both boys seem to be napping every afternoon for a couple of hours. It's very nice to have that time to catch up on housework and phone calls, eat, relax, and read MDC. Bad thing is DS1 is really acting up lately, I think I might make a separate thread about that to get advice. I'm getting pretty frustrated!

Hope you all are having a good week!