I guess half our mamas are busy with their new babes and the other half are busy keeping busy until the babe arrives.
I have completely come to terms with this babe going way into January, although I am nervous that that acceptance will lead to it being earlier...
Hi! I actually have a lot of sitting-at-computer-nursing-baby time but I don't want to dominate the threads!
MW came to check on us today and DD2 gained 10 oz in 5 days (yay, milk!) and passed her hearing test. I actually got up and got dressed today for the first time (I've been staying in pjs to remind myself to rest - and DH that I need to rest). Still haven't been out of the house, but the newborn insert for the carseat arrived today, so may go out and get adjusted at the chiropractor's tomorrow or soon at any rate. (My brother passed down a carseat but had lost the infant insert - and even at that rate of growth, it's going to be a while till DD2 is 11 lbs.)
I only have one bra that sort of fits. I thought it was fine this morning but by this evening it was definitely feeling too tight. And I've got a mildly clogged duct on my 'bigger' side. This is a problem since I ordered a couple like it in the meantime. Sigh. I'm probably really an H cup right now, and they are a DD - G cup. I won't be a H cup for very long, and I can't afford to buy the $50/each H cup bras which I don't like anyway . . . so if anybody has a good source for a 36 or 38 H cup nursing or sports bra that's 100% cotton (or a little lycra/spandex is okay) and reasonably priced, LMK.
AlaskAnne, sounds like you are being well taken care of! My DH is a professional photographer, but actually some of the shots we have and like a lot of DD2 are by my kids. I think one key is to get close enough - or crop in close enough. The other key for amateurs is really just to take LOTS of pictures - eventually you'll get something you like. And it's a lot easier to do with digital cameras than it used to be with film.
Jackies, thanks for starting the thread!
Hey mamas! Super busy over here in newborn land. I'm just trying to figure out how to do three kids, five and under! I've so been slacking on homeschooling over the last few months, and I'm really trying to figure out some kind of schedule to start up in January.
Judah also has been a little colicky pretty much since around day 3/4. I'm wondering if it's because of the antibiotics that I've been on since then? A few times a day he gets really upset, arches his back when he cries, and has a hard time nursing continuously. It's really sad and I wish I could help him more. I cut out dairy (on day 3,) and we are both getting adjusted in the morning to see if that helps any tummy issues. What do you ladies think? Any other advice?? I've also realized the diaper rash that won't go away is yeast, so that's been fun to deal with. I put him back in disposables and am in the middle of sanitizing my diapers right now. Luckily, tomorrow is supposed to be almost 60 and sunny, so they will go out on the line.
Jackie- You will not be pregnant forever!! I promise you!! :)
Courtney- I did some newborn photos with dd2 that turned out pretty decent, but they were film. Not much help here, I'm afraid!
mamabeakley- I about the same size as you for bras, but due to money, I can't afford to buy nice bras for me. I opt for the cheap, (but gets the job fairly done,) walmart best form bras. You could also get a bra extender for a few dollars.
natalie~ My son had colic until he was about four months old and to my knowledge it was a combination of antibiotics and a strong letdown that caused it. He spit up A TON after every feeding and had really painful gas. The only things that helped soothe him were warm baths, gripe water and infant probiotics. I would hand express a few oz. a day and mix the powder in with my milk. It really helped his tummy. Good luck figuring out how to juggle all your kiddos. I've been wondering how all the new mamas are doing. Still waiting for the longer versions of some of your birth stories!
Babyland over here too. Today is the last day my mom will be here, so I am enjoying her doing some last minute projects to make life easier. Talysen has a bit of an eye infection (treating with breastmilk) and I have what seems to be a plugged duct on the right side. Doing all of the right things to get that cleared up.
Pictures: I have a good friend who is a professional photographer. She was here yesterday (yay, cause his eye looks like crap today, lol), and got some amazing shots. I would recommend taking baby into the bathtub! we put some herbs to darken the water a bit, and he relaxed into the warm water. I will post some of the pics soon.
I plan to write my longer birth story today or tomorrow as well. Of course it's pretty short with only a 3.5 hour labor, lol, but there was a bit more to it than what I posted when he was born.
Natalie - I have cut out onions/garlic as well, I ate some taco meat & Talysen had a really bad night. Onions & tomoatoes are ones that can be tough.
Oh, and I haven't left the house yet either. Friday I plan to go to the school's holiday party for an hour, so that will be our first outing. I'm excited to take him - all of the kids & staff have been anxiously waiting for his arrival. Of course he will be in the MOby the whole time, to keep him away from germs, etc. But it will be nice to have an hour or so out of the house :)
Video with music & pictures - emotionally intense but beautiful!
password: earthsidebabies2012
Beautiful, Segolily! All of it - but the picture of the kids holding up the cat to see the baby cracks me up ;-) It was fun to show DS2 because he was born posterior, too.
In babyland here as well -- can't believe he is a week old today! Been recovering well and the stitches are feeling much better. Dermoplast is seriously the best. Today was a bit rough: after a followup to the pediatrician, she had me take him to the hospital to get his bili level tested (he's looking a bit yellow). It was 16.3, and we have to go back again tomorrow for another one. I'm feeding him a ton (thankfully nursing has been going well, although he likes to get sleepy partway through and I have to really wake him up) and will try and get him in front of our windows for most of tomorrow.
Still just starting to get the balancing of having a newborn, especially since DH had to go back to work today. Sleep hasn't actually been too bad, since we're cosleeping. I'm also still trying to get the hang of side-lying nursing, and getting him to sleep in the middle of our bed (he always just wants to snuggle next to me, but I know that's not supposed to be the safest thing).
Sorry I don't have time for personals, but should have more nursing/computer time tomorrow. Hoping all you ladies still waiting to meet your little ones are staying busy with the holidays and enjoying family!
I have had 2 babies who really want/need to touch me while sleeping, 2 who roll away once full of milk. DS1 did not sleep w/out touching a person until he was 2. DD2 definitely prefers contact, although not as intensely as he did as far as I can tell.
As far as the sleeping baby goes - I've co-slept with all of mine, and they just really want to be right against you while they're sleeping. Which makes sense! I think it's just super instinctual for them to work their way back over to the heat and heartbeat that they're so used to (not to mention the breast!). As long as there aren't heavy blankets or pillows to be concerned about, I wouldn't worry about being too close to babe/smothering them or whatever. Research (and experience from mamas) has found that nursing/co-sleeping mothers and babies have lighter sleep that is tuned to the same frequency - so you both kind of wake to nurse at the same time, etc. And since your sleep is lighter, your body is definitely aware that theirs is there right next to you.
Sorry, probably not what you want to hear but I would wash the clothes again. 
Marcus had peely hands/wrists and feet/ankles. I lathered him up with coconut oil every couple of days but I can't say that it made much difference. I think the skin just needed to come off and now that it has peeled off it looks like beautiful baby skin again. 
AlaskAnne, it really can happen, I swear! Last time I didn't go in to labor until I went out to eat with my friends after hibernating in the house for a week.
Mamabeakley, did your midwife do the hearing test? I brought DD to the hospital when she was a month old last time. The pediatrician I had a meet and greet with was making a big deal about it since they normally do it before you leave the hospital here. I'm going to get it done, but she was trying to convince me to get it done. You don't have to convince me of the importance of hearing!
Purposeful, our homeschooling has been more lax too, but as long as it picks up a bit once the baby comes and gets settled, I'm not sweating it. I listened to a podcast about homeschooling with a baby, and she mentioned that learning to be around the baby is a valid lesson for the older sibling(s) to learn.
lulu, sego, chica, lilac, and tropicana, so glad things are lovely in babyland 
kel, I completely agree
AFM, we did our belly cast today. I wanted to do hands since our last one was plain, and it took FOREVER, like over an hour. But I love it.
Hey mamas! How are you all doing? Lots more babies being born lately!
Yes! He does have thrush :( My chiropractor saw a little in his mouth on Tuesday so I've been doing probiotics in his mouth since then and hoping that will help. I'm also still taking probiotics and trying to eat healthier too, so I can get my good bacteria numbers back up.
Lilac- I would rewash them, too. I also suggest coconut oil for peely skin!
Lorell- you are making milkshakes over there!! Judah has gained 15 oz in twelve days! I love it! He gets all grunty when he wants to eat :)
As far as cosleeping goes, Judah really likes to be next to me. He likes when I lay on my back and hold him in one arm.
AFM, I've been doing alright over here. I'm still processing everything that happened and I finally feel like I can see all of the pieces of our birth and what happened. I talked to my midwife today about how I feel like if my water broke on the first day of labor, that I would have had him that day. She agreed, and said that yeah, usually babies are born pretty soon after if the water breaks in labor. She totally missed what I am really feeling, (which I didn't really say full out- I'm still a bit nervous to, to her at least.) I really feel like I wasn't listened to when around 24 hours and again around 48 hours, I was begging her to break my water for me. I feel like I was talked out of her doing it because she had never done that before. I'm also having such a hard time even mustering up the courage to say this flat out to her, since I consider her a friend, too. Blargh!! Now that the medical bills are coming in and that Judah has been in so much pain during the last week, I'm really feeling like I need an answer as to why everything happened. I'm feeling like if she would have broke my water when I asked her to, (either time, really,) that I would have had him a few hours later and that I would have avoided the hospital delivery, the infection that followed, and all of his pain he's having now. What do you wise mamas think? Am I just looking for something to blame it on, or does this sound like a reasonable explanation to all of this? Also, during both of my girls' labors, my water was manually broken with them being born a few hours later. AND,(I may have mentioned this during the last two weeks already,) but my placenta lady told me that my bag was the strongest she had ever seen! Sorry if I'm dragging this on, but I'm having such a hard time with this.
okay, i thought i'd already subscribed to this thread...and the week is more than half over.
nevie's peeling still 8 days out, too. she had almost no vernix left when she was born, though, so the amniotic fluid was in direct contact with her skin. i also wonder if the water in the birth pool wasnt too hot (thought we had a lot more time!) and maybe dried her skin out further. My mom says it took a couple weeks for me to be a cute baby--I was 44w2d and she said my skin peeled like crazy. I did a water bath/soak today (her cord stump already fell off) and scrubbed a little of the dead stuff away, then used olive oil as a skin emollient. I've since peeled some of the bigger pieces (like a good ape, lol!), and will do another olive oil rubdown before bed tonight. The skin underneath it all is the sweet, soft, baby skin I remember! :) My DH says he hopes she's finished molting before our family visit Sunday-Tuesday. LOL
We've had some issues with her latch (she's chompy and has a habit of keeping her tongue back and at the roof of her mouth, but doesn't have a short frenulum or anything), so we were out on day 2 to go to my chiropractor and get her adjusted. It helped a lot, but we're still not quite right. I had a friend who is a lactation consultant come by this week to give me some input, and we have some exercises to work on, but they don't seem to be working just yet. Basically, her tongue doesn't get far enough under the nipple, and to hold it in her mouth adequately, she gets chompy--plus the way she was engaged kind of put a kink in her neck and gave her a tight jaw. I have another friend who is a breastfeeding educator and an infant/toddler speech language pathologist, so I think I may have her give me some additional input since she may come at it from a different angle. It's just kind of frustrating to be on kiddo #3 and still be working through latch issues more than a week after birth--argh!
Does anyone else have issues with their pelvis still? I can tell my relaxin levels are going way down, but when I nurse side-lying at night, my pelvis shifts/separates, and to turn over, I have to *painfully* pop it back into place. My diastasis isn't helping--I can't really use ab muscles to help roll over, either. I'm going to the chiropractor tomorrow to see if she can help any of it stay in place, but OY, I don't look forward to bedtime tonight. :/
Hi Mamas!
I have been MIA for a few months now and am just now getting caught up. Honestly, I have missed the camaraderie and as birth is approaching, just wanted to reconnect with you all. Congrats to all the new mamas and for those of us still waiting on our little ones, I'm praying for happy, healthy births. The threads and birth stories of those of you who have already delivered are so encouraging.
AFM, I had a bout of severe anemia a few months back that was so exhausting, dizzying, etc. that I could barely focus on getting through the day. After a series of IV iron infusions and adding more vegetarian sources of iron to my diet, the levels are back up to normal. My due date is the 26th but have been feeling lots of BH contractions, pelvic pressure, a bit of nausea and some more painful contractions for the past week. This has all been getting progressively more consistent but still no holding pattern yet. So, we'll wait and see. Looking forward to seeing our list of new babies grow!
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