May 04 Mamas July is Here! - Page 3

[PattyCakes]

Howdy May Mamas!! I haven't been here in a DOGs age. My ILs were here for 2 weeks (came a week earlier than we thought - talk about a nightmare!) and this past week I've just been working at getting back to real life.

I'm glad to hear that for the most part everyone is doing well and our babes are getting so big already. Sending everyone healing vibes re: thrush and diaper rash. We had a nasty rash a few weeks ago - we cleared it up with Lotrimin (for athletes foot) and Triple paste (as your pharm. for it - it's behind the counter). I saw improvement in an hour and it was healed over night.!! Haven't had it back since.

Ally's growing like a huge weed ... I love it. Everyone says how "little" she is when we're out, but to us she seems HUGE. She loves nudie time too... we get the best smiles/gurgles from her then. She's a chatty little girl. Much to my chagrin, my ILs bought a swing and what's wierd is she really likes it. She'll only nap in it now - won't nap in her bassinette anymore. (or she'll sleep on us). She seems to need almost constant motion during the day. She hates getting into the carseat but seems ok once we move around.

I haven't found a sling that works for us yet. She really gets mad it in. I have an OLD, OLD carrier (snuggli style from LLL 30 years ago my Mum used with my bro) that she loves. We call it her "cave" and she loves to be in it when she's cranky.

As for the bathroom - I take her in there with me and I have a towel that I leave in there just for her. I lie her on the mat on the towel and do my business. Sometimes she cries, but I just explain what's going on and that I'll be done soon. (I do that alot, like someone else mentioned - explain everything).

I've missed hanging out here!

[Queen of Cups]

Pattycakes - My parents got a swing for Killy and I said I didn't think he'd like it but my mom put him in it and he LOVED it. So, they're shipping it to us... I hate to admit it, but I am looking forward to eating meals occasionally with both hands!

[Sarah'sMama]

Sarah-could you give me the instructions on how you cleared up your thrush with gse? I have some, and am willing to give it a go if I knew how you used it. I really would appreciate it! You can pm me if thats easier.

Thanks for the congrats on Katie's rolling over!

I'm so glad Killy did so well on the trip! sounds fantastic! Good luck unpacking. I don't mind packing, but I sure *hate* unpacking.

Pattycakes-Don'tcha just loooove baby talk! I absolutely when my dd talks to me.

Anyone else's dc have cradle cap? My dd has it pretty bad only on the top of her scalp. Right now I'm using baby shampoo and a really soft toothbrush. We'll see how it works.

Hope you all ahve great weekends!

[mcsarahb]

OK, Sherri, here's what the LC suggested, and what I did. I had the liquid gse and tablets. I took 3 tablets every day, 2 in the morning and 1 at night. With the liquid, I put 10 drops in 1 ounce of water (I used a shot glass :LOL). With a cotton swab, I applied to my nips as often as I could - at least after each nursing, and ideally every hour (the LC said every hour...it ended up being about 7 or 8 times a day). I tried to do it at night when I remembered, but probably only did it once each night. Also, you can dab the swab in your babe's mouth when you apply to nips. One warning...the stuff tastes kinda bitter, so if your babe doesn't like it, you might want to apply to her mouth before your nips...that way she won't associate your nips with bitterness and freak out about nursing. FWIW, my dd never seemed to mind. Oh, and use filtered, bottled, or boiled water to mix it with - the chlorine or whatever in tap water makes it not work as well. Most of this info is on Dr. Jay Gordon's website, too:

http://www.drjaygordon.com/bf/thrush.htm

And also FWIW, I think we may have it coming back...my nips aren't sore at all, but Lily's belly troubles have started up again. I'll do this gse regimen once again...sigh. But it's been weeks since we had it the first time...which was right after my antibiotics, of course : .

HTH!

And as for cradle cap, Lily has it in her eyebrows! : I keep it at bay with calendula oil (Weleda brand). I rub in the oil, wait a few minutes, then gently rub the flakes away with a damp washcloth. Reapply oil and rub in. This seems to help for several days before it creeps back.

Sarah

[orangecanoe]

Sarah--thsnks for explaining the gse--I'm waiting on mine to come in the mail. I'm also going to try to "sun" myself in the backyard this weekend w/o trying to flash the neighbors In the meantime, I continue on the diflucan (again!) & c. hates the nystatin---makes her gag/throw up more often then I like. : I blame the antibiotics too. I really hope we all can find some relief!

Pattycakes--I was wondering where you were! Good to see you back...I eas giggling at the thought of Ally loving the "cave" when she's fussy.

Camille had the eyebrow cradle cap too---I just let it work itself out & am grateful she doesn't have it on her head w/ all the hair she has (see sig pic)---that'd be a mess!

okay...going to grab a shower while I can!

[PattyCakes]

We've had a minor bout with cradle cap and she does get a bit in her eyebrows as well. She has a rough spot of skin right between her eyebrows. Wierd.

Anyway... I just scrub her head a bit with a damp cloth and put burts bees baby oil on her head (she doesn't have a lot of hair though) every other day or so and really work it in. She loves having her head rubbed so this works well. For the most part this keeps things at bay.

I guess I just feel like a bad mommy sometimes when she'd rather be in the swing than with me - and I feel even worse when I'm grateful to have my arms back. I know she gets touched out (don't we all?) and needs her space. At first I was so sad that a machine could comfort my baby better than I could, but then I realized that I should be grateful that there is something that works for her. So, we accept the swing because it makes her happy. Ours is the fisher price aquarium one (swings 2 ways with all the bells/whistles etc). She loves to just look at her fishies as she dozes off. What a character.

heatherfeather - good luck with the thrush and the GSE.

[emmalola]

Now that you mention it, I think that maybe my boy has cradle cap in his eyebrows too! interesting. It isn't bothering him or me, so I wasn't going to do anything about it- should I worry?

He gets touched out too- sometimes I can hold and comfort and try to get him to stop fussing and the very instant I put him down on his swing or magic fingers chair he calms right down. I never would have thought that could be so, but it is true. I am always relieved to have found something that soothes him, even if it isn't me every time.

He's going through a cranky period this weekend. It seems every time we think we have things figured out, everything changes! Last night he basically fed constantly from around 7:00 to 11:30! So fussy! But then he slept very well and woke up in a great mood, so I can't really complain that much. Right now it looks like he's rarin' up for another night of grump. Ah, well.

I hope all you other moms have a great week!

[orangecanoe]

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends! My mom, sis, and nephew came down for a visit this afternoon--it was the first time my sis and nephew had seen the baby. What fun! My nephew (age 9) was eager to hold her and we adults almost peed ourselves when she started filling her diaper on his lap. The look on his face was priceless! :LOL : She has been smiling more and more in the past few days and was eating up all the doting and extra attention. She didn't mind being passed around at all and I only got her back when she needed to eat.

Emmalola--sorry to hear your little guy is going through a fussy spurt. For me it seemed that hers were only around the time of her growth spurts at 3 wks and 5-6 wks. Although I think the fussiness she had yesterday in the early afternoon might be tied to the eggs I had for breakfast. : I read something in one of the posts in the bf forum about this and it clicked. That certainly is an easier thing to give up than dairy though!

Another fun observation...my girl is totally a morning person! We joke that she doesn't get that from either of us! After her morning diaper change she'll lay in bed between us full of smiles and is content for a good while I get breakfast and get organized for the day.

Going to go finish reading the Sunday paper while she snoozes!

[TurboClaudia]

We have returned from our long road trip to Lake Tahoe for my very good friend's wedding, and our baby boy was one of the stars of the event! He did remarkably well on the 14-hour each way car ride, but we learned that prefolds do not contain carseat-induced poop explosions well! Bring on the kissaluvs!

Before we left, I finally finished writing out my version of the birth story and it is available for your perusal here.

oh, and our baby boy finally has a name: Marek William John L***

warmly,
claudia

[Mama Faery]

We're back from California, and Rowan travels like a champ! Well, unless you're travelling during "fussy time"...otherwise, he's great! Either sleeps or coos the whole time.
Speaking of, he is SO vocal now! I love it love it love it. The smiles and baby babble are wonderful.
I will write more later but I hear him being fussy in the swing (where he WAS napping! BTW, those of you who are wary of the swing... friends lent us theirs, and Rowan loves it tremendously, and I felt guilty leaving him in it at first...but it's right near us in the living room, and right near the stereo, where he can groove to the tunes...so how can I feel bad? ) so I had better go.
He's been extra fussy and is taking less lengthy naps the past couple of days...he's almost 7 weeks old (can you believe it?!) and I was thinking growth spurt. Anyway.
I will talk more later, perhaps when DH is home from work. The trip was marvelous, but we didn't get much sleep last night. Darn jet lag...
Hope you all are well! I will catch up with you all soon!

-Renae

[kids'ncows]

Claudia, that was awesome and beautiful! And I think Marek is a great name.

I'm glad everyone has had good travels with their little ones.

No news here. Just stopped in to "see" you guys.

[elsanne]

Claudia--great story! I enjoyed it. I love his name too.

Renae--yaaay for happy travelswith babe! It's inspiring....maybe I could do it too...

Around here we're busy trying to figure out a) how to falsify an immunization record (argh), and b) whether I should take a "good" teaching job part time starting september. my heart says no, but there are good parts to it...but, it's really important to me to stay home with Sol for her first year, and somehow I'm still busy with outside projects anyway (I teach bellydance and organize dance events)....I just don't know. Anyone else going/gone to work?

[KKmama]

Claudia, great name, and I'll read the birth story yet.

I *will* post at some point. I've been going through some angst wrt my 3 yr old (long story short: pediatrician recommended ds1 should see a child psychologist, and we think *he* is totally off-base, did something questionable at ds' 3 yr check-up...)...

Also, still dealing with green slimy poop with ds2, talked with ds1's allergist today, told me to definitely start up the elimination diet, because he doubts that it could be a virus at this point. So good bye to eggs, then soy, then wheat (peanut and dairy are already gone).

Last but not least, cute thing ds1 said about nursing... "Mommy, I'd nurse Zeki if I had big boobies, but I don't have big boobies. You can nurse Zeki because you have big boobies." (For the record, I have pretty small boobs, and this is the 1st time a male person has *ever* said that I have big boobs! ) And he asks ds2 if he wants to "nursy nursy."

[mcsarahb]

Glad to hear travels went well for everyone. I am still waaaaay not there, though, and I don't think Lily is either. I'm glad October and our trip back home to the East Coast is still a long time away. Our bus adventures around town are about all I can take right now.

KK, sorry to hear about your trials. Hope things are soon okay with both your boys.

Renae - speaking of music, dh bounced Lily to sleep last night to the sounds of Jimi Hendrix...she was out in record time.

Elsanne - I deferred my admission to grad school for a year so I could stay home. Will start next July. I'm supposed to start teaching yoga again this Fall, but that's just one or two classes per week. I haven't tried pumping/bottles yet, but hopefully by that time she'll be either able to go for two hours without me, or drinking my milk from a cup.

We went to a friend's pool this evening, and took Lily in the water for the first time. Didn't take her under - I'm too scared - but got her pretty much all the way in up to her neck. She liked it - no huge smiles, but definitely fine with it. No crying. Dh had a blast with her. She seemed kinda chilly, though, at the end, so we had a nice long nursing/cuddling session afterward. The evening was fun. I think I took about 100 pictures...aren't digital cameras great?!

Sarah

[nuggetsmom]

Can I join in too? DD2 was born on May 31st

[Marco Esquandolas]

Welcome, nuggetsmom! My Zach is a 5/31'er too.

I'm glad those who traveled recently had good experiences with it!

Claudia-I really like his name!! I'll have to check out his birth story.

KK-that's too funny about your older ds re: boob talk. My older boys have said some pretty funny stuff. Ian told Zach no more boobie juice when he wanted me to do something a couple or few weeks back. Now, he takes a stuffed teddy bear and pulls his shirt up and sits down to nurse it. I'm still trying to catch a pic of that. I hope otherwise that everything is ok w/your 3 yo. We're here for you when you're ready to talk.

Elsanne-I ret'd to work after ds #1 full time and started to again after ds#2, but found I just couldn't. I've basically been a full time sahm since he was born short of one monthish. It is hard and I found it just wasn't for me. I don't mean to be a downer to anyone who works out of the home b/c that is one of those personal decision/financial things that I'm not trying to debate, but once I realized how much I missed with ds#1, I just couldn't do it again w/#2 (or 3!). Maybe part time will be a good balance for you?? I didn't have that option...it was all or none and a normal work week was considered 50 hours.

Zach is going thru yet another growth spurt **sigh**. I can't get over how big he is! Is it wrong to think that a 6 wk old should NOT be wearing 6-9 month clothes?!! I just want him to stay teeny tiny forever. Yeah, he has cradle cap too. Most any oil will do for rubbing it in. He's just started doing some really good smiles in the last week or so. I'm trying to catch that on film too! I just pulled out the bouncy chair the other day and so far, so good.

Well, that's about it for 'round these parts.

[SeanaRain]

Welcome Jacqueline!

Just wanted to post a quick update about my LC visit.

Wow! was she different than the one at the hospital. Wonderful woman! Anyway, Alex is tongue-tied and has an abnormally high palate. Which all means that he has an even harder time putting the nipple where it goes. But, I have an appointment today with a dentist to see about correcting the tongue-tie. Dee (the LC) thinks that the high palate is due to the fact that Alex still has most of his molding and his head has yet to return to a normal shape. I'm trying to find a good chiropractor that has experience with infants to see if that will help. If I can't find one around here, then it's off to St. Louis again to the one up there. It's a bit of a drive (3 hours or so one way), but I'll do anything to get this breastfeeding thing on the right track.

Alex has yet to smile and I must admit to getting a bit worried about that. He has also yet to make any "cooing" sounds. He is a very very quiet child unless he is fussing.

Can I hear about a normal day in the lives of you ladies as pertains to your baby? I'd like to see how other moms are interacting with their little ones. Thanks so much!

[orangecanoe]

Aleyna--glad to hear the LC is helping you figure out your bf issues. I hope that both the dentist and the chiro can help your little guy! I hope you don't have to make the 3 hour drive, but if you do it certainly sounds worthwhile!
As for the cooing, Camille doesn't do that as much as she grunts/groans. Every now and then she'll figure out how to get a good shriek/squeal and that is funny! The little boy I babysat for was never really very vocal and was a bit of a late talker too (but so was his sister)...his first "word" was actually 'quack' like a duck!


Good question about how we spend the day! I wonder sometimes if I'm a bit boring for her! She usually is most alert first thing in the morning---which is either 630/7am or 9/930am depending if she wants to snuggle in after her first feeding in the morning. I'll usually take her downstairs and make myself breakfast and talk to her about what I'm doing. I usually just sit her on my knee at the table and let her look around while I eat. If she's into it I'll do a bit of clearing up in the kitchen while holding her.

There is no set pattern for the rest of the day---I just seem to alternate between diaper changes and feedings! Either in the early/late afternoon she seems to like to eat every 45 min or so and stays awake for a good while. I alternate sitting on the floor with her while she is in the vibrating bouncy seat and talking to her/reading some books/ showing her toys. Occasionally we'll bring out the gymini play mat, but if it's too soon after she's eaten she just tends to lose her meal! She's also recently taken to spending some time on her tummy, but only if she's completely nekked! Other than that she's usually in the sling while I'm doing things around the house or napping in it. When the weather was nicer I did take a walk every day after I ate lunch. Today we walked to the post office and she promptly fell asleep in the sling! A lot our interacting time seems to happen during diaper changes...not that cloth takes that much more time, but it's just a relaxing time for her and sometimes I'll add in a little massage time or just some general silliness.

Sometimes I feel at a loss to know what I'm supposed to "do" with her all day so I just try to follow her lead. Sometimes she just prefers to be sitting up and looking about and not in my arms or the sling. Sometimes she also seems to like to just stare about and not need all the talking to/interaction. Still figuring her out!

/end babbling

phishmama--I can't believe how Zach is growing! Wow! Some of her 0-3 mos things are getting a little snug--she seems to be growing all in the belly and thighs!

Welcome nuggetsmom!! Hope to hear more about your newest dd!

Sarah--I'm glad to hear Lily liked the water! We have a bbq at the end of the month and it'll be interesting to see how she does/doesn't like it!

[mcsarahb]

Welcome, Jacqueline - jump on in!

Aleyna - sounds like the LC visit was a success - I'm glad you have more to go on now. Hope the chiro and dentist help. It's great that you're trying so hard and not giving up. Breastfeeding is worth it, but it can be so challenging when there are difficulties, I know.

Phish - 6 to 9 mos.?! What are you feeding that boy? :LOL Lily is starting to get into her 3-6 stuff now; a lot of the 0-3 are too small.

Heather and Camille's days sound a lot like ours. Lily is most alert and happy in the morning, too. Once she's woken up and eaten for the last time in bed, dh holds and plays with her while I shower and eat or make us both breakfast. Sometimes he cooks while I hold, too. Once dh leaves for work, Lily and I usually go for a walk, or she may fall asleep in my lap if I'm on the bouncy ball (like right now).

The rest of the day, yup, we cycle through alert play/staring, changing, and eating/sleeping. Lately she's been going down for a long afternoon sleep, where she'll nurse, sleep for at least an hour, then wake to nurse again, and fall asleep again. I generally stay with her, and read or sleep. Sometimes I sneak away for a bit to clean or cook, or whatever. Evenings, dh pretty much holds her the whole time, unless he's cooking, and bounces her to sleep around 8 or 9. She'll be happy in the swing for about 10 minutes in the am while dh showers or whatever. Otherwise she's in my arms or the sling, or asleep on the bed. We're going to get a bedrail soon so she can continue to nap on our bed. It's just more convenient when I can lie down beside her to nurse, and she falls back asleep, without picking her up.

I also wonder what exactly to do with her all day. I think it's great to play with them when they're responsive and interested, and diaper changes do seem to be a good time. But I also think it's important that they get some quiet-alert time just watching, especially in the sling. We're working on that - Lily loves walks in the sling, but just around the house she gets fussy, especially if I stop moving or stay in one room too long.

Whew! That was long.

Sarah

[Mama Faery]

Wow, well, where do I start?
My beautiful bebe is sleeping in his swing right now (I can understand the guilt when nothing else works, or when you NEED your arms back..I tried putting him in his sling but he would have none of it so if he sleeps in the swing, he sleeps in the swing.) speaking of slings:
WE FOUND ONE!!
I broke down and got a Hotsling, and it was waiting for us in the mail yesterday. Immediately when I put him in it I could tell this was different. He has napped soundly twice in it, and though he still gets mad if I put him in if he's already grumpy.
(he's since woken up and is in the sling right now as I type! Yay.)
He still seems to nap a whole lot...when do they start spending more time awake?
When he is awake, he's a cooing, smiling, gurgling, beautiful bundle of kicking and squealing energy. He loves the bear mobile above the pack n play changing table, he loves being talked to and held, and the fussy times are becoming less and less frequent.
I can't believe he's almost 7 weeks old already! Wow.
On our trip we saw pretty much ALL of my friends at a get together the day before we left and he was great, just needed to leave the room a few times to deal with all the people, but several people held him and he was totally fine with that. I want to raise a social baby, for sure.
We drove a few places and he did really well, left him with the IL's for a little tiny bit while we went downstairs in the hotel and walked around a bit. I think my MIL got her baby fix this past week, at least I hope so! :LOL

On the flight he slept, ate, and slept some more. Was kinda fussy on the way back home though. Not too bad! He really did awesome!
He's napping again so I am going to go get some laundry downstairs. So much to do now that we're back!
I'm glad to be back though, I missed my cat so much!
Take care, mamas.

-Renae

p.s. Claudia, the name is wonderful! SO glad you took the time you needed to find it!