December already! Sept 04 Mamas - Page 3

[almama]

What are the 5Ss?

[Cuddlemama]

3 months old TODAY!

Oh boy, it's been a rough day.

My sister-in-law's mother died this morning. She had been lingering for a while in a semi-coma, so it was not unexpected, but still very hard for Heather, who is only 21 and was still very much her Mama's baby.

I started antibiotics for mastitis and uti. I had been trying to self-treat, in hopes of avoiding the abx and pretty much unavoidable thrush/yeast, but I was getting sicker and sicker by the hour so I gave up.

Anna is refusing to nurse on the bad breast, though, and that makes things even harder. I'm pumping, but she won't drink the milk from the infected breast. I remember that Emily wouldn't nurse from my infected breast when she was a baby, either. Luckily, I never had mastitis with Nate.

The worse part of this is that the breast that is messed up was my primary milk source for Anna. So I'm pumping and dumping what would have been the better majority of her daily milk. She had 12 ounces of formula today.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I'm fighting so hard against the urge to just give up and feed her formula. My breasts and this baby seem to have been conspiring against me for 3 months now, and I'm almost fed up.

Guilt and the knowledge that I'd totally regret the decision to stop nursing at this point are all that keep me from tossing cabbage into my bra and giving her formula all night.

~L

[mum2tori]

Originally Posted by almama

What are the 5Ss?

Dr Harvey Karp's 5 S's to a happy baby.

1. Swaddling (the mummy baby!)
2. Side or Stomach position
3. Shhhh the soothing sound
4. Swinging
5. Sucking

They are from the Happyiest Baby on the Block book.

[chrissy]

leigh,

[greenbeing]

I hope those who are not feeling well get better soon!

Another from me, Leigh.

Mamas, I have to go back to work today and am a mess! How can I do this??? Miles will be home with dad, but it's not ME getting to stay with him . Will it get better???

[chrissy]

Oh Meredith! More for you! I hope today goes by quickly and it's much easier than you fear.

Some pics of my cuties:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?...MWzD3A&notag=1

[Mom2baldie]

Chrissy,

Thanks for sending pictures! Lilah looks so much like your husband! Was it just my computer or does she have very light blue eyes? Naiyas will be blue (I assume) but they are still very dark as of now.

Savannah,

I would think that the check would be there by today or tomorrow at the latest. If you want I can cancel that one and send another?


We are getting pictures with Santa today. I bought the girls matching dresses so it should be cute, but I am very nervous and hoping that Paityn doesnt end up crying like the 2 previous years. Trying to think positive...

Tomorrow Paityn has a tumbling competition (!) When I signed her up I was told it would be a short fun little deal and they would all get ribbons and trophies afterward. Yesterday I got the schedule and there is a 45 minute warm up before the 1.5 hour long competition! For 2-3 year olds!!! I want to change my mind about this now. I dont know how Riley and Naiya are going to sit there happily for that long watching a bunch of toddlers do front rolls.

[leomom]

Thanks for the flouride link, Stacy. My dad is a dentist and my mom a dental hygenist, so I forwarded the link to my mom to see what she thinks. I knew there was a reason I always refused to do the flouride rinse when she would clean my teeth! It tastes awful! :Puke I must have secretly known it was bad for me...and my mom thought I was being stubborn! :LOL

I love the Harvey Karp book and the 5 Ss...that's where I got the idea of the blow dryer sound. Kate loves it and it always calms her down. That's why I put it on tape for those public meltdowns!!!

[wardermom]

Chrissy, those kids are beautiful. So are yours Savannah.

Yesterday, Kaiya and Mika were sick, so I can feel for the rest of you with sick families. Thankfully, it was short lived, and they are back to their normal selves. It was so quiet around here yesterday. It was so nice that way. Oh well.

We've gotten up at 3:00 am 2 mornings in a row to help with dh's paper route. I find it so hard to get anything done the rest of the day on those days.

I'm trying to get the house together. It's such a cluttered mess. I rearranged the living room this week, and it feels much nicer. I don't know if it's arranged better fung shui wise (spelling?) or what, but it's nicer. I don't know anything about that, by the way.

Someone mentioned having a son who likes trains. Liam is like that. He loves trains. He's a big Thomas fan. Other trains are great too in his opinion. I won my first ebay auction. I won him a Thomas bank and felt board set. I don't think the bank will stay on his dresser for very long. I'm sure it will be carried around with the other stuff he carts around with him all the time.

Are other children like that? Most of mine carry their special things around with them all over the house. Maybe it's because if they put them down, it's very likely that they will disappear in an act of foul play.

[mum2tori]

Originally Posted by wardermom

Are other children like that? Most of mine carry their special things around with them all over the house. Maybe it's because if they put them down, it's very likely that they will disappear in an act of foul play.

Yep! Tori carries "Baby" her badydoll all over the place. And every chance that Jack gets, he picks it up. That's why I'm getting him a doll for Christmas. I do put my foot down about taking Baby out, last thing I want to deal with is a "lost" Baby so she stays home. At most she goes in the car but that's only when David lets her.

Jack is or should I say 'was' obsessed with my cell phone... until he killed it 2 weeks ago by dropping it into my water glass. : :

[sistermama]

Meredith - I promise it will get easier! Especially when you see how deeply Miles and dh will bond. But don't worry, you'll still be his favorite.

Chrissy - that baby is the yummiest chunk! When was Noah's birthday? Cute pics.

Lynsey and Savannah - I'm working on both of your annoucements. Hopefully I'll get them done this weekend. Got a little sidetracked, wasn't really counting on us all getting sick.

We are going to a big Christmas party at my mom's tonight. I'm so excited to get my kids dressed up in their cute outfits. I'll definitely post some pics. I got Lucy an adorable Children's Place dress of of Ebay for $5 including shipping.

Guess I should pretend to work - ha, ha. :LOL

[RasJane]

Do mind if we join?
Gabriel was born Sept 28. He was placed with us for adoption Sept 29th. I just hadn't thought of coming over hear before for some reason.
Gabriel was 6# 5 oz. His birthmom is a fabulous woman whom I just love. We don't currently have contact with her however.
At his checkup yesterday, Gabriel weighed in at 10# 11oz. Yay, he's growing!
He joins big brother, Michael who is 6 and is very excited to be a big brother. I am trying to establish a milk supply while supplementing with organic soy formula.
I am sorry for those of you who are sick. No fun and hope you are on the mend. We had a touch but are all doing pretty well now. I must say I am pretty militant about the handwashing and no baby touch policy.
We are still trying to get a routine going during the day, but nighttime hasn't been too bad, thank goodness.
Looking forward to sharing this time with all of you!

Sarah

[sistermama]

Welcome Sarah - you're our third (and we all have h's - yay! as we know that is the only proper way to spell the name!)

[hjohnson]

Well David's info isn't on the roll call so here it is: David Alexander born on 9/10 8lbs. 4oz 20 inches long. Here is the link for David's Photots http://photobucket.com/albums/v138/hjohnson6/David/

We just got back from our two week visit to Denver, Colorado last night. Sheryl were you enjoying the snow as much as I was that fell last weekend? We drove to Grand Junction on Monday and it was fun going over I-70 in the snow. Thankfully my FIL has a trustworthy Land Cruiser. We had a fun vacation but also a somewhat stressful vacation. I hate it when the grandparents compete for our time. Also I developed a case of Mastitis while on vacation and Christopher had an ear infection so we visited Urgent Care three times. I was so ready to come back yesterday since both boys are way off on their schedules.

[sistermama]

Look at my Christmas cuties!

[StacyL]

Originally Posted by RasJane

I am trying to establish a milk supply while supplementing with organic soy formula.

Sarah,
Welcome - and congrats on your adoption. I wanted to address something you may not be aware of. Soy is one of the unhealthiest foods you can eat, and is particularly dangerous for infants and children. Here's a few links to get you started on some research:

http://www.healingcrow.com/soy/soy.html

http://www.biblelife.org/babyfood.htm

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/soy.htm

Circulating concentrations of isoflavones in infants fed soy-based formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than plasma estradiol concentrations in infants on cow's milk formula.57

Approximately 25 per cent of bottle-fed children in the US receive soy-based formula - a much higher percentage than in other parts of the Western world. Fitzpatrick estimated that an infant exclusively fed soy formula receives the estrogenic equivalent (based on body weight) of at least five birth control pills per day.58

[greenbeing]

Those Christmas pictures are beautiful!!!

[JenInMpls]

Sarah in FL: as we say up here in da north, oh, for cute!!!

Welcome to ANOTHER Sarah (don't you think we have enough Sarahs already? ) and I have to second Stacy, unless your baby is allergic to milk, soy is super-hard for all humans to digest unless it's in fermented form (miso, tempeh, soy sauce in moderation), and the proteins are hard to access and break down. True, the major infant formulas are not organic; Sally Fallon's infant formula recipe is on one of the links from Stacy and is reputed to be very good, and you can make it with all organic ingredients. I have heard that you can order all of the ingredients in a kit from the company Radiant Life (Radiant Life? Radiant Light? one of the two) and then you have enough ingredients to last you a while. I personally do not have the wherewithall to make my own formula every single day, so we use Enfamil (I am supplementing due to insufficient glandular tissue). I wish you good luck establishing a milk supply, that's dedication!

Meredith, how did your return to work go?

Well, I was hoping to go to the Friends for a Non-Violent World craft sale today at the Mpls meeting house, but I'm having a really hard time getting going. Tristan was wide awake and gabby! after his 7 AM feeding today and Jo had mercy on me and took him downstairs - I got an extra 2 baby-free hours of sleep. Hallelujia! Or however it's spelled! But T is having his nap right now, and I'm loathe to interrupt it... and I'm enjoying some spit-up free time. I HATE SPIT-UP. There - just had to get that out.

Leigh - remember how ecstatic you were when you had graduated Anna onto breast milk alone? You can do it! Your mastitis will be cleared up before you know it and Anna will be back on the breast chowing down. I will think of you at every nursing here. One day at a time.

OK, time to get going - xo, j

[RasJane]

Short--nak
Thanks for the welcome My grampa was pretty adamant about that "h" back in '76--I'm glad he was
Stacy,
Yes, I am aware.
I did worry about it, but I can't stress myself out over it, so have sent the worry away. Gabriel is full AA. We were warned he would not do well on dairy and he didn't. His birthmom even requested soy in hosp. We tried 3 brands of formula at home. I put him on the organic as the best compromise. My friend is due in March and has graciously offered her extra milk.
And, I think half those studies are panicked drivel. Based on overly processed/non organic soy.

Sarah

[msrog]

Welcome RasJane, and hugs to Meredith and Leigh!!!

Wow, Lucy has some long eyelashes!

Cute pictures, everyone. I love Lilah's hat, too.

Here's one of McKenna in a dress I got last month in a Trading Post swap: http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAM2TRszcsWzG1A

We took Santa pictures today. Haven't looked at them yet...

Poor Jen, I also hate spit up.

I've never heard that stuff about soy. Hmmm. Nor fluoride for that matter.

William slept 10 hours straight last night! McKenna wasn't dressed or diapered for sleep, so she slept 4 and then 6. Both nursed between 7:30-8 and then slept another 2 hours (as did I, after a shower!). Aaaaah.