February 6 - February 13 - Page 4

[jessitron]

I haven't read any of the posts yet, but wanted to say hello.

Evelyn and I are doing great. Birth was not fun, but having a newborn is a hundred times better than I thought it would be! I was worrying about this part, but this part is great. She's a very good baby. She is now eating and peeing and pooing and sleeping, all her baby tasks, and of course she is wonderful and beautiful anddarling. She has dark gray/blue eyes. She is very patient with us when we try to dress and diaper and sling her. I love that the focus of our days is holding her and appreciating her. Thank goodness DH took these two weeks off. We're having a fabulous babymoon. (If you asked him, he'd add "except for laundry.")

Now back to catch up, if I can. I hope Heidi and Az have their babies now.

[Malama]

yay Jessica- I'm so glad you are enjoying Evelyn and your babymoon. This is what it was all about!!! The birth is so important (esp as a rite of passage to motherhood) but it ends up being this teeny teeny part of your kid's life. In pregnancy we put so much focus on the birth but once it's over the "real" work begins!
Anyhow, enjoy every minute with her, because you'll blink your eyes and she won't be a newborn anymore!

Oh, and Az had her baby girl earlier in the week- and Heidi- we'll we hope she's holding her baby now!!! She was planning on taking castor oil yesterday.

We got invited to a chinese new year party and re-opening of a new office building that our friend bought. There will be a band and everything. I can't imagine having fun out right now though! we'll see how long I last- esp since it's in the evening- ack! I'm just farily content to be sitting at home these days.

[mamabeca]

Yeah for Jessica! I think it's so wonderful, seeing new moms so in love with their babes. I for one was in total shock when dd was born. Poor thing got stared at a lot. I'm pretty stinky these days too, Lisa. I have a shower about every third day, now, although with the cold weather and lack of exercise, it's not such a bad deal. Ori has taken to being a bit of a pain in the evenings now - just wants to nurse constantly from 4 - 7pm. Just not going to happen. Most days dd is here to distract, and then dh comes home from work and he does it for a while, although distraction at this stage is pretty much not working, but still..tonight everyone is skiing and it's just me and it was HARD to let him cry but I needed to eat and get some water into me, and ... ugh. He's finally asleep. I am going to go veg and eat girl scout cookies. Don't give me s--t, I really need them tonight. It was hard work. Ok, I have been thinking that wha tI really want is a back carrier that is SAFE for babies this small, which isn't available on the market, but I keep thinking of Africa and how the mamas there carry their babes. They use a cloth and tie the babies on to their back and then tie it front above their breasts and below on their ribcage. I may go and get some fabric and experiment...

Lol mamas! I hope everyone gets some sleep tonight!!! xxx Andy

[3_opihi]

Andy - you mean something like this, right?

http://store.peppermint.com/kanga-baby-sling.html

Jess, glad to hear your doing well.

Cat just broke something (again : ) I'll post more later.

[jessitron]

Andy, sounds like DH wants a little attention from mama too. Of course you can't over-mother a newborn! THat is what makes them so precious.

All this talk of yeast, and they did give me a few antibiotics maybe an hour before the birth, made me worry about Evelyn's white tongue. Midwife says it's normal, though, since she has no white spots inside her lip or elsewhere. Of course my nipples are sore, but that's normal.

We have yet to figure out how to position the newborn comfortably in a sling. We don't have a front carrier. Hmm. This seems like it will be a lot easier once she can hold up her head. How long will that take?

You all sound like you are really up and about. We went out yesterday and the day before, but it is too much for me. I am staying upstairs now with a sore bottom. The midwife prescribed herbal baths twice a day - yay!

Good job to Karen and Andy for resisting the sugar. That has to be hard. I had a chocolate shake yesterday mmmmm.... er, guess I shouldn't talk about that.

Evelyn is a good baby, and lays down on the bed to sleep quite well. She does prefer a nice chest to sleep on, though. We keep her in the bed with us, or occasionally the cosleeper. She doesn't seem to mind the cosleeper, but it seems too far to me. I like her within arm's reach (her arm).

Heidi, you're cracking me up with your romantic labor-inducing evening on the 10th.

ITA on the changing def of a good night's sleep.

Az, sucks about the weakness. Take it very easy. Your story helps me feel better, thinking about the parts of my birth that did go well.

ha ha Lisa about Victoria's Secret.

Midwives' gifts: I'd like to send her more money, since she way undercharges. Is that appropriate?

Ann, Garage sail? Is it going to blow away?

Birth definitely felt like a rite of passage. I mean, DH said my butt turned purple and got big and bulged out. If that doesn't make me a woman, what does? ha ha.

Go heidi. I hope she is doing well.

The new baby is so awesome. I don't mind when she does want to nurse for hours. At least, not while DH is here to wait on me.

[Human_Being]

Still no baby, painful contraction right now......been in light labor a few days. About 4cms, and going to bed. See our progress on the blog...
http://dahlborg.blogs.com/baby_2005/
Bye now! Heidi

[Malama]

Oh Heidi! I'm thinking of you. Slow labors are trying- but you know that! Hang in there mama!!!!

Baby is fussing so no time to respond to anyone- will hopefully get to post more later! I was just sneaking on to check on Heidi!

[Malama]

Andy- far be it from me to give you a hard time about eating girl scout cookies!!! We were in town at the hfs and i walked out with a peach pie and 3 bars of chocolate. dh was mad at me.... but i NEEDED it all!!! I haven't touched the chocolate and ate a piece of the pie- which isn't very sweet- but YUMMY!!!
And mamas do need a break sometimes. It's hard to hear your baby cry, but sometimes you gotta take care of yourself to be able to take care of them. (spoken from a mom who drags her baby to the bathroom with her so he won't cry....)

Jessica- don't feel you need to get out- there will be plenty of time for that! Even though Luka is my 3rd kid, I'm not having the best time out. It took me a lot of time to get up the nerve to leave the house and then I just felt like I wanted to get back home. In the end, it's just easier to be at home- between leaky breasts adn thrush, I'm happiest in my rocker!
Oh, and I'm SURE you're mw will enjoy more $$. IF she's anything like all of the mw's I know here, she'll surely appreciate it. Eventhough I didn't need to by any means, I paid my mw. I did so because we could and also because there are so many clients who don't/ can't pay.

I can't believe your dh was all talking about your butt and the birth. Mine always brings up what my butt looked like when I had our first son.... it made quite the impression on him, apparently.

[mamabeca]

Hello! You guys crack me up! I know it's so hard to put the little babes down, but sometimes I just do because I know how wonderful it is to pick him back up again, especially after a bit of a break. I'm typing fast here because I have to get to the library (seriously overdue books are in the bag...sigh) before ds wakes up again. I have about an hour. Um...what did I want to say??? Oh yeah, Ann - YES! Except that the cloths they use there are the double and not cut in half. Just lots of fabric that gets slung up under the baby's bum and the up their back, supporting the head for the weenie ones and around and under their shoulders/underarms for the bigger babes. The babies love it, mama loves it (free hands!) and as long as you get the baby off now and again (like once an hour I think) you don't risk the bow legs that can come with having their legs wrapped around your waist for too long.

My dh once said to me (in bed) that once he'd looked inside my bumhole when dd was born, there was no going back. We were mated for life. He was somewhat more scientific about it, being dh, but that was the gist of it. Yeah - evidently the miracle of birth does involve serious distention of other parts that I can STILL feel the impact from, three and a half weeks later! Take it easy newbie mamas! It does take about 6 weeks for the healing to get into fast pace. By 6 weeks our bodies are about 85% back to normal (both for c-section and vaginal delivery, but I think most c-sections it's a tougher 6 weeks). The last 15% (like the last 10lbs) takes a lot longer. So dh still mentions that part for us too - not exactly the most impressive part of birth, I think, but boys are SO completely obsessed with anything butt related...

Karen - how was the gung hay fat choy party? I hope that you guys had a bit of fun! We got a dinner from a friend on Fri. that was all kitted out for the new year - chinese food, of course, Japanese apple-pears (ok, close, but no cigar on that one), fortunes, name plates with our names in chinese characters (and english on the back), chopsticks, etc. Very festive! That was about all we did. Dd wore her chinese silk outfit (which she's had since she was 3 - I can't believe it still fits on her body, although it is nearly coolots now!!) to school on Wed., they had a big Montessori style celebration there.

Go Heidi! Go Heidi! Go Heidi!!! We're all rooting for you, just be strong, get some sleep, and enjoy the last moments of pregnancy. For REAL! Lots of love, andy

Ps - no congratulations here please. I ate the WHOLE BOX of girl scout cookies (weep, sigh, bang head). Today the white spots in Ori's mouth are WAY bigger again. His bum is starting to look a little better, though. My breasts feel a lot better, actually, which is sort of counter-intuitive to the sugar thing (did someone say they wondered if there really was a connection? Karen, was that you? You smart, mama!) - I'd go about half way on agreeing that there is an association. Probably some, but maybe not so much as we'd think.

What do we think of starting a new thread on the Living with Babe section and calling it CreamyMamas or something like that?

[LEAW]

Yaay Heidi, gentle birth to you!

Andy: try these:
http://www.mamatoto.org/default.aspx?tabid=116
http://www.mamatoto.org/Default.aspx?tabid=189
http://www.mamatoto.org/Default.aspx?tabid=117

I picked up 6 yds of interlock knit (poly cotton blend was on sale el cheapo) and I'm going over to a friend's house on Tuesday to try different ways to wrap - she has a petite 14 month old and wants me to help with back wraps, and I just need some time out of the house!

Butts: dh told me how giant and ugly my big fat hemrhoid (sp?) was. And a few comments about the quantity of poo and blood I squirted out. Apparently at one point the mw jumped out of the way when I shot some blood at her.

Gotta run, dh is getting his hair chewed on by hungry babe.

Lisa

[Malama]

Andy- our party was just ok. We actually opted to go to that instead of the whole celebration with the dragon and firecrackers- the kids have been to that so many times it's not a novelty anymore. The party we were at was a re-dedication of a building our neighbor bought downtown. THe building was renamed sometime ago and they had the original chinese family member rename it.... there was free food- that was our motivation for going, lol!

On putting babies down..... eventhough Luka is my 3rd, we've never had any baby "paraphernalia" other than diapers and something to carry the kid in. Well yesterday I broke down (for me) and bought this little rocking chair thing- so I could goto the bathroom alone or eat with both hands while I'm alone. I'm so crazy that I was hemming and hawing for days over whether I would buy this damn thing. in the end I'm glad I bought it. we'll see how much it gets used.

what dh actually said about my butt (while I was on hands and knees) was that he could stick his finger in my butthole and not have it touch any of the sides- sorry for the TMI..... he just brings it up every once in awhile to bother me..... must be LOVE

My goodness- those wraps look involved. I just see that and get hot.

[3_opihi]

Karen - they are a bit hot for hawaii. We had one for a while, but I never used it. However - one of my friends just started selling them made out of beautiful rayon prints, and embroidered gauzy fabrics. She swears they aren't hot .

Andy, don't worry about the girl scout cookies. I ate all four boxes in the first two days we had them . I've been really really bad about the sugar. Its almost impossible for me not to eat it. I feel like I'm addicted to crack or something and dh is my pusher because he runs to the store to get me my "goodies".

It's only been the past couple of weeks, that its been easy to go anywhere. The first month we were big time hermits. Jess, don't worry about it. You need the time to relax now and get to know the bebe.

Also, Violet is just now starting to like being laid on the floor for a couple minutes to kick around. So I usually try to run to the bathroom then. Ok, that's not true, I usually sit there and stare at her. She pretty much lives in the mei tai the rest of the time. She won't sleep by herself at all! Only in a sling of some sort, or if I'm lying with her - kind of a bummer, but I really don't mind since all my kid were like that.

How's everyone's baby liking the car? I can't decide if Violet likes it or not. She seems ok in it most of the time, except when we stop. My other two HATED the car and just screamed bloody murder everytime we got into it. She's definitely not that bad - somewhere in between I suppose.

Anyways, the garage sale was a big hit. It did rain a bit, but we had everythign covered. I was really surprised, violet slept the whole time in her little car seat --I forgot the sling, doh! And I was able to get lots of work done and socialize a bit.

Ok, I'm off now. Here's to hoping Heidi's got that sweet babe in arms by now!

[LEAW]

I think the wraps in gauze would be comfy in hot hot, I will try it this summer. So far the one I have in knit is comfy and not as hot as the kkafp. There are so many I'd like to try.

We're going to go on a walk as soon as babe finishes eating.

Lisa

[mamabeca]

Lisa - does your babe finish eating? I think Ori just takes little breaks between meal servings. Gulp! Shocking he isn't a whole lot bigger! I just make little babies... but dd is now tall and lean, so I guess we're on target.

Thanks for all the links everyone! I love the wraps. I'm going to wait for better head control before I try anything new, but those do look like the type of thing I'm thinking about...and I guess they ARE on the market!!!

Much better with sugar today - hopefully it was a fluke. I've been so good, y-day was pretty unusual for me. I did speak with my mom - wonder if that set it off?

Ok, gunna go spend some qt with dh. Poor man has been washing dishes, babysitting, and cooking all day long. I think he's due for some cuddle time. Lol! Andy

[Malama]

Ann- my baby does not seem to like the car. On the way home from town yesterday we had the (mis)fortune of getting stuck on the road. THey were working on one of the bridges and had only one lane open- it was esp bad because they were wrapping up and had to pick up all of the cones and stuff?? Luka was so upset and so I crawled into the back of the van and nursed him in his carseat- i.e. ouch. He was just so mad though and I couldn't take it knowing that the drive was gonna take so long.
My last baby was also not into the car in the beginning. I bought him a pacifier because we could never make it all the way to town without at least one nursing break. He used it for maybe a month and then started to fall asleep in the car. I was tempted to do the same for Luka, but with this thrush, I think an artificial nipple is the last thing we need. Riught now we're home a lot anywyas, but if his car habits don't improve I might get him a paci for the car. Worst part about it is that the older boys can't stand to hear him cry- they get soooo upset.

SO I've used the gv for 4 days and I'm not seeing much improvement. Not sure what to do/think. He still has a white tongue, and I'm starting to think that the pain I have is also due to his latch- I often have to pull down his chin to make sure his lower lip is flanged... ugh. I help others with bf all the time and I'm not liking having my own issues!!!

[Killick]

Good morning ladies and Happy Valentines Day. I am getting ready for work, so this will be quick. It is so odd to get up, shower and get all dressed up again to go back to the office. Fortunately, it is going to be a relatively easy day. I have one meeting this morning, and then the rest of the day is employee recognition events. Makes for a good 1st day back. It will be interesting, taking a newborn into a pretty important meeting though.

Will hates the car too, if he is awake. I found out with DD, that we absolutely needed the infant carrier, and not just a convertible car seat.

DD seems to have come down with something. She was running a horrible fever last night, and was shivering and stuff. We shall see how she is this morning. Usually, I would be the one staying home, but since this is my first day back, it will have to be DH.

He has made no references to my butt and labor. However, he does bring up the fact that I shot pee across the room when I coughed and the nurse was trying to cath me for a second to relieve my bladder. I actually hit the other wall from the hospital bed. Totally mortifying!

I have all kinds of baby gadgets, mainly because we didn't know better when DD was born. However, Will loves, loves, loves the swing. He gets so calm in it, especially when it is going on the setting where you think you might fling the child across the room. We did have an incident yesterday while getting ready for church. DD went over to the swing and took it and pushed it really hard so it hit the wall. Totally freaked Will out. Took me a good 10 minutes of comfort nursing to calm him down again.

Well, gotta go and get lunch ready. Have a good day!

[Azreial]

Andy I hear you on the rests between meals. Elizabeth is pretty much always at breast. She even sleeps with her head on it like a pillow. I've gotten to sleep short bits here and there in the basinette. Which is fine because I only need her to rest in there during the day so I can get something done.

I'm really wishing I got a baby swing as far as baby gadgets go. I think she would like it loads and itwould give me a bit of a break. I've also been bringing her to the bathroom with me. I'd hate to see what I look like nursing on the toilet, with the dogs running all round in there with me (they are obsessed with us using the toilet). I did get her in the sling for a while today. That went well. She just hung out for about 1/2 hour and I got done what I needed to get done.

Jessi make the most of having dh home. MY dh went back to work today and like 20 minutes after he left I was already missing his help and feeling overwhelmed.

Nicole good luck with work today. Even with taking Will with you it must be hard to be making that change.

Elizabeth seems to like the car. She passes right out, but anytime we've been sitting for awhile she starts to stir but calms right down as soon as the car moves again.

All this girlscout cookie talk is making my mouth water. We placed a pre-order with dh's cousin's daughter a few weeks ago and now I am dying for my cookies. I'll have to get dh to call over there when he gets home.....

Dh didn't have any comments about my bum, however he's commented on my water breaking. He claims the water gushed all over the floor and made a puddle that went across the 12 foot room! Oh and it also got on his glasses. I don't know about puddling all over the floor but man it sure felt like a gallon of water. Oh he has mentioned to everyone about how gross the placenta was, and how he couldn't have missed it because his face we 18 inches "from the action"

[LEAW]

Andy, hehee, no she never stops. It's main course on top of main course with little comfort snacks between. Honestly I should wear a stopwatch and see exactly how many hours she nurses a day, I think it's nonstop sometimes.

And she's not real excited about the car either. I can rock and swing her in the carrier seat and she'll settle down, but as soon as I snap it into the car, she starts yelling. If we're going less than 10 min. away it's an ugly and loud ride, if we're going further, she usually falls asleep and wakes when I stop.

Oh and this is pretty cool - nothing like an average citizen talking to the president of her country with babe on breast: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...car10502121959

I've come down with the cold, so far Lauren doesn't have it. I'm still at that getting sick part where your head hurts and your body aches and your sinuses itch like mad. Hopefully it won't be more than a day or so, and thankfully dh is working at home until noon today, so at least I have a little help.

Lisa

[mamabeca]

Lisa - I LOVE LOVE LOVE that picture! What a great shot! Isn't it nice, that it is such a normal part of life - at least in some places...

Az - when you do get out and about (or even now if you can call somewhere) see if you can't find a used swing. They come in all shapes and sizes. The one we had for dd was a tall one, it really was a swing! The one we have now works just as well (best as mentioned - on the propel baby across the kitchen setting) but sits just off the ground. Not so good for keeping Ori out of the dog's space (and visa versa). Also mentionit to lots of friends over the phone - some kids don't like the swing, and a family may have one sitting up in their attic that they aren't using, evn if they do have babies still. Ori likes anything that makes some noise (digs the vacuum), shakes (car) or moves (swing). He's pretty easy going, actually. If only I can keep up with his food needs...I do worry about that a little because I really have trouble expressing milk. It makes me feel like there might not be enough for a really big eater. sigh. I'm not doing anything about that just yet, but I feel somewhat anxious about the 3-6 month stage, when they really eat a lot and it's the end of exclusive b'feeding and they really need to EAT. sigh again. Ok, enough freak-out from me today.

Last night was a major munch out. I finally left the bed, closed the door and snuck in with dh for an hour. Ori cried, but not constantly. When I snuck back in he was crying again and I just felt SO bad for him, even without any sleep for me. He fed at 1am, 140am, 215am, 3am, and then 340am. I snuck out at 4am and back in at about a quarter to five. I was just wiped. Part of the problem was he was AWAKE between a lot of those feeds, and so I think he was nursing for comfort, because he was bored. Lights out, no noises, no shaking...poor kid is a junkie already.

Nicole, good luck 1st day back! I hope you both enjoy getting out! Ann - glad your sale went well! I shoulda sent in a bunch of stuff - loads of extra crap around here!!! Ori seems to mostly like the car. If he's hungry he's miserable, but otherwise he's fine. He sleeps well in it, enjoys having dd torture him with "tickles", and generally is a good passenger. Dd was a great passenger. At 6 weeks we did a MAJOR road trip with her (BC to SAK - about 3500miles RT) so I think she got used to the carseat really quickly. I don't have anything planned for this fella, but he seems ok by the carseat so far. We haven't spent a lot of time in the car yet, though. He doesn't love that his arms are sort of pinned in. We got him a little 'sleeping bag' cover for the carseat. That way we don't have to overdress him for the outdoors. It's fleece on the inside, and outside is ripstop dennier (think ski jacket). There's a hood, so we can cover him completely, or he can have his face showing. Either way, though, his arms are sort of tucked in (keeps little hands warm).

Well, given that he's asleep now, I'd better get these dishes done, laundry, straighten up TV room (disaster from weekend) and something going for dinner. Take care mamas!

[Malama]

Andy- sounds like Ori is going through a normal growth spurt right now. He's just nursing tons so there can be more milk for tomorrow.
And I'm SURE you're making enough milk for him. And you will continue to do so in the next months. Remeber how amazing and powerful your body is- you grew him, birthed him and now you can feed him.

Lisa- isn't that a great pic? My close college friend is a good friend of Hugo Chavez- president- and recently was working for him. She is always raving about how cool he is- this pic is a good example for me!

I feel like I've been complaining a lot (thrush issues and such), so I wanted to tell you all how much I LOVE my baby. How much I enjoy sitting with him asleep in my arms. I know this stage won't last long at all and I'm ignoting the rest of my life and just being with him (well not ignoring my other kids and stuff.... just the non essentials). I wanted a 3rd baby for so long and I'm gonna try and enjoy every minute of it!