May Chat Thread

[speedknitter]

Well, thought I'd take a stab at starting a thread for this month...better late than never. We must all be VERY busy loving and taking care of our new babes.

BOOF??? What's going on??? Are you the last one? I check here several times a day hoping to hear some good news from you!

Just curious what post-pregnancy issues everyone's having. Aside from the breastfeeding thread (which is awesome and so helpful), what's everyone going through?

My skin seems to have become VERY dry since Julie's birth, even though I'm guzzling water and other liquids (no caffeine or sodas) just like I did when pregnant. I had a few bouts of hormones in the first week or two, crying for no apparrent reason & stuff, but that seems to be getting much better. I'm still bleeding a little bit, and it will be 4 weeks on Thursday...is that normal? Seems like a long time but I know I have probably not been resting as much as I should and was basically back to work part time in about 1 week.

Weight loss? Not really worrying about it yet, but I seem to have plateaued at about 172 lbs from a max of just a tick over 200. My normal weight is about 150-155. When should/can I start exercising?

Hope everyone is doing great...springtime is here!!!

[sunbaby]

ember came home from NICU on sunday. he was born 8 days ago, may 2. i keep meaning to post his birth story, but just cant seem to get to it. anyway, i thought he'd be pretty chill about being put down for sleeping and such, since he had to spend so long by himself in an incubator, and barely cried. but of course, now he's home and its like he's saying, 'hey, i know what kind of people youare, bust out that sling you're hiding'- so he pretty much is attached to the boob 24/7. kinda hard on dd, who sure need mommy time, after doing withuot me for week while i was in the hospital. kinda hard on me, who sure would like to steal an alone moment for some ice cream. :LOL

anyway, we are so grateful he is alive and home. he was released four days sooner than the original prediction, and the cranio sacral osteopath he saw today was impressed with his vitality. she corrected his tendency to only root right,now he goes left too! some of his reflexes are still a bit slow, but again he has recovered so fast, drs are guessing minimal to no permanent damage to the brain. all good news.

[ctdoula]

Sunbaby, I'm so happy you son is home & healthy!!!

Susan, yes bleeding @ 4w pp is normal. Many women bleed into the 6th week. I wouldn't start heavy exercise until it stops. An easy walk is okay, but start slow! Overdo it & you'll end up moving backwards,

We're doing good. That 1st week was emotionally hard, but my hormones are leveled off, so I'm more rational now. I'm within about 3-4 pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight & am planning to go join weight watchers ASAP, as I started out overweight. I did have a strange issue last week, I thought my bladder had fallen or something, as I was feeling 'something' in my vagina. I went to see the mw, but it's just a little muscle weakness from the birth & him being so big. I'm kegeling like crazy & it's getting better already.

okay, gotta go shower w/these 2 crazy kiddos, LOL

[J-Max]

Hi all!

I hope you have good news soon Boof, we are waiting for that last baby!

We have had a tough last week. DD#1 had her bladder repair surgery on Thursday (was supposed to be the week Lillian was born). We came home from the hospital on Sunday, but she is supposed be be on restricted activities, but it is very hard with a very rough and usually busy 6 year old. We also have some nasty cold/virus thing that I think we picked up in the hospital - everybody but Abby, probably because of all the antibiotics she has. I am going crazy stuck in the house. I can't take the little girls out and keep Abby from doing to much, so I am stuck with staying in the house where I can control what she is doing. She is feeling better now, so it is getting harder to keep her from jumping, climbing, ect, but then she hurts after she does this!

She can go back to school on Monday and that is her last week of school.

Sorry for the vent - thanks for listening!

Sunbaby - glad your baby is home, I hope he continues to do well and get better!

Hope everyone is doing better than me and have a great rest of the week!

[seren]

Hi all! I'm still here, still waiting. Went to the midwife yesterday. I'm dialated to a 2, but she can stretch me to a 3. And 70% effaced. Woke up this morning to go to the bathroom and it looked like somebody had blown their nose in my toilet paper. Hoping this means something soon!

[Rainbow]

We're doing good. Sasha is 2 weeks, hard to believe! Malia and Eliana are in love with her, and adjusting really well. It was really a non-event, they just really accepted her and moved on.

We got out without DP for the first time yesterday... to the park. It was nice! DH goes for a Vasectomy tomorrow and then Sunday flies out for work and will be gone all next week until Thursday. So I'm essentially on my own from thursday to thursday! ACK! He's been doing all the housework and such, so it really sucks- but it is a convention he really must attend. I feel fine, I'm just lazy

I don't really track my weight, so I don't know.. I try to gage my health more by how I feel than by how much I weigh. I feel really great right now, and size wise I fit most my clothes, even if they aren't quite as flattering.

I stopped bleeding at 5 days PP and had to take some meds to get it all moving again (my uterus hadn't gone down either) and now at 2 weeks PP I'm spotting off an on. Still not sure if it is "enough" to be doing what it needs to be doing. I hope so.

Seren & Boof- I hope you are holding babies soon!

Jess- sorry you have had such a tough week!

ctdoula- I had the same with my 2nd baby, who was 11 pounds. Oddly not with this baby who was sio much bigger though.

sunbaby, I'm so glad your wee one is home and thriving!

SK- I think most i know have bled into their 4th or 5th week, so I think that is very normal. It is good though to get everything out that needs to be out. It sounds liek you got right back into the routine of life. After my first I was virtually useless for a good 6 weeks (well, useless to everything BUT my DD)

[Qerratsmom]

We are all sick with a cold since last week. ds and I are on the mend but little Eileen seems to be getting more congested. She is having trouble nursing and ends up coughing and sputtering up milk and snot. I'm not sure how to help her, she's also been really gassy lately and has a diaper rash i can't get rid of. Does anyone have suggestions on helping a sick baby. She acts fine otherwise, no lethargy or fever.

[aprildawn]

Qerratsmom & jess -- sorry you're all sick. that's got to take a lot out of you. hope things get better soon. if i knew you IRL i'd bring you soup!

rainbow -- i'm sure next week will be fabulous! here's to hoping your baby will sleep at all the right moments so you can take care of your other kiddos.

speedknitter -- i've found that when i overdo it at all i start up bleeding or even just spotting. i went on a longish walk at 3 weeks and had a bad bleeding episode. it was scary. earlier this week i went on a walk up and down the hills in our neighborhood carrying dd2 in the bjorn. i had not had any bleeding/spotting for about 5 days, but started spotting again after that. so, i'll stick to the flat parts of the neighborhood for another week or two.

speaking of exercise and weight -- i'm dying to start up running again. i've got about 10lbs to lose from dd2 and another 30-40 i'd like to lose overall.

sunbaby -- funny your comment about ice cream. that's the thing i look forward to more each day than anything else. after we've got both girls down for the night, whatever time that might end up being, i have myself a couple scoops of ice cream. it makes everything better! and, once i'm not bfeeding exclusively anymore i know i'll have to cut back on those calories or they'll go straight to my butt.

seren -- hope that person who blew their nose in your pants is your little one! :LOL

ctdoula -- mood swings are no fun. i'm glad to hear you are settling off.

i did well emotionally the first few weeks, but in these couple weeks i've felt worse. the novelty of the new baby is wearing off, dh is back at work full days, and i'm wanting things to get back to "normal." adjusting is hard.

aside from my moodiness, our other issues are a tongue tied baby who is killing my nipples -- still -- at 6 weeks! and she only poops every few days. her gas is so stinky, but doesn't seem to bother her. any advice? i don't want to use the suppositories unless we have to. ugh.

[Rainbow]

aprildawn- my first DD pooped once a week, and I was told if she is BFing it is totally ok and normal.

[seren]

Well, she blew her nose even more this morning. :LOL It was kinda yucky. If I sit down I will have contractions about 10 minutes apart. If I get up they quit. I'm way past frusterated. *sigh*

[aprildawn]

seren -- that's what happened to me. my contractions were 10 min apart when i was sitting or lying down. they'd stop if i was up doing stuff. made me think it wasn't the real deal. lydia was born a couple days later.

[seren]

Aprildawn, I hope the same happens for me. I'm so ready. My sister came over and bought me lunch. It was nice, especially since I had run out of bread and would have had to leave with both kids to go get some in order for us to have lunch. Now I'm going to take a nap with the kids and just relax. Not stress, or try not to.

[ctdoula]

Originally Posted by aprildawn

aside from my moodiness, our other issues are a tongue tied baby who is killing my nipples -- still -- at 6 weeks! and she only poops every few days. her gas is so stinky, but doesn't seem to bother her. any advice? i don't want to use the suppositories unless we have to. ugh.

can you get it clipped asap??????

[aprildawn]

Originally Posted by ctdoula

can you get it clipped asap??????

we had it clipped a week ago. now she's having to re-learn how to nurse and she's pissed when i force her to latch on deep and with her tongue down over her bottom gums. we have good days and bad days. the bad days are very very bad, though, and yesterday was one of them.

[ctdoula]

Aprildawn.... I had a sleeping baby in my arms before & was typing 1 handed. I responded in the bfing thread too. I'm so sorry you're having to struggle like this.

[sunbaby]

i hope those of us who are sickies get well soon. sounds so hard to be sick at this stage.

and i hope seren and boof have their babes in arms soon.

ctdoula, glad your hormones are giving you a break finally.

i have posted my birth story in the birth stories forum, if anyone is interested.

glad to be feeling like a normal mom of a newborn and able to take part in this group again. the stay in the hospital was surreal. ugh. didnt feel like the motherhood i imagined at all.

[Boof]

Here we are!!!

Hi everyone!

Jake arrived at 9:35pm on May 10th 7lbs 9oz and 21 in.

Were we realy the last ones?

Not really up to going into the whole sordid story of our crazy birth experience, but just to give you the jist...

I was in serious prodromal labor for 2 weeks (when the baby went breech and afer we turned him head down again) and then was in active labor for 36 hours and only dilated 6cm : My water broke at 5am Monday and we were off- intense hip pain the entire time. Felt like my hip joints were trying to open but couldn't. So it was a really trying experience, even with all of my hypno practice. I can't imagine what it would have been like w/o being able to use hypnobirthing.

I'll complain and monday morning quarterback about what could or should have happened later (and what I plan for next time!), for now, I'm going to go hold my sweet Emerald baby who arrived at 42 weeks, perfectly "on time"

xoxoxoxoxo

Beth

[speedknitter]

: :

Congratulations!!! and a big welcome to Jake!

I think you are the last one except for seren who is an honorary member of April even though she was officially moved to May.

[danaalex]

congrats beth and baby jake!!!! i bet he was right on time. 7 lbs 9 oz is not big for a 42 week gestation babe more like a perfect 40 week babe!!!!! i'm glad everything went well after those 2 weeks of waiting

seren-- you're so close now . can't wait to hear !!!!

we're doing well. our dd#3 is a little over 6 weeks now. she fits in perfectly. all of my girls have gotten baby acne at 6 weeks and so of course she has it now too. i hate it. it's soooooo ugly. makes me think of greasy dirty skin. i don't think any of my IRL friends kids got it. most of them DIDN"T breastfeed though.

we took our first overnight trip last weekend to gma and gpas house and i will NOT be doing that again any time soon. dd#1 wouldn't go to sleep friday night because dh and i were out at dinner and then went to a movie ( which dd#3 stayed awake for LOL). so instead of calling us and having us come put her to bed my MIL let her stay up until 1115 p. i was less than pleased. then saturday night dd#3 wouldn't go to sleep. all she wanted to do was scream, and i had nothing but my boobs to try and comfort her, and those she did not want. it was bad. at around 130 my MIL barged into our room and said," i'll take her downstairs for and hour or two." i was like, um NO. then i can listen to her scream ? what the point of that be? of course she then asks, "well, what do you normally do when she is like this?" HUH? she's NEVER been like this before, not to mention we're not in our own house or our own bed!!!! so then sunday am, mother's day, dd#1 woke up at 530a and instead of making her go back to sleep, which i would've done, MIL lets her get up and go downstairs. which of course made her a crazy child by that afternoon when we got home.

never again i tell ya!!!!

[seren]

Madalyn Grace is here!!!!! My labor started at 10 pm last night and she was born at 7:44 am. Weighing 8 lbs 10 oz. 20 1/2 inches long. Dark hair. She's so beautiful!!! I'm in heaven. I tore on my scar from the episiotomy with Savanna. Needed 4 stitches (Madalyn has wide shoulders). Lost quite a bit of blood, a little too much, but am doing well now. DIdn't get my waterbirth since I was a bit anemic, good thing with the bleeding, though. I feel so great! Just a bit sore in my bottom area. Oh, and nursing is going beautifully, she can't seem to get enough!