July 05 mamas- It's September!

[zoooteacher]

Hooray for a fresh thread - I was starting to get brain fried scrolling through July. *grin*

I hosted our AP group's movie night last night - I was really nervous, but it went ok. We didn't even watch a movie just sat around, ate, and talked. This Saturday I'm also hosting our group's picnic, so this was good practice. I found and joined the group the month we started TTC, and I'm glad I did - it's nice having an already established group to slip into with the new babe, even though sometimes it felt weird being in an AP mamas group when I didn't actually have my own baby here yet! I found out from the other mamas that the ped I was going to go to (we had to switch this month for ins. reasons) is NOT cool with no vax/slow vax. I'll call their reccomendation today...I had thought that since our currnet ped knew our plans, he'd only refer us to someone who would also be fine with them. Oh well.

I have to finish getting all my ducks in a row for next week - I am only subbing on Mondays so far (dad is watching Gi) but I needed a letter from the MWs,etc. Ihope it goes well. I'm still SUPER conflicted about teh whoel SAHM thing - not about missig my job, just finianchially. I have one more momth before I need to make my final decision - aaahhh! And today is mortgage day - never makes me feel MORE secure financially!

OK, barn chores before baby wakes. With the cooler weather, I've been able to park her in the stroller under the eaves of the barn....nice to have her close, but not "down and dirty" with me

[ChelseaG]

Hey Shannon, I am going to be in your neck of the woods next week, my sis lives in Red Bank and she is getting married on the beach in Sea Bright next Friday - keep your fingers crossed for good weather! I should hook you up with my sis, she is a semi-crunchy ap mama of a 21 month old. Are you far from Red Bank? I am a former New Jerseyan myself, Rutgers grad, lived in New Brunswick, South Orange, and Millburn before moving to Dee-troit rock city...

We are excited but nervous about taking dd on her first plane trip - I am currently trying to decide if we are going to take the big stroller/carseat combination, or just sling her... We will need the carseat for the car when we arrive, but not sure if I want to haul the big stroller everywhere - though it will be useful to carry other luggage and stuff through the airport...hmm - pros and cons on both sides.

We had our 7 week appt with the midwives today (was supposed to be 6 weeks, but we are lagging) - dd is up to 10lbs 4oz! - was 6-15 at birth and 7-8 at 3 weeks, so she is gaining well. They also gave me a once-over and pap and everything looks great and perfectly healed - dh was happy to hear that - but I havent really felt very frisky lately, so hopefully my libido will kick back into gear soon...

DD has been sleeping well and seems to be over her fussy period (knock on wood) though she seems to be sneezing more lately. I am going to up my vitamin c and garlic to ward off any bug that might be going around.

DH and I will be celebrating our first anniversary on Sunday - MIL offered to watch dd so we could go out to dinner alone, but I told her I am not ready to leave her yet (or anytime soon) - so dd will be joining us for dinner!

hugs to all you mamas!

[The Milk Bag]

Today is Eva's due date - and she will be 5 weeks old tomorrow. I think I'm still in shock that she came so early even though I knew we wouldn't make it to September. I weighed her today and she is 7lb3oz - up from 5lb7oz at birth. She seems huge to me now, which is crazy because DD1 was never this small even at her lowest weight.

She's doing so well, though. I don't have her on oxygen anymore. Her sats have been great while nursing all week!

[Korwynne]

Roxie - that's wonderful

Leila is 5 weeks today.. she had her one month apt on Monday and is 9 pounds, 9 ounces now. She was also diagnosed with "silent reflux" and is now on zantac to try to help. I hate seeing her hurting... and I'm changing my diet to help her too, since she's nursing.

[Pom]

hi! more later lol....

[soccerchic21]

I had my delayed 4 week appt this week with my midwife. It was basically a big cry fest with us going over the birth and leading up to the c-section. She did help me process some feelings though.

Jake is 7 weeks old today and nearing 14 pounds!!!!!!! Holy Heck Batman! Momma's milk does a body good!

Jake is adjusting much better with me at work this week. He is sleeping more during my shift and waking up a bit earlier in the morning to start eating. Work is so super busy this week. I don't have enough hours to finish all of my work. I have a 4 day weekend and I am looking so forward to it. Last weekend was so busy. Jake got baptised and we had a BBQ here afterward.

I am looking for all new clothes for him too practically. I contacted my local freecycle group already. He is in 6 month clothes pretty much. Most of the 0-3mo stuff does not fit him. It's not like he is super fat either he just looks older than he is. He looks like a 3 or 4 month old baby not a newborn.

[JeanetteL]

Shannon, I joined a moms group when pregnant with my first too - it was such a wonderful thing to do, even if I did feel weird at playgroups

[zoooteacher]

Oh Sarah, my 4 week appt was a huge cry fest too! I DID feel better after processing things with my MW for what it's worth.

At my 6 week I got a script for micro nor. I'm at least going to try it, I can always stop if I don't like the side effects. I just really! want to have all my options available when I get pregnant again, and for my own confidence, I wanted to use something hormonal for BC, not just barrier methods or NFP.....So using the pills, spermicide, and nursing, I'm hoping to not get pregnant for the 16 months or so my MW really wants me to wait. They had a uterine rupture in the practice recently, and it def. shook her up. Shook me up too hearing about it - rare, but when it happens? Scary stuff.

It's frustrating not being able to let nature take its course - that was always our plan before the C. Oh well, I'm adjusting.

Baby calls! Oh, and we got an appt with the slow/no vax friendly ped so I'm feeling much better about the doctor situation.

[Hey Mama!]

quick question-I have started spotting again after not for about two weeks. Is it af returning already, or what? I didn't get af back until Bethany was 6 months old, and I'm nursing so I thought I wouldn't have it until much later.

[Shanana]

Zoo, I think it was a great idea to get involved with a Mom's group before the baby was born. I'd love to do this now, but feel like I don't have the time or energy to find one and get everything sorted out. Hopefully soon ... Glad to hear you're getting the ped thing sorted out. We need to do that too.

Chelsea, good luck on your trip ... I hope all goes well travelling with babe, and you have a great time at your sister's wedding . Glad to hear the fussy period seems to be over, and Happy Anniversary!!

TMB, it sounds like Eva is doing GREAT! This is wonderful news, and you have to be so happy to have her off the oxygen .

Korwynne, we think Maddy has silent reflux, too. We started her on Zantac last Sat, although I hate giving it to her. I'm also doing the Sears elimination diet (about 2.5 weeks, now), but I don't think it's making much of a difference. It's really hard to tell, though, especially because we have good days and bad days, and are trying all sorts of stuff, so who knows what -- if anything -- is helping? We just keep trying. More on this below.

Sarah, wow! Jake is just a little bruiser, lol. Maddy is growing out of some of her 0-3 mo clothes, too, but mostly footed sleepers because she's so darn long! I'm glad to hear the MW was able to help you work through some of the c/s issues, and also that Jake is adjusting to you being back at work.

So, I took Maddy to the chiro yesterday and today, and we're going back next Wed. I really, really like her. She is so kind and gentle and just exudes, I don't know, "goodness". She seems very healing. Anyway, she did some very gentle adjustments, as well as cranial-sacral and myofascial work (sp?). She also did some muscle testing and ruled out thrush, etc. When I took her in this morning, she said yesterday's work "held", so that was good. She didn't have to do much work on her digestive system today, and mostly worked on her jaw. Also, I took the Zantac with us today and asked her to muscle test with that. So she did, and said that it's "okay for her body" right now. I asked if that meant she *needed* it, and if she definitely had silent reflux? She put her hands up in an "I don't know" gesture, but repeated that it is okay for her body right now, and as much as we (and she) don't like her being on it, it should be okay. Although I still hate giving it to her, that makes me feel at least a little bit better. She also gave me a homeopathic remedy for calming her down, and I bought some Bach's Rescue Remedy from her as well. The homeopathic seems to help, I think -- it's Viburcol Baby Pure. It's expensive, so we're only using it at night, when things are really bad. She was fussy earlier today, so I put a drop of the Rescue Remedy on her forehead (Jeanette, I think you recommended this), and she stopped crying in about 10 seconds and then fell asleep! It only worked for about 15 minutes, but I guess that's better than nothing ...

So last night she did seem to feed better ... would get all or most of the way through a feed before starting to fuss. But then fuss she would! We still ended up being up much of the night, and at one point I couldn't console her with all my usual means, so I just held her and let her cry -- which she did for about 30 minutes (although it mostly wasn't the top of the lungs screaming, thank goodness). I had this weird sense that maybe some of this "fussiness" is her processing through the deep suctioning and being hurt, angry, and "grieving". I know that sounds strange, but it's a thought I just can't shake from my head. Also, there were 2 times she fell asleep at the end of a feeding, which before always meant the night was over, and we could finally go to bed. But not this time, so that was really frustrating. And she still really has night and day mixed up, and I'm beginning to think that's playing into this as well. When she's alert, she wants interaction with us, whereas we just want to go to sleep.

So, any tips on getting them to understand night is *night*, and not day? I guess I should probably try to keep her awake more during the day, but I hate to do that because it's *my* chance to catch up on sleep, and sometimes get one or two things done.

Also, she *despises* the Zantac, and it seems like half of it comes out of her mouth. Any tips on getting a baby to swallow something they don't like? My friend's brother is a pharmacist, and he said it will work best if given on an empty stomach, so I'd rather not mix it with breastmilk, or anything like that.

Well, despite everything, she has been fussy off and on for the last 2 hours, and I haven't been able to get a good feeding into her. She's currently laying in my lap crying, after yet one more failed attempt to feed her. Sigh.

[The Milk Bag]

Originally Posted by rockerbabysmom

quick question-I have started spotting again after not for about two weeks. Is it af returning already, or what? I didn't get af back until Bethany was 6 months old, and I'm nursing so I thought I wouldn't have it until much later.

I don't know how old your DC is, but if you are less than 8 weeks PP (which is likely), and exclusively nursing, it is not AF, just more PP bleeding.

I read into this a lot after my first DD was born. I bled for 5 weeks, nothing for two weeks, and then had 2-3 days of bleeding again at 7 weeks PP. I was paranoid that it was AF. ;-) It definitely wasn't. I didn't have any bleeding again until AF actually showed up when DD1 was 12 months old.

[The Milk Bag]

Shana - how much Zantac is she taking? Granted Eva is much smaller than any of the other babies on this board, but when we were giving it to her as a "just in case" measure (which we promptly stopped when she continued turning blue while nursing), the amount we were giving her at a time was only .17ml. It seemed like just a drop going into her.

I would just put the syringe in her cheek pouch and squirt it in there. The further towards the back of their throat you get it, the more likely they are to swallow it and not spit it out.

That's probably not much help .... but it didn't seem too tough to get the Zantac into Eva because it was such a small amount.

[The Milk Bag]

Shannon's post got me thinking about birth control. What are all of you planning on doing?

My DH and I are done with our two girls - my DH says so and my OB says so. So unfortunately, I have to go alone with the plan even though my heart doesn't feel done. After DD1 was born, AF didn't come back for 12 months. She nursed all day and all night long, though. Eva only nurses all day long, but sleeps very long stretches at night. I love her for that (LOL), but it makes me think that just nursing isn't going to keep me infertile for as long as it did the first time around.

I was planning on having my DH get a vasectomy but just found out that his insurance won't cover it, but my insurance will cover a tubal. I'm scared of doing it to myself, though - I used to have very heavy, painful AFs and I've read that a tubal can make that worse for some women. I also worry that it would make my PPD worse if I did it to myself sort of against my wishes. I wish I could just stick with NFP like we have before. I trust it completely when I follow the rules, but since I would love to have another baby, I know I can't trust myself to actually follow them. That wouldn't be good for my relationship with my DH or my health.

I hate having to make this decision so soon after the birth, but I know the question is going to be asked at my 6 week appointment on Thursday. I can't do hormonal BC with estrogen because of my BP, micronor is out (I got pg on that before), and I have religious objections to an IUD. So that leaves barrier methods or something permanent. I know my DH and doctor will want to go the permanent route .... but I just don't know.

[Shanana]

Originally Posted by The Milk Bag

Shana - how much Zantac is she taking? Granted Eva is much smaller than any of the other babies on this board, but when we were giving it to her as a "just in case" measure (which we promptly stopped when she continued turning blue while nursing), the amount we were giving her at a time was only .17ml. It seemed like just a drop going into her.

I would just put the syringe in her cheek pouch and squirt it in there. The further towards the back of their throat you get it, the more likely they are to swallow it and not spit it out.

That's probably not much help .... but it didn't seem too tough to get the Zantac into Eva because it was such a small amount.

Roxie, Maddy weighed 9 lb 8 oz at the doctors, and they prescribed 0.4 mL, 3 times/day. I think the "standard dose" is ~0.1 mL/kg (and there's 2.2 lb/kg, so 9.5 lb is just over 4 kg). But my friend took her baby to a pediatric gastroenterologist, and he prescribed 1 mL, 3 times/day (her baby weighed 10 lb 4 oz). He said peds are "too conservative" with the dose. I brought this up with my ped, and was dressed down for it ("I've been doing this too long to take that from you or anyone else" : ), and informed that his recommended dosage works "very well". I'm not happy about having her on it at all, and I certainly don't want a higher dose than necessary, so I decided to just try this dose and see how it works. The chiro's muscle testing indicated this dose was okay.

I do try to squirt it in her cheek as far back in her mouth as I can. But she stubbornly insists on repeatedly circulating it through her mouth, and turning it into bubbles, which then ooze out and down her chin, while she cries all the while, sigh. I try to explain to her that if she would just swallow it, things would be easier, but she doesn't listen worth a darn :LOL .

[The Milk Bag]

Originally Posted by Shanana

I try to explain to her that if she would just swallow it, things would be easier, but she doesn't listen worth a darn :LOL .

LOL, yeah what is it with these 5 week old kids and not listening? ;-)

It sounds like you are doing everything you can. Can you blame her for wanting to spit it out, though? Have you smelled the stuff? It's so strong! I hope it is helping her, though.

[Hey Mama!]

Originally Posted by The Milk Bag

I don't know how old your DC is, but if you are less than 8 weeks PP (which is likely), and exclusively nursing, it is not AF, just more PP bleeding.

I read into this a lot after my first DD was born. I bled for 5 weeks, nothing for two weeks, and then had 2-3 days of bleeding again at 7 weeks PP. I was paranoid that it was AF. ;-) It definitely wasn't. I didn't have any bleeding again until AF actually showed up when DD1 was 12 months old.

She is 6 weeks today, and we are exlcusively nursing, not even pacifier use here. I'm so glad to hear that, because I was looking forward to at least 6 months af free.

Family planning-we are using condoms right now, still trying to sort out if dh will have a vascetomy or if I will get an IUD and reevaluate our situation after 5 years. I'm pretty sure we are done now, but I'd still like to add to our family through adoption later on.

Well, we are moving next week from Hawaii to Texas, so I won't be around for about a month or so. See you guys then I hope!!

[JeanetteL]

Bunch of questions
What exactly is silent reflux?

Shana - what is this muscle testing you talked about??

Also - I don't think it is odd at all to think that she could be processing her trauma. Think about how we use the terms 'a good cry' as adults. Often at the end of my pregnancy I really needed that emotional release, and felt so much better afterwards...I think babies sometimes do need to release their emotions and physical energy, and at this point, crying is all they've got. As long as you are holding her and loving her through it, emphasizing with her on some level so she knows it is okay...then you are doing all that you can do and should feel very, very good about your strength and how well you are getting through this. Kudos to you mama - for loving your babe enough to do all this stuff. She's lucky to have you.

Jeanette

[cherubess]

My DS has also been diagnosed with reflux.

He has been prescribed Losec (we're in Oz) and he doesn't like it at all. He cries when we give it to him.

To encourage him to swallow, I tickle underneath his chin after I have squirted it towards the back of his throat.

Things have been a lot better in our household since the diagnosis.

I now understand why he wouldn't sleep though I could see that he wanted to. We have a babe who now sleeps during the day and parents who now understand when he's upset.

[mercurysky]

wow i thought my 9 week old was big with his 12 lb 9.5 oz's!! you are a champ mama!

[shayinme]

Just checking in briefly, will respond to other posts later. Today Isis is 5 weeks old, and in celebration of being 5 weeks old she is cranky and gassy. This week she has been having flutuating BM's, one day she has 4-5 next day 1 or like yesterday no BM. Though she passes plenty of gas and burps.

The other day she had her 1 month doc visit, she is now 11 lbs 13 oz, so she is a nice chunker. Guess Mama's milk does a body good. All in all we are well but dh is having some issues as he so wants to be there for baby girl in every way and there are times when no matter what he does she clearly wants Mama. He had been taking over night time duties so that all he had to do was wake me when she needed to eat, well she won't sleep when he takes care of her longer than an hour and gets cranky. I take her though put her to the breast and she settles down. I try to explain its just biology and will even out later but he's so sad. Will discuss more later.

Hope everyone is well.

Shay