July 05 mamas- It's September! - Page 3

[BinahYeteirah]

bs"d

Well, the school thing sounds good, Pom. I was considering sending dd1 to school in January (the beginning of the school year here), but had some reservations about my choice of schools. I was leaning towards keeping her home another year, but if she stays home, she needs way more social interaction. I just am not providing that now. There aren't very many activities for kids her age around here (because most kids are already in preschool, which is called "kinder" here), and public transport tires me out. I might send dd1 to kinder after all...

I guess I am newly considering the sibling adjustment issue because this is only the second week I have been home alone with both kids. My mother was staying with us before, and I don't think I got a clear picture of how dd1 was feeling as long as she was here. My mom took dd1 out shopping and to the park regularly, and just gave her tons of attention in general. Things are a lot calmer around here since my mother has left; my mom seemed to have this knack for riling up dd1. Still, I'm not used to dealing with meltdowns interspersed throughout the day. Dd has always wanted to nurse tons (tons!), but, other than that, she's more of a low-needs type kid. Just very laid back, and happy with only minimal stimulation. I think her needs are changing as she gets older with regards to social interaction, and she's dealing with her feelings about having a new little sister and my being sometimes unavailable all at once. My hat's off to those of you who make activities for your kids that don't just involve parking them with videos or toys. I have all these homeschool-type of things I want to do with dd1, but I just find myself caught up with basic housework and food prep things. I guess those things should be lower on my priority list. :

[Pom]

yeah, social interaction is key for the older ones...DD1 is 4 now, and almost all her friends are in daycare or preschool, and it just gets harder and harder to find her friends to play with during the day. I've especially seen her blossom socially this summer -- playing with older kids, etc, making her own friends at the park...very nice and necessary for her. We can't afford any more classes and even play dates I've found to be frustrating lately as they are not guaranteed -- inevitably a kid is sick, or mom is or something, and that's become too frustrating for us, b/c then it's more likely TV is on. It's been on waaaay too much since I've been pg, and this weekend we started to try and trim it down a bit. We'll see how that goes! I may weaken...

As far as leaking...at 8 weeks I think it's beginning to slow down, but I still need the diaper under the free breast, sigh.

I'm praying for a King size bed. WE do a lot of "scoot!" too. :-)

PS We put babe in the shower today, too. She loved it!

[Shanana]

Binah, Maddy gets that heat rash on her face too. DH took her out of the sling the other day and I almost passed out after looking at her face! But it was gone within 15 minutes. She still has a different rash, though, that has been sticking around, and is on her chest and arms, too.

When you took dd2 into the shower, did you make sure the water stayed out of her face, etc.? Just curious how you handled it ...

The leaking is bugging me too. I usually only leak during letdown, but it's often enough to soak my shirt and whatever Maddy is wearing, and get the bed / pillows wet too if we're doing side-lying. Not sure when it stops, but I hope it's soon. I broke down and got some reusable breast pads today, for the few times that I actually leave the house.

I still don't know how you guys do this with more than one child. Sorry to hear about the sleeping difficulties. I gripe about having to sleep with Maddy, and not being able to move around or sleep in the bed (we usually do best in the recliner). But at least I don't have someone elbowing, kneeing and head-butting me, lol. I hope you're able to find a way to meet dd1's needs, while still taking care of dd2 and yourself!

Cassidy, I agree reflux is probably diagnosed more frequently, now that there's a way to make a profit off of it. But I also wonder if much of what was labeled "colic" in the past is now being correctly diagnosed as reflux? Dunno. I'm still not positively convinced Maddy has it. Sometimes she matches the symptoms perfectly, other times not at all (e.g, she's perfectly happy laying flat on her back after a feeding, etc.). Glad to hear it's not causing anything other than a laundry problem for you, and that all is going well .

Cathy how exciting that Madison's personality is starting to shine through. I'm seeing a small amount of this with Maddy, but just tiny glimpses here and there. She's still so young. Anyway, you don't honestly mean that your babe sleeps 12 hours without waking up to eat, right???

Shannon, Maddy's fingernails get filthy too -- what's up with that??? And wow, your mil is a little, um, out there, lol. I have no advice on how to dispose of an unwanted shotgun.

Hey Pom, I'm glad to hear babe escaped the lotion throwing incident relatively unscathed! Boy, it must have been hard to keep your temper in check! Like you said, dd1 didn't mean it, but when you know she could have really hurt dd2 -- man, I would have had a hard time not blowing a fuse! So glad to hear the shots didn't seem to have any negative effects. I still need to figure out what we're going to do regarding all that. I'm avoiding it right now ...

Things have been going okay here. Friday night was wonderful, and Sat and Sun nights were, well, okay. She still had fussy feedings, but both nights we were in bed by 1 AM (a vast improvement over last week, which saw us up until 3, 4 or 5 AM all week). She started having fussy feedings around 8 PM tonight, and we haven't gotten through one yet. She is continuing to make it farther into feedings before losing her cool, though. Long enough for me to hope we'll have a good feeding, but inevitably, she starts crying. I made DH keep her out of the sling for most of the evening, because she just sleeps in the sling, and I want her awake and understanding it's not nighttime yet. It worked fairly well, and we were able to soothe and calm her down without the sling. Until the last feeding, when she just went ballistic, so she's sleeping in the sling now. It's going on midnight here, so I'm really hoping when she next emerges that we can have a good feeding and be done for the night.

I'm still sleep-deprived though, for a few reasons. The last three nights, she's slept well until 3 or 4 AM, then wakes for a feeding, and then goes back to sleep. After that, she stays asleep, but wiggles and fidgets in her sleep for the rest of the night, and this seriously disrupts my sleep. Is anyone else dealing with this?

And last night, DH put her down next to him, and I thought it would be a nice reprieve for me, allowing me to sleep in the bed instead of the recliner, and able to move around, etc. But instead I laid awake in bed for 2 hours feeling really anxious about her, even though she was only a foot away -- was she hungry, was DH squashing her, did the blankets go over her face, etc. So when she's with me, her fidgeting bothers me, and when she's not with me, my anxiety about how she's doing keeps me awake. Grrrrr.

And today I finally got my poop in a group and started an album on webshots. I was so excited because I could finally show you guys some pictures. Everything went great, but then dh showed me a way to keep the size of the pictures small (and speed uploading/downloading, since we still have dial-up) while making them look better than I had done. So I deleted the first album and went to reload everything, but encountered innumerable technical difficulties until I finally gave up because I wanted to throw my computer out the window. I will try again tomorrow, but man, was that a frustrating experience!! I guess you get what you pay for ...

The holiday weekend sure was nice, even though we didn't do anything. I just love having DH home and the extra pair of hands. I go through the week in a kind of haze, just waiting for him to get home at the end of the day. I'll be glad when things really settle down, and our feedings go better, and she's a little less high maintenance. And maybe I can take a shower during the day.

Will see the chiro again on Wed ... I can't wait, as it seems like it might be helping. And have my 6 week appt with my OB on Friday. And then have to go into work next Monday for my "physical" to come off disability. Then my unpaid leave will begin, so no more paychecks. But we've been saving and preparing for this, so we should be okay. I can't believe how the time is flying. I find myself in this weird place of being eager for her to grow out of her fussiness, and show more personality, etc., while at the same time being distraught that she's getting older so fast. I want to hold on to the birth and everything in between. I feel like I'm "losing" that, in a weird way. I want to have her at all ages, all at the same time, if that makes sense. I'm not sure how to explain it, except I find myself crying at the thought of her getting older (and I'm talking weeks and months older, not years, lol). It's a very weird sensation ...

Hope you're all well.

[JeanetteL]

Ditto everything everyone said about older sibling adjustment. I keep trying to remind myself that this has been hard for her to, and that her world has been turned upside down, but sometimes it is SO hard to stay patient.

Shana,
Glad to hear things seem to be improving.

I feel really grateful when I hear all of you talk about leaking. I don't...really at all. Didn't with Bella either. I don't need breastpads, I might leak a drop or two if I get really, really full - but that is about it.

Midwife came by today and Julianna weighs 11 lbs 2 oz - she was 9lbs 2 oz at birth, and went down to 8lbs 10 oz at five days...I'm pretty impressed with her roly poly body - and impressed with myself for growing her so well

New pics are up at my blog (link in sig line)- just a few, but you can see her little chubby thighs

[BinahYeteirah]

Originally Posted by Shanana

When you took dd2 into the shower, did you make sure the water stayed out of her face, etc.? Just curious how you handled it ...

I just held her so that her face was above the angle of the water spraying down. At first I held her against my chest with my back to the spray of the water. That way my body blocked the water from getting in her face. Once I saw she wasn't freaked out by getting sprayed indirectly, I held her up closer to the shower head so that her head was out of the spray, but her lower half was in the direct stream of water. That cleaned the diaper area well, and I just massaged the water over her body to clean her neck and face and anywhere else I felt needed extra attention. She seems to like it. I also nursed her in the shower a bit, but I don't think she liked the water that ran down my breast into her mouth/face.

[BinahYeteirah]

Originally Posted by Shanana

And today I finally got my poop in a group

Poop in a group? :LOL I don't think I've ever heard that one before! :LOL

[BinahYeteirah]

bs"d

I have tons of washable breastpads, btu I rarely use them. I use them when I go out, but a home, I don't bother. I remember when dd1 was a babe, they didn't make any difference at night anyway. I'd fall asleep nursing and not put my bra flap up again, or I'd just soak through.

As far as having patience with dd1, I am rereading How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, And Listen So Kids Will Talk. It's a classic, but I'm just trying to have it in my mind so a helpful response to dd1's actions will come out before a not so helpful one. It's helping a little.

I don't have a TV, so dd hasn't been watching any. If I did, I know she would be watching it all the time. Maybe if I plan the night before one activity to do with dd1, I will be more likely to follow through. Maybe I will plan something now!

See ya!

[cheeseRjedi]

Anyway, you don't honestly mean that your babe sleeps 12 hours without waking up to eat, right???

:LOL . I guess I didn't explain that too well. She will go about 4 or 5 hours in the beginning of the night then every 2 hours from then on. She falls back asleep pretty easily though. If she does wake up a bit, I do the bum drum and it totally calms her down.

Make sure to post your pictures when you get them up. I love seein baby pix!

[Valerie.Qc]

I'm still lurking

Anna doesn't like when I try to NAK - she want all the attention

Still trying to take my marks with baby, unpacking ( we still have boxes in every rooms ), all the appointments, daily tasks and the new school year with a teenager in school and an homeschooled child

Anna is waking up! A+

[Shanana]

Jeanette, I enjoy reading your blog so much . The birth poem you wrote is so beautiful, and the pics of Julianna are adorable -- she is such a cutie.

Binah, thanks for the shower explanation ... I'm glad it worked out so well.

Cathy, you took your babe to some concerts and used earplugs, right? I think you mentioned you just used regular earplugs -- so like the foam ones that you compress and stick in the ears? It seems like they would want to expand so much that it would hurt. Can you give some more info? We'd like to attend a street fair this weekend that will have lots of bands playing, but neither of us wants to go without protecting her ears. 4-5 hours before waking to eat sounds pretty good to me! We usually go 3-4, and then like you, she'll wake every 2 hours thereafter.

Valerie, sounds like things are totally hectic. I don't envy you dealing with all that and a new baby too! I hope things settle down soon .

Have I mentioned how much I love my daughter? Despite our troubles, she has a grip on my heart that still astounds me. It also amazes me that I grew and birthed her, and continue to grow her with nothing more than my milk. How incredible is that? It truly is a miracle.

I think things are still on a positive trend for us. We were all asleep by 1 AM last night. She had fussy feedings from about 8 to midnight, but DH took off the sling around midnight, and while she was still asleep I put her to my breast and she fed half-asleep with no problems and then conked out. I think this will be another tool to add to our toolbox -- use the sling to make her sleep, and then try to feed her before she fully wakes up. Sleepy feedings tend to go well. In fact, I used the technique this morning. The night and morning feedings all went great, and I even got a decent amount of sleep (hurray!). She wanted to eat at 11:30 this morning, and after a few minutes she pooped and acted like she needed a burp. So I stopped feeding her to change her diaper and burp her, and when I tried to feed her again she went ballistic. So I stuck her in the sling for an hour (she went promptly to sleep), and when she started getting restless (still sleeping, though), I pulled her out and fed her with no problems. She's now sleeping across the boppy in my lap. So progress, progress. We're getting there, slowly but surely.

I'm also really starting to see signs of her personality. Her alert periods are lasting much longer, and she's really starting to interact. The faces she makes seem more purposeful, and her smiles seem like they're starting to have meaning now. It is such a joyful thing!!

Still wrestling with Webshots, grrr. Will switch to another site very soon if I can't get this to work.

[ChelseaG]

:

[ChelseaG]

Originally Posted by cheeseRjedi

She will go about 4 or 5 hours in the beginning of the night then every 2 hours from then on. She falls back asleep pretty easily though

This is the sleep pattern of my DD too - though she goes through a super fussy time around 10p-12a. We have tried hylands colic tablets - they sometimes seem to work - and tried gripewater too - though she seems to spit out most of it...She just needs a change of scene every 5 min or so, then she eventually settles down and sleeps great - most times I don't even remember waking to nurse in the night!

Re: dirty fingernails - I was just wondering how my dd's nails got so dirty! I have been trying to keep them short and just gave her another bath yesterday - She is getting so chunky - it was hard to try to clean between the folds in her chubby neck and thighs...

Our midwives had a "Labor" Day picnic yesterday for all past and present clients - I thought is was a really cute idea and it was great to show off our girl and keep in touch with other mamas we had met through the office and our birth classes.

DH and I had a great dinner on Sunday for our anniversary - we ate at the restaurant at the hotel where we got married - there were 2 other weddings going on that night - so it was fun to watch and re-live our big day. DD was a perfect angel, slept for the first 1/2 hour, then I nursed her for 1/2 hour, and she slept the rest of dinner and all the way home. While I was nursing at the table, a hotel staff person came up and told me they were getting ready to lead the wedding guests and wedding party right by our table to the back room for dinner - at first I thought she was going to ask me to stop bf - but she said "I just wanted to let you know" - so I stayed put but did bring the blanket around DD up a little closer to her face to ensure you couldn't see any boobage. Most people walked right by us without looking - a couple people noticed and smiled - and one lady walked up and very loudly said "good for you" and gave me a big smile and thumbs up! I thought it was so cool and made me feel great! I looked at DH and he said "its like you are part of a cult" - I said "I am!"

Shannon - I forwarded my sis the link to your website - she said she might be interested in joining your ap group and will reach out to you after the honeymoon...

I have some milk leakage usually only when nursing - the non-latched on nipple will leak - and I get leakage from both when going to the bathroom - weird huh? Anyone else get this bathroom letdown? I have some reusable breast pads and I just got some lilypadz to use at my sis's wedding...I usually dont use any pads at home, and I sleep topless for easy nursing, so I usually just mop up the drips with the topsheet :

Shana, glad the chiro seems to be helping you and Maddy. Looking forward to meeting you IRL.

Hugs to all you mamas juggling more than 1 babe!

[Shanana]

Pictures, finally!!

Okay, here's the link -- let me know if it doesn't work.

http://community.webshots.com/user/aa5458

I converted to a digital camera a few years ago, but had a bunch of film left over from a vacation we took a while back. So I busted out my 35 mm SLR the other day, and shot 4 rolls of film (2 color, 2 B&W -- including some nekked baby pictures!!). It was kind of nice to use it again, and hear the satisfying click of the shutter and whir of the film advancing. Also, it's a nicer camera than my digital (although I somehow managed to lose my best lens, WTH??), so the pictures will probably be better. But darnit, I sure like the instant gratification of being able to see them right away! Anyway, I'm hoping to get those back at the end of the week, and am hoping some of them are decent enough to post. So check back in a week or so!

Chelsea, way to go on the NIP, and the encouragement you received. That's awesome! Hopefully our babes settle down soon and we can get together .

Maddy (or do I like Maddie better? Is it too late to change? lol) figured out how to roll from her back to her side today! She's currently talking to the "baby in the mirror" . What a cute little sweetheart!

[darsmama]

Me again...
Re: Nursing. Ick. I hate the let down, the soaked mattress and bed, the fact I have to wash the comforters every day or else the BM attracts ants. DH is not really supportive of nursing, and it is becoming a huge PITA. Sorry, I know I should mind what I speak here with it being NFL and all - but...I'm just not in love with struggling with a nipple shield that slips all around, a screaming baby, and big leaky boobs. Not to mention I feel like I can't leave the house because I may have to nurse somewhere. It makes me cry just thinking about it.
Every week I add one more week..My goal was 6 weeks and thats tomorrow. I may call that good and just begin pumping. It just seems easier to me, and No; I don't bottle prop.
I had to go off of the prozac because Daphne was screaming her head off all night once it got in my system, it will be another month before I can get in to see a dr. to get my rx adjusted to something else b/c that is when DH's insurance sets in.
So, I'm off of that now and sometimes I can really feel the depression. I've been having a lot of anger lately too. I could fly off the handle so easily sometimes. I miss my old self pre-babies. Not my lifestyle, but my sanity. I'm sorry to vent again you guys...
just a bum day/week.
Binyah: I did read your whole post, but not as carefully as I should have. Instead of 21, I saw 12 months..big difference I realize. & yes, they both are a blessing. Just sometimes I wish I was a bit more competent.
I finally quit bleeding again.
Taking it easy so it dosen't start back up.

Chelsea, thats awesome about the bf'ing in public.
I gtg

[darsmama]

Maddie/Maddy is gorgeous Shana. You look pretty good yourself for having such a young baby!

[JeanetteL]

Shana, beautiful pics!

Katie,
HUgs to you, sounds like you are having a really rough time. Only you can know what is best for your family.

This birth control discussion is interesting to me - as we've only just begun to discuss it (how do you have sex with a baby in between you and houseguests in every other room??? I didn't co-sleep last time, so we didn't have to figure this out). I don't want to go on the pill again, as it totally killed my response/desire last time, but not sure what else to use...

I posted more pics in my blog
Jeanette

[Pom]

dars - did u think you'd be slammed for not nursing? i think it's amazing if anyone even tries -- and for 6 weeks? that's pretty good. like the kind of birth someone has....so long as the babe is born, and nourished, the mom's doing her job --- Espec. if you've had to go off your meds...friend, do what makes the day easiest, KWIM?

babe is calling...I'm sweating...ugh


Chelsea-- let us know how you like those lillypadz...I am suspicious of them but imagine they'd be so much easier than the otehrs...

[mercurysky]

hey everyone. Just joining in that I have a July '05 baby also. My son, Noah, was born on July 2nd 12:43am and weighed 9lbs 2oz. He is now 9 weeks and 12lbs 9oz as of last friday. He seems to have the same sleep pattern as you all are discribing. He gets fussy and wants to eat/cuddle/whatever from 7:30-9:30. Then he wants to lay on his mat on the floor and laugh at the celing fan for about an hour. Then nurse to sleep. so he is usually out by 11-11:15. He usually sleeps 4 hours, eats then sleeps for 2 hours and eats until 730ish then stays up until 9, then sleeps to noon again. Except the days hubby watches him, when I am working 4am-8am. He wakes up, and stays up he entire time from about 4:30 on. This is most likely due to the fact that hubby leaves the tv on, and lights...so noah thinks its time to be up. He also started flat out refusing a bottle of expressed milk while i am at work. So I tried teaching hubby how to medicine drop feed him, because when he is hungry he needs to eat, not wait for mom to come home. He refuses that from husband to. I love my husband very much, but he REALLY makes me want to pull my hair out. My mom keeps saying "at least he changes diapers and tries...fathers didnt do that when I had you kids". I guess that is something I should feel lucky over? Blah. I wont start my rant here. Anyway....enough rambling. Hi ladies!

[soccerchic21]

Originally Posted by Pom

Chelsea-- let us know how you like those lillypadz...I am suspicious of them but imagine they'd be so much easier than the otehrs...

I have a pair. I like them. I like how I can wear them without a bra around the house. Although I can't find one of them so I have been using the cloth variety and don't like them as much.

[Shanana]

Oh Katie, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time . You have to figure out what's best for you and your family, although it sucks dh doesn't support bfing. But don't feel you have to censor yourself here! I know when I'm really tired, I sometimes feel pretty depressed, and it makes it really hard to think straight and figure out what I want to do. And it's just miserable in general, too. I wish you were feeling less down ... hang in there until you can see a doc and get some meds to help you. Big hugs.

Thanks for the compliments, guys. Of course, I think she's the cutest darn baby in the whole world, but I suppose I'm biased lol. Jeanette, looked at your new pics and they're great. I'm so jealous that you GO places! Julianna is definitely a chunky monkey compared to Isabella :LOL . How neat to see the two side by side like that.

What are lillypadz??

Hello and welcome Mercurysky! How long has dh been trying to feed Noah? I've heard it can sometimes take a little while for them to settle down and get used to you not being there and so on. Maybe it will work itself out with a little time?

We need to try a bottle soon -- dd will be 6 weeks on Saturday. I would love to have the flexibility to know I can leave her with dh or in-laws or what have you for a few hours and know she won't go hungry.