"Life with Babe", week of 5/21 check in

[~*max*~]

Hi May Mamas. I thought I'd start a new weekly "life w/babe" check-in, if that is OK w/everyone. The other was getting pretty long & it can be tough to keep track of.

So, how is everyone doing? I'd love to hear updates from those who have had their May babies.

May is really a beautiful month to have a baby - I just love spring, such a fitting time to bring a new one into the world. I am really looking forward to spending lots of time outdoors with the kids now that the rain has stopped here.

As far as our update goes, Chloe and I are doing really well. She had shoulder distocia at birth and a limp arm afterwards. There was concern that she had fractured her clavical, but the next day she began moving her arm and now it seems perfectly fine. It appears to have been stretched nerves from her difficult delivery. Boy, that was scary. It has taken dh & I a few days to get over that. We both thought she was dying at the time, when she was stuck & they were calling in extra help. It became a total crisis scene. I am glad that is over.

Chloe is nursing really well. The kids are totally in love w/her. And I have dh home for another few days. Life is good! I feel like I am not getting the rest I need though (there is so much to do!) & I really need to work on that.

And how is everyone else?

[Brinda]

We're doing ok. Working on getting onto the breast so I can stop pumping. The thrush has made things painful for me, and doubled with a pump that's tough on the nipples anyhow has me hurting pretty good. I think we're getting close to being rid of it. Michael's mouth looks clear, but we're only half way through the first bottle, with another full one, and a refill for two more full bottles of the Nystatin. I've been using his Nystatin on my nipples, and I can't tell if it's helping or not. It burns when I put it on. His cord fell off today, so I finally get to see if he's going to be an outie, or an innie like the other kiddos.

[Peppamint]

Hey mamas... not sure how long I have, dd is filling her pants as I type. Changing her diaper pisses her off (or makes her so made she pees on me ) and we end up with the whole change diaper, nurse, poop some more, change diaper and nurse some more. She's a cluster feeder I think, at least for now at 4 days old. We're doing good, I'm doing way more than I should need to at this point, but dh only had one day off work and some oddjobs that have to be done so I've been on my own... he's not home enough to help much... except he's been giving the kids baths so I don't have to lean over the tub. I had back labor, thankfully labor was only 2 hours- and my back is still really sore. I may have to go back to the chiro and make sure I don't have a pinched nerve or something.

Good luck with getting rid of the thrush Brinda! I'm sure it will be a relief to not pump anymore.

Max- glad Chloe is okay! I'm sure that was really scary. A friend of mine had a dystocia experience in the hospital a few months ago and I know it really really scared her.

[Peppamint]

Wanted to add... so excited! MIL finally found me a couple more of the sleeper gowns. I don't know why those are so hard to find, but I love them... especially since the 0-3mo have the mittens built in so dd doesn't scratch her face up.

[~*max*~]

Brinda, just wanted to share - I had terrible recurrent thrush w/my last baby. I found an amazing remedy here on the MDC boards. It is called Candex. It's an all natural enzyme treatment that you can buy at health food stores. It will clear you right up, is safe for bf & pregnancy. It works amazingly well. I ended up staying on a low maintenance dose bc my yeast was so stubborn. I highly recommend it.

Busybusymomma, thanks for the kind words. And, I love those sleeper gowns too!

[LuckyMommaToo]

Hi, May mommas!
I'm another fan of the gowns. My mom found some Carter ones, so I have five or six. My brand-new babe was up from 10-3 last night. Oof. But on the upside, I have a lot of help at the moment (DH off until Tuesday and my parents in town another week), so I'm trying to be zen. But of course I still need to pay attention to my two y.o., poor guy! He actually said today, "thanks for giving my baby milk." So cute!

-Erin

p.s. Oh, just wanted to add -- my pp bleeding sucks! Is anyone else a really heavy bleeder? Any advice?

[FireWithin]

This is the first time I am posting since Max was born on May 2. It has been a whirlwind for me, mostly pretty unexpected and not great - except for my beautiful babe.

At 37 weeks I discovered that our baby was breech. After much thought and consideration we decided to have a scheduled section. The day before we had a last position check via ultrasound. I was really bumming about having to sign official papers agreeing to a section. I couldn't stop crying. During the ultrasound we got a HUGE surprise!
She's a boy!!!! THe entire preg we thought we were having a girl. We rushed home focused on the idea of having a boy and thinking of names. It ended up being a blessing because I was tired of crying over the idea of a section, and it allowed me to wrap my head around the idea of seeing a penis!

our boy was born at 10.3 lbs, no wonder he wouldn't turn!!

At 24 hrs old he got significant jaundice and we struggled with the idea of him being on a very necessary bili-bed. It is so hard to comfort a baby on a bili-bed. Bending over to nurse with a new section incision was quite painful.

Once we got home, we struggled with what has turned out to be over active let down - but we figured otu the mechanics of that. THen we got thrush - thanks c-section anibiotics! still haven't fully conquered that. Then Max's poop became very muscousy, green and slightly bloody. Our pedi want ed me to stop BF at once, put him on pedialyte and then a highly processed formula (uhmm no, shopping for a new pedi). I am trying to figure out if this is over active milk supply or dairy allergy or both. It is bright green at the moment, but has reduced in frequency from 12 to maybe 6 a day.

ok enough of the complaining.

I ahve such a sweet, healthy, big, beautiful baby boy, who makes the most delicious grunty noises, with a 3 year old who is doing fairly well.

Except for once in a while I think where is my Stella girl? Where was my gentle birth?

[~*max*~]

Oh MammotoSammo, that sounds really tough. I am sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time. I had a c- w/my first birth, so I can comisserate. I hope things settled down for you soon. Please take good care of yourself and get as much rest as you can. That is so important after a c-, and when dealing w/high stress. We are all here for you, any time you need us.

And, not to forget, congratulations on the birth of your son! What a nice surprise. Talk about switching gears! That is very exciting.

[dharmama]

I thought I'd start a new weekly "life w/babe" check-in, if that is OK w/everyone. The other was getting pretty long & it can be tough to keep track of.

great idea max!!

Mammo2Sammo ~ BIG mama! what a lot to process. congrats on you healthy baby BOY!!!!

my exciting news....

quinn and i slept upstairs for the first time last night (we've been on the couch) and this morning i decided that we're buying a king bed today. it was too sqishy with 4 of us in the queen. i told dh this morning and he was all for it. we might only be able to afford a mattress but that's fine....the lower to the ground the better!

yay for more space!!!!!

[dharmama]

My brand-new babe was up from 10-3 last night.

Ouch. Glad you have help!!!

Brinda ~ Positive nursing vibes!!

[nitareality]

Thanks Max! Also, thanks for the "Candex" advice. We've had recurrent thrush since DS was born and while I've had some success with gentian violet, I'm always looking for a real solution.

Brinda- Nystatin suspension is loaded with sugar. At the very least you should go to your local drugstore and get a lotrimin cream to use on your nipples if you weren't given anything by your doc. I won't use nystatin suspension anymore...it made DS's thrush worse,every single time we tried it. You can spread it on your nipples sparingly after a nursing session. As long as you can't see the amount on your nipples it is okay to nurse without washing it off. I am obviously going to be trying Max's suggestion!! Search the forum though for thrush treatments, there are lot's of posts on ways to deal with it, but I would hate to see you struggle with it for months due to that suspension. Yuck.

MammotoSammo - Are you finding good advice on dealing with over-supply in the BF forums? I deal with that issue too. Block feeding and positioning DD upwards from my breast (using gravity, if that makes sense) has been very helpful for me.

We're doing pretty good. The thrush has made nursing pretty painful, and my nursing toddler, the one I was praying would nurse just a little when the baby came, is now nursing with a fervor that I haven't seen in at least a year. He nurses about 6 times a day and I have a love/fear relationship with that. It hurts!! (because of the thrush and the resulting poor latch issues...don't want to scare anyone off of the tandem nursing) Luckily he's learning the meaning of "gentle" and "open wide" very quickly! I LOVE how he will reach out to DD while they're nursing together though, and it also keeps me physically grounded with him. It has the added bonus of making me feel better about how picky he has become about eating!

We've only used a few CD's at this point and I feel badly about that. She's had a thrush rash and I was experimenting to see if it would go away more quickly in disposies. Nope! At least now the sun is coming out in our area so I can sun the yeast out of our CD's.

Overall the adjustment at our house has gone well, and of course I'm just in love with our new little girlie.

[ecoteat]

It's so nice to hear how everyone's doing!

We are having an easy time. Phoebe has slept pretty well the past two nights (woke up twice between 10 and 6 and was eaily fed and changed and back to sleep each time). She nurses CONSTANTLY during the day, which is really a joy now that she has figured out this abundance of milk is a good thing, and not something to be bugged out by. DH works from home and is putting a few things on hold for a while, so it is pretty wonderful to have both of us here all the time. Phoebe gets cuter every day.

My stitches are a little sore, but not too bad. My muscles have finally gotten over the exertion from the birth, but I did have one scary bit of REALLY heavy bleeding after pooping (sorry if TMI!). It stopped almost as quickly as it started, though, so I must have just dislodged something that was holding back a lot of blood.

We're trying out different diaper covers with NB prefolds to see what works best. So far my favorites are Litewraps. They fit Phoebe really well right now. We had a major poopy leak squirt out the leg of a Bummi SWW, which was disappointing! (and messy!) What do other people like?

I think I'm rambling now! But, hey, you asked! I'm getting pretty good at typing one-handed, though.

[dshields]

Things are going well here with baby Rosa. The first few days were really rough. She was an angel all day long and up fussing from 12-5am. My mom was here so she dh and myself split up those hours but I was so tired and engorged and started to feel pretty blue. I had a hard time feeling bonded and my mom and dh always had her when she wasn't feeding or fussing. My mom left friday night and I was so nervous to be alone! She had really done everything for us but so far we are getting it down.

Rosa has been sleeping so well since thursday when we visited her ped and he 'put a spell" on her to sleep, he waved his hands a few times and it did the trick ! Last night she slept from from about 12 to 5am without waking me to nurse. When I woke at 5 she had latched on herself and was nursing contentedly! I felt a little guilty for not having woken.

Ecoteat- we are using the bummi sww with prefolds and haven't any trouble yet...and she's a poop machine!

mammo- that sounds so tough! I'm glad to hear that things are improving though...and what an awesome sized baby you grew!I have so many questions though and I'll ask them here so any btdt moms can answer if they have time

I start her sleeping on her back in the bed next to me but she always winds up on her side up against my chest. Is this dangerous? I have small breasts so I couldn't smother so much a mouse with them but I do worry.

Since my milk came in I've had a headache and swollen/sore glands in my neck and chest...so much so that it hurts when I laugh if I haven't had any motrin. Anyone understand this or am I just fighting off a bug?

TIA for any advice!

[~*max*~]

dshields, the headaches & swollen glands do seem unusual. It makes me suspect mastitis or another kind of infection. I definately think it warrants a call to your MW/OB. Do you have a fever or any heat in your breasts?

Let us know how you make out. I hope you are feeling better soon.

[~*max*~]

dshields, the headaches & swollen glands do seem unusual. It makes me suspect mastitis or another kind of infection. I definately think it warrants a call to your MW/OB. Do you have a fever or any heat in your breasts?

Let us know how you make out. I hope you are feeling better soon.

[Peppamint]

Wow... lots to catch up on!

mammo- WOW, did you ever have such a time! and healing thoughts for you. Enjoy your little boy... I am the opposite, no u/s telling me it was a boy but everyone was convinced this would be a boy so I was quite surprised to have a girl.

Erin- woohoo! Enjoy your king size bed, I'm jealous!

Anita- one thing at a time! Get rid of the thrush and then you can enjoy CD'ing. Hope the thrush gets better asap.

Amy- many healing thoughts for you, stitches are no fun. We are using size XS Mother-Ease Airflow and Rikki covers, I love them. Not a big fan of the Bummis SWW for some reason but we've always been happy with the ME covers.

Danielle- my babies have always slept right up against my breast or back while co-sleeping. I'm like you, ain't no one gonna suffocate with my lil boobies. I've had a headache and backache off and on, but sounds like a different thing than what you're dealing with. Have you asked your midwife/doc?

Max- thanks for the tip on Candex, hopefully I can remember that if I ever need it or need something to recommend to friends.

[dharmama]

Erin- woohoo! Enjoy your king size bed, I'm jealous!

No bed yet. Just two tired parents with major sticker shock! OMG...I had no idea mattresses were so expensive. We're going to shop around a bit to see if we can find anything that fits into our very modest budget. If not....maybe a new twin mattress up against our queen will do the trick.

Good night mamas! Peaceful sleeping vibes to all...

[Marylizah]

Great thread! It's so nice to hear everyone's experiences.

Am nak, so I won't address each poster (sorry!) but I did want to say good luck on the thrush issue-- how frustrating!

Things are going pretty well, here. We had a rough time at the hospital (they have you stay 4-5 days here, and we were there for the full 5) because the rooms are double and tiny. 2 women plus 2 babies plus hospirtal staff coming and going plus visitors between 1pm and 8pm-- it was literally hell. I did not get more than 2 hrs sleep a night and not much during the day.

Being home has been great-- baby eats, sleeps for 2 hours, nurses for 1-1.5 hours, sleeps again ( well, except last night, he was gassy and nursed for 2.5 hrs straight!).

The only thing is,he REFUSES to sleep on his back. He will only sleep facedown on my or DH's chest. I keep his head high off my breasts, because they are pretty huge right now, andI sleep in a semi-reclining position-- but if anyone has any tips for getting the babe on his back and sleeping, please, please share.

[gnutter]

THIngs are settling down here-Wyatt is doing great now that the jaundice is gone. HE is awake a lot more. My milk supply still seems a little low. But he slept the whole first week without nursing well so I guess we are playing catch up now. He was looking good at his 2 week checkup thrusday and had even gained a little.

I love those sleeper gowns too-makes changing easier-wyatt hates having his diaper changed. I leep telling him that if he didn't poop every 20 minutes it would mean less diaper changes but I really don't think he has caught on yet

It sounds like everyone has had some ups and downs-glad to hear they are mostly ups though

[Sydnee]

Things are going well here. Alayna will be 3 weeks tomorrow. Can't believe how fast it goes! She is sleeping pretty good, at night she will sleep anywhere from 2-4 hour stretches, which has been nice!! I still feel so sleep deprived, though!: I am trying to focus on the girls more too, as I have just felt so bad for them lately, and I know that's normal, but it makes me sooo sad. During the day she will sleep in her crib for a few hours, I feel like she is starting to get herself on a schedule, which would be wonderful for when I start up with daycare again.

I am thinking of you all everyday, wouldn't it be wonderful if we all lived close by and could get together??!!! Oh, to dream...