Life with a babe, week of 7/2

[cymbeline]

How's everyone doing?

Ellie is just over 2wks. We're finally getting out of the house, even tho my back is STILL sore (that's what I get for a crazy 2hr labor and 3min of pushing, oof). We went out to eat the other night, went to the bookstore last night, took my first walk to the park in months today. DH goes back to work Weds. so I am trying to get used to the idea of being a mom of three. YIKES!!

Ellie's doing great. We took her in to the pede last week to get her breathing checked (she was panting/wheezing). Turns out to be some allergies and congestion, but no biggie. She has a newborn rash and acne, but she's otherwise gorgeous of course, LOL

Hugs to all the new mamas!!

[grace's voice]

Behn is 10 days old. We had a docs visit with him today. He's gained back his birth weight plus 5 ounces. He's doing great but still nursing nonstop. I need a little break! Our mw suggested trying a pacifier, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm big on nursing on demand and never using artificial nipples, but I need to pee, eat meals, heal my nipples, etc. I don't know quit what to do. He's either nursing or crying and desperately rooting.

Man, I've got some mean hemorrhoids! But I'm hardly bleeding anymore... and after 3 months of abstinance I got my drive back to dtd! Now dh asks me everyday, "are you still bleeding?"

[Frogmorest]

Phoenix is one month old (as of yesterday!) and we're doing great! He's got to be around 10 lbs or more (he started at 7lbs 7oz and 1.5 weeks ago he was 9lbs) and a little charmer. We do have thrush and are fighting that but it's not a bad case. Nothing some gentian violet and nystatin won't cure. Course... now he's purple... lol!

I'm fully healed after the c-section and able to get around and tend to the kids on my own. Dh went back to work last week and it was ok! Three kids under 5 is a little hectic but ... okay

[chiromama]

Ruby will be 2 weeks tomorrow and is almost up to her birth weight. She eats all the time, and sleeps really well. I feel so lucky! She's a pretty easy baby, although she does have some cranky time each day. We are hopefully on the tail end of the thrush... i can see one little spot on the inside of her cheek, hopefully it will be gone tomorrow, then we can stop the GV and just do the acidophilus.
I adore her she smells like heaven.

[sehbub]

Sam is 2 1/2 months, but adjusted to one week today.

She started this new crazy rooting thing last week where she'll head butt you know while she's waiting for her bottle. It's adorable. She picks her whole torso up away from your shoulder and then slams it back down, "talking" the whole time.

Lovin (almost) every minute of being her full-time mama!

It really makes me miss my step daughters that much more though.

[fireant]

Originally Posted by sehbub

She started this new crazy rooting thing last week where she'll head butt you know while she's waiting for her bottle. It's adorable. She picks her whole torso up away from your shoulder and then slams it back down, "talking" the whole time.

Marlow does the same thing! We call it chicken pecking

She's doing great now. She's almost 9 weeks old now. She weighs 11 lbs and is off of the monitor and caffeine (I love her beign wire-free). We can finally put her in regular sized baby clothes.

We think her fussiness is due to her gassy belly. I've been on the no dairy thing for over 2 weeks now and I don't see an improvement yet but I will try eliminating more things soon.

We finally got her to like the bath by wrapping her in a towel and also being in the tub with her. She'll stay there for as long as we let her now!!!

[The4OfUs]

Originally Posted by sehbub

...crazy rooting thing last week where she'll head butt you know while she's waiting...

Hey, mine does this too! DS did it when he was teeny, and now DD is doing it too - I call it "the bonks"....like when we're walking over to get the boppy and get myself situated, and she's lightly bonking my shoulder over and over again, I say, "Aw, got the bonks? I can fix that."

DD will be 1 week old tomorrow, and she's starting to creep out of that sleepy newborn phase, she was actually awake and looking around for about 30 min this morning when we were all hanging out in bed before breakfast Mostly still though, it's about 10 minutes awake, then nurse, then zonk out for a couple hours...unless she decides she only wants to nurse one side, then she falls asleep for 30 min and then wakes for the other side

Her cry is SO much different than DS's was. We call her pterodactyl, cause it's never a long, drawn out cry; it's always this short-lived, mid-pitched squawk. She HATES sponge baths, and being undressed on her bottom...which makes diaper changes quite a lively event here.

DS still seems to be OK with her being around, which I'm taking as a blessing every day....and hoping it will last! He loves helping out, and even has started "holding" her head up for her while she nurses sometimes, which is just too cute.

Guess that's about all for now.

Oh yeah, I changed my username, as you can probably tell.

[eco_mama]

Elijah is doing great. His cord fell off yesterday..at 10 days old. His lil belly button is sooo cute. He is nursing great but likes to eat a little at a time alot. So he nurses a little more often. He sleeps awesome and likes to sleep w/ or on me. Cradled up in the fetal position. It's so cute. Eww I had to buy more diapers yesterday. I'm starting cloth as soon as we get settled into our house in MI so right now the poor little boy is in crunchy posies. I just didn't want to deal w/ cloth on a cross country trip, with a newborn, toddler, and dog, ya know. But man..I CANT WAIT to get to MI!!! Marley is doing awesome now as a Big Sister. She talks to him and gives him lots of hugs and kisses. She's very gentle with him..I don't have to worry about anything when she's around him but I still remind her to "be careful." I can definitely tell she calls our for more attention now and we try to give it to her. DH is definitely making a point to. Her birthday is Thursday, the 7th so I can't wait for HER day. Last night was pretty much the 1st night (since Elijah's been born) that I was able to put Marley to bed w/o being interrupted. She REALLY needed our time like she used to get every night. It was really nice. She actually fell asleep as I was reading her last book.

I need a new nursing bra already. The one I bought is ok but I need more support all a sudden. The underwire just cuts into my ribs and it's all sore and I can't adjust the straps anymore so it's really annoying. I think I wanna find a sports nursing bra. Anyone have any luck w/ those? Any good?

Oh, and I'm in love w/ Elijah's cry. (As crazy as that sounds ) It's just so cute!!! It's definitely NOT a normal "baby" cry. It's so sweet and innocent. Now, I definitely DON'T let him cry just to hear it but when he gets his bath or changed he cries and I'm just like, "Awww..his cry is adorable!"

And I'm still in awe that I actually have a SON! A daughter and now a son. Both children of Peace. JAH is so good.....

[StacyL]

We're doing great here. My boy chicken pecks too! Here's a funny mug I ordered from my friend Sheila the other day. It seemed good for a new Mom!


Please Hospitalize Me For Exhaustion

[papayapetunia]

Talula is 12 days old and everything is going well. She's starting to have more awake periods now where she just stares at everything around her for a while. Tania has gotten to be such a good big sister. She can actually rock her to sleep. It's pretty incredible.

Happy 4th, everyone!

[OwensMa]

Jred's 12 days old, and doing great! Nursing nonstop in the evenings. Owen loves him, and shows a lot of affection. I think I have 2 of the best boys!!

[mommy2girlies]

Hey ladies, I can finally join the "my baby's here" talk! Jefferson arrived Sun morning at 3am so he's just over 2 days old today. He's eating like a bear!! He loves to nurse and is just so good at it! I had a little problems latching my 2 girls, but he has absolutely no problems at all...I can tell my milk is starting to come in and I was afraid of my overactive letdown causing some problems for him, but so far, so good...

I love putting all his cute dipes on and so far so good. Everything seems to fit him well and Im already shopping for some smalls. He still fits into the newborns, but I know he'll be needing those smalls before we know it!

Speaking of hemorroids....I have a 2nd degree tear and he needed to lance a few of the hemorroids and sew them up. I was so swollen from pushing for 2 hours that its just a mess down there. I call it my "Franken Cooter" LOL!!!

Its so cute watching the girls interact with him. My oldest, Kya, she's almost 4 and loves to just hold him and stare at him. She's also taken an interest in picking out his dipes and always wants to match his clothes to them...too cute! Carson's a bit more spastic around him. She wants to squeeze him too hard, poke him in his eyes, and lay on him...all in the name of love

[MyLittleWonders]

We are adjusting well here ... I actually think ds#2 (2 1/2) is handling the whole thing better than ds#1 (5 in one week). Part of it is that ds#2 still nurses (though I'm trying to limit him ... I just can't milk for 24 hours straight!), so he's getting cuddle time. Ds#1 is in that stage of wanting to help, but being too little still, and acting out because of it all . I feel like both boys are getting a lot of negative attention right now (don't do that ... no, don't do that ...), and we are trying hard to be mindful of it and hoping that as we all ease into things, it'll get better.

Elliot is doing good. He has a nasty prickly heat rash all over his upper/inner thighs and diaper area. It's been quite warm and humid here. So today, I"ve been pinning a folded flat or prefold around he waist like a long skirt! He looks rather cute, but it takes a few of them underneath him as well to make sure there are no leaks. I also think my over-active let-down is back (I don't remember having any issues with it and ds#2). He's a bit of a spitty baby, but nothing too bad, until you hit the hours of about 3am and 8am ... then he gets incredibly gassy, spitty, and uncomfortable. Most mornings I'm up from about 5am or 6am on ... I'm hoping he'll get better with it as he gets older. He'll be 3 weeks tomorrow (I can't believe it), and he's already getting so big!!! I'm guessing he's at least 12 pounds ... he was 10,6 last Sunday (8 days ago), and has grown so much bigger since then.

The hardest thing right now is the sleep ... the boys aren't sleeping quite enough (they usually sleep in until at least 8am, but with me up so early with the baby, they are waking early too), and dh and I aren't only not getting enough sleep but also aren't getting any time together ... again, hopefully as we all get used to a bigger family and 3 kiddos, we'll fall into a better routine again.

[MyLittleWonders]

Elliot has an insane need to suck, though gets mad if he is pacifying at the breast and gets a let-down. So, I gave in and started him on a pacifier. : It really has helped and hasn't slowed down his nursing at all! It's very helpful in the car ... he hated car rides, but with the pacifier, he'll suck on that, fall asleep, and not even know we drove somewhere. I'm not a big fan of them; we did use one with ds#1 and not with ds#2, but my breasts need a little break (especially tandem nursing ... oh man!), and he seems to appreciate some sucking time without getting milk.

[mommy2girlies]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

Elliot has an insane need to suck, though gets mad if he is pacifying at the breast and gets a let-down. So, I gave in and started him on a pacifier. : It really has helped and hasn't slowed down his nursing at all! It's very helpful in the car ... he hated car rides, but with the pacifier, he'll suck on that, fall asleep, and not even know we drove somewhere. I'm not a big fan of them; we did use one with ds#1 and not with ds#2, but my breasts need a little break (especially tandem nursing ... oh man!), and he seems to appreciate some sucking time without getting milk.

We didn't use a pacifier w/ either of the girls, but w/ our little man loving to suck so much we tried it and he loves it! I wasn't worried it would interfere w/ the nursing cuz he's so good at it and nurses so often, but it sure does help in the car...

[TryingMommas]

Well, Emerson is continuing to do things in a *big* way (after a very big/long labor...)

He is 3 weeks old today, and at yesterday's midwife visit weighed almost 11 lbs!! He was 9lb2oz at birth, and at last week's 2 week appt was 9lb14oz, so that means in the past week he gained over a pound!

So, as you can probably guess, nursing is going great. It turns out that the funny-looking breasts (pointy, including the areolas, with BIG nipples) I never really liked most of my life are the ideal shape for a good latch and i never have to hold them while nursing. Em is a champ, all I need to do is sometimes help him get his mouth big enough.

The big challenge of the week is that he has a very nasty case of diaper rash - very red and raw, we let it get too bad but didn't realize it because he wasn't complaining and as first-time moms we didn't really know the difference between OK diaper rash and nasty, owie, diaper rash until it was too late. So, we've switched back to 'sposies for a few days per midwife's suggestion, and are going diaper-free as much as possible, using a blow dryer on him when he's wet and cleaning him with olive oil (no water to get him more raw). After a day of this treatment - inlcuding changing his diaper ALL the time - it is starting to look a little better.

glad to hear about everybody's babes

Rachel

[Caroline248]

We are here. William is two weeks and three days old. He is the BEST baby I have ever seen. He eats, sleeps, and poops. My other kids were never good sleepers, so this is all new to me. He has been going to bed around 10ish, waking up around 2ish, up again around 5:30ish, then asleep until around 9ish. That is amazing to me.

Will already holds his head up when he lays on his tummy. He has these wonderful blue/gray eyes that make him look like such an old man, my husband has decided he is an "old soul". Last Thursday he weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce, so not up to his birth weight yet.

I am finally starting to feel a bit human again. I am still bleeding, a lot at times, but I can function now. With all my other births I was up and at it withen hours, this time I am recovering much slower. Today is only my 2cd day home alone with all the kids, so we will see how that goes.

Congrats to all the new mommies....

WHERE IS BUNDLEFISH?????

~C~

[eco_mama]

we're applying for our house today. we should find out by the end of this week if we're approved. : : Send us some good positive house vibes..hehe

[Keeta]

Silas will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. He is such a big boy, no one can believe he is a newborn! We took him for a weight check on Monday and get this - on the previous Monday he weighed 8 lbs 5 oz (down from 8 lbs 14.9 oz at birth). Well, on this Monday, he weighed 9 lbs 12 oz!!!! He gained 1 lb 7 oz in ONE WEEK!!! Chiromama accused me of making Krispy Kremes in my boobs, and I think she might be on to something. He's working on his triple chin.

My nipples are SO FREAKING SORE. Please, someone tell me it's going to get better. I'm taking Ibuprofen constantly, using Lansinoh and as of last night have been letting the boobs breathe - going shirtless as much as possible. I just don't get it. I've read all about proper latch and positioning and from what I can tell I'm doing everything right. I've just got flattish squatty nipples that hardly protrude at all. It's like he's trying to remake them into the good pointy nipples they should be, but ohmigod it hurts in the process. I've got LLL tomorrow a.m., so I'll have the leaders check what I'm doing to make sure it's all good, but man, I can't wait for some callouses to develop. On a side note, it doesn't hurt when I pump, which I'm sure means something but I have no idea what.

Other than the godawful nips, everything is so great. He is SUCH a mellow babe, hardly ever cries at all and if he does it's like one squawk. And he's totally figuring out his days and nights. He's so freaking adorable sometimes I think I might die of cute overload.:

[Simplicity]

Today Kaya is one week old! She's doing great and is one happy baby. She's breast feeding very very well. Matter fact, she's been doing well with that from the first minutes of birth! Today was her first peds appointment. At birth she weighed 9 pds 12 oz, 3 days later at a home nurse visit she was 9 pds 6 oz, and today.. She was 9 pds 11 oz! Yay. She's almost to her birth weight again. She's healthy as can be. We totally adore her and the wait and everything during pregnancy was well worth it!

So far she's pooped on her dad, Spit up on her dad, pee'd on my feather bed, and pooped all over her only themed outfit. A 4th of July outfit that I would not normally buy or put her in but we got it as a gift and I decided to put her in it. It looked really cute on her. We went to visit her great grandparents and before we walked in the door with her she had a nasty poo that got all over her dress. Hahaha. Well that's what she thought of that outfit! Hahaha.

Today my mother has chemo for the 3rd time and on friday she has her 2nd stem cell transplant. Since Kaya's birth we've been out to visit her 3 times because she won't be able to see Kaya for a while. This is very hard on all of us. I know she'll be fine when all is done and hopefully have a few good years of remission.