7/18 Welcome Back! Weekly check in thread. - Page 2

[Sydnee]

I feel like I have had a ton of bricks lifted off my shoulders, ladies!!!!! DH and I, along with our 4 couple friends have been planning a trip to Mexico next Feb. We started planning/saving about 2.5 years ago, when we *thought* we were done having kids. Well, I've been stressing out because I DO NOT want to go. It would be 7 days away from my kids, and Alayna only being 9 months. I knew DH would be upset with me, because every so often he'll bring up how fun that will be. Well, today I talked to him about it, and said how miserable I will be, and it's not worth spending that amount of money if I'm not going to enjoy it. He AGREED with me!! I about fell over. He said he understood, and we could use that money for other things, and maybe in a couple years take a trip. I just feel so relieved! I really thought he would be pissed. He is such an understanding person, I don't know why I thought he would be so mad. But anyway, that makes me happy! I will try and get some personals done tonight.

[sheandaru]

sneaking in...

I can't believe myself! After ds was born, I went straight to LWAB & forgot about this club. D'oh.

Mind if I jump in here late?

[NYCVeg]

Good morning, ladies!

Well, things are looking up some here. Nursing for the past few days has been much less painful--not pain-free, certainly, but much more bearable. I'm just praying that things stay this way! Dd also seems to have grown leaps and bounds--she's smiley, cooing a lot more, super strong (the ped agreed that she is one strong little 8 week old!). I'm finally really starting to feel some of that babylove that everyone keeps talking about!

Here are a couple of pics of little one (she's looking mildly concerned in them). Check 'em out now, because I'm only going to leave them up for a few days. It's the first album. Password is "baby".
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...sername=NYCVeg

Sydnee...glad to hear that you are your dh are on the same page. You sound very relieved!

sheandaru...welcome!

Marylizah...thinking of your ILs. I hope they're able to leave soon.

Momto1and1ontheway...I think I never thanked you for the contact info/support. Even though I didn't end up calling you, it was a relief to know there was someone out there to call! :

Everyone else...have a great weekend.

[dshields]

Amanda,
She is really beautiful!!! Such a sweet face! Thanks for sharing. I'm so glad to hear that things are finally getting easier.

Danielle

[Vortexing]

NYCVeg - that's a cute kid!!! Glad to hear things are looking up for you!!

We too had a good Ped appt. We'd never talked to the Ped about the vax issue, b/c, well we'd not thought about it until after she was born, but we went yesterday... and... she's TOTALLY fine with it!!!! She was all apologetic b/c she had to make us sign the waiver!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy poop!!! So Adia weighed 11lbs, 2 oz and was 22.8" long at 9 weeks, so we're like average, and maybe a little tall (55th on weight, 75th on length). So all those people who look at her and say, "how old is she, 5 months?" can shove it, she's NORMAL!!!!! Sorry, I just get so tired of the same things that everyone else has mentioned about people making big/small baby comments all the time. ANYWAY, we got out of there with no negative comments on the cosleeping, the no vax, and the CD'ing!!! I'm going to miss this Ped when we have to move in 2 years.

Hope everyone else's doc's are treating them well!!! It sure is nice when things work out!

[dharmama]

Great pictures Amanda and Michelle!!

I'm finally really starting to feel some of that babylove that everyone keeps talking about!

Amanda...I'm SO happy to hear you say that!!! :

Sydnee ~ That's great that you guys are on the same page - love when that happens!!

BambooMama ~ Yay for your Ped! I'm so happy for you!!

sheandaru ~ Come on in!!! I think we'll be moving over to LWB fairly soon when they close this board so we would have caught up to you eventually!!

ecoteat ~ Have you tried squirting a little breastmilk into Phoebe's eye? I use breastmilk as my universal medicine!

MCB ~ I was thinking the same for you...have you tried that on Sayon's bum? (Although it sounds like you're getting things under control.)

BBM ~ Hope you are having fun at the wedding today!!

Mary ~ Thinking of you and your family....

Max ~ I'm actually much more "generous" with DS than I was with DD. I left him for the first time this week. About an hour and half with my mom while I had "special mama-lily time" with DD. We're not doing bottles (I'm really lazy about pumping and washing bottles ) so I just tanked him up before I left. It worked out really well so I left him again this morning (this time with DH) so DD and I could go to the farmer's market. We were gone about an hour and he slept almost the whole time.

Speaking of older siblings...

Big to Anakna4 and all of us with older kiddos who are challenging the heck out of you. I'm working REALLY hard to help my DD (25 mos) right now (thus all the emphasis on "special mama-lily time"). This past week I made a picture schedule to hopefully help her understand the basic routine of our day and minimize her tantrums.

I'm also in the process of making a grocery store game (an idea I saw on Super Nanny....my guilty pleasure that makes me feel better about my own parenting skills . I downloaded pictures of foods we buy (super-easy...peapod.com has the perfect sized thumbnails of just about every product you can think of) and I made them into laminated cards. I'm going to give DD a clipboard with her cards velcro'd on and let her help me shop. Hopefully engaging her in the process will help minimize tantrums. I find it SO stressful when she acts up in the grocery store!!!

(If anyone is interested I'm happy to e-mail a word document with a bunch of thumbnail pics of food. )

DS is awake....

[LuckyMommaToo]

Hey, everyone,
We're doing much better now that Bea's past eight weeks. I feel like we're starting to get the family of four thing down now. I love seeing everyone's pictures! Here's ours:
http://homepage.mac.com/luckymomma/S...toAlbum33.html

(NYCVeg, I had to laugh about you saying your daughter looks concerned; DH always says Bea is the queen, and she disapproves of everything she sees.)

Bea has started using a pacifier, which isn't something I'm thrilled about, but she'd eat on both sides, want to suck some more, then promptly throw up all the milk, because her tummy was so full already. Plus I can't realistically sit there for 90 minute nursing sessions with a toddler running around (is that enough justification?). So she mostly uses it to fall asleep and in the car.

As far as schedule, I've found that the conventional wisdom of them only being awake two hour stretches at this age is mostly true for her. So not a schedule as much as a routine. She's doing sooo great at night! Went into her cosleeper around 11 at night, and I didn't hear from her until 4 a.m. Compared to her older brother, that's a miracle!

Also, DH has been giving Bea a bottle of breastmilk every other day. Just because he likes to, and I have a dentist appointment in a few weeks. I'm pumping every morning, so hopefully I'll have enough of a stash to stop in another month or so.

Sydnee -- glad you don't have to stress about your trip.
Max -- I didn't want anyone else to hold DS (first child), but I'm not so possessive of DD. I really do love her as much, though! I think I'm into sharing the babylove. Hold on to your baby if that's what you want to do!
BBM -- How was the wedding? Sounds like you have a good plan.

Okay, must go jump in the shower while I still have a minute!
-Erin

[sheandaru]

Awww, thanks for the welcome!

I'm so excited today because I just taught myself how to wear Simon on my back! All the times I've tried before he just threw a fit, but today I managed to do it fast enough that he didn't protest. In fact, he thought it was funny when I was getting him on my back to begin with.

Then he promptly fell asleep.

See!

[~*max*~]

sheandaru, what kind of wrap is that for the back carry? It looks so comfy & safe - I want one! Is it hard to manage?

What beautiful pictures of all the babes! I love seeing them all. (I don't post pics bc I am horribly computer illiterate, and after the MDC cloth diaper picture fiasco, I am really afraid to have family pics on the internet.)

NYCVeg, so glad things are looking up for you and you are feeling more connected to the baby. We've all said it before, but you are so amazing for sticking this out this long.

Sydnee, I can't relate about the stress of travelling. What a relief not to have to worry about that any longer. We were going to travel to a wedding, w/all 5 kids - airplanes, hotels, rental cars, a BABYSITTER (most stress) during the wedding. We finally decided due to some other scheduling events that it was just not feasible. I am so glad we did. It was like a black cloud hovering over me, worrying about all the logistics.

dharmama, I love the grocery shopping game. That sounds really clever. Let us know how it works out.

Will post more when I get a chance.

[*andiflipping*]

cute babies everyone....

[mamacatsbaby]

Hi all! I hope everyone's weekend is going well!

Amy I feel the same way. I absolutely adore being DS's mama and can't believe how lucky I am to have the priviledge. I second the suggestion of trying some BM in Phoebe's eye. When Sayon had a clogged duct it seemed to keep the guck down till it opened up.

Marylizah, owie on the hemmorhoids. : I hope they clear up soon. And my little guy is reaching for and grabbing everything in sight! I love it! Have fun in the middle/south of France. Sounds beautiful! Wish it were us! Still thinking of your ILs mama.

Max I'm a total baby hog. Well, DH can get in on the lovin', but I just want him with me all the time. He's my wee snuggle bunny. Thanks so much for the book rec! I'll definitely check that out.

Michelle what gorgeous little cutie pies! How was the wedding? :

What a relief for you Sydnee. That's awesome that you guys were in the same place with the vacation.

sheandaru glad you could join us! I'm wondering about your wrap too (cute pic BTW!). I've been wanting to get DS on my back for a minute now but I'm trying to wait till his head control is a wee bit better. He's great at holding it up from falling back and with the front he holds it up for a while then it slowly tips forward.

Amanda she's a gorgeous little chunkster! Keep up the good work mama!

: Erin I thought I was the only one with the Super Nanny guilty pleasure! I don't always agree with everything (who agrees with everything though right? ) but I really dig her style for the most part and I feel like so much of her advice may come in handy for us in the future. Oh, I have tried BM on the wee one's bum and his rash gave me the finger. I've found quite a few uses for BM the wonder drug.

Erin Part 2 more cutie pies! I love the pics! No justification needed mama, do your thang.

So what was the MDC cloth diaper fiasco? I think I may have heard a little something about it but I'm not sure. Were pics of babes being used in a negative way?

So the ped was a woman, which I didn't realize, made me feel a little less uncomfortable. Gave me no probs with the vax issue, didn't even have to sign a waiver. She just needed to know why we were declining them for some forms of theirs so religious exemps it is. She barely even glanced at the rash though : and diagnosed DS with eczema. I'm not sure if I buy that or not.

I was the one to put my baby on the scale and the length measurer. No one tried to take him from me, yay! I was so afraid that I would have to give someone the smackdown if they tried to retract him. Nada. Double yay!

I asked for the inserts from the vax packages and maybe she didn't really get what I was saying or something, maybe , I dunno, instead she came back with some copies of info about the vaxes. I was ready to motor though so I figured I could maybe look up the PDF files online.

I tried to ask her some questions about vax, if she felt they were safe, etc. and that didn't really go anywhere. She said that in 24 years she'd never seen a reaction. "Never?" I said. "Well, fever and such..." Didn't really elaborate. She just feels like vax prevents the diseases and so on. I wasn't trying to get into a they do/they don't work debate type of thing so I just left it at that.

She wants to give vitamins and D-drops at 6 months. We'll see. I don't think I really wanna do the D. I'm not too worried about him getting a bit of sun each day. I need to look into the vitamins more.

Sayon's skin seems super sensitive. I feel so bad that I can't seem to keep the red/pink away. : The ped gave me some Aquaphor, Cetaphil, and something else samples to try. I'm not sure how I feel about constantly using them. The Aquaphor has petrolatum as the active ingredient. She said olive oil is not always the best way to go. And the cornstarch may be a bad idea too. *Sigh* We'll see how things go. Even if I sell my stash and start trying Kissaluvs I just don't think we can afford it. To have to keep buying a new stash everytime he outgrows a size will get pricey. I know my friend will let us pay little by little though. And I'm keeping an eye out in the TP and some other diapering spots.

Okay, I really need to make dinner soon...

[dharmama]

So what was the MDC cloth diaper fiasco? I think I may have heard a little something about it but I'm not sure. Were pics of babes being used in a negative way?

Unfortunately yes. Apparently there are some fetish sites out there that feature babes in diapers :Puke and pictures that mama's had posted on MDC had been copied and posted on the site.

[sheandaru]

It's a Moby! Some mamas have mixed feelings about them for back carries because they're so stretchy, but as long as you pull the rails real tight, it's really comfy. (I'm probably going to switch to a woven for back carries when he gets a little heavier, though)

You know, I must be having a good bwing day---I nursed him in the wrap while we were grocery shopping this evening!

Our ped was really nice about no vaxing during our checkup, too! He said he'd keep asking about it just for asking sake, but he was cool overall. We're still on the fence about delaying vs. no vaxing at all. What we have decided so far (or what we told the ped) was that we're delaying until he's weaned. I'm sure he'll start getting anxious when we're still nursing a long way down the road...

[KatSG]

Thank everyone for the support. My IRL friend got really mad for me, too. I have a really great spandex girdle and I bought clothes that flatter my body so I'm okay (that day I happened to be wearing a really fitted shirt). I also looked at a photo of myself at 9 mos pp after dd1 and I was wearing my "postpartum wardrobe" so I must have been big for a while. I remember when dd1 started solids the weight melted off. So I'll be patient. I know my tummy won't be what it was, but it wasn't that flat to begin with so I'm not that concerned!

Hmmm, forgot about the 2 month check ups. I see my MW then and we have some other appts for Iris to look at her spine (has a weird curve at the tailbone) so I think we'll be fine. I just want to know what she weighs.

BambooMama--we have to routine (which is bugging me, but I know it isn't realistic to have one at this stage), but I put her down when she's fed, dry and has been held. It usually every 2 hours. But sometimes she'll sleep for a hour and sometimes 4. I had to wake her up the other day because my boobs were going to explode. She does seem to be down for the night around 9:30 PM. I wish it was a lot earlier so I could have some downtime after dd1 went to bed!

NYCveg - people just don't remember what newborns really look like. Really, they're out so rarely, it makes sense. So any little baby looks brand new to people. Dd1 is 2.75 and I still hear she's tall, she's short, blah blah blah.

Momto1and1ontheway - Dd1 is still having adjustment issues, but these have been going on since my pregnancy. I'm just working on staying calm, choosing age appropriate activities (library, storybooks, playdates) and those things are helping. But those times when I'm too tired for any of it are the times we all melt down.

Syndee - Iris has started sucking on her hands, too. She's always wanted to, and I think she did this a lot in utero b/c I could feel those hands moving up by her face. I doubt Iris is teething. She doesn't have a binky so I think this is her way of getting that suck time in between nursings.

ecoteat - I know what you mean about the realization of how wonderful this all is. The babies are truly interactive at this point and you feel like you have a real relationship with them. Iris smiles and beams all the time (especially for her sister!) and I know this is the most wonderful time of my life (so far!), this time when my babies are little.

Marylizah - no advice on the one-size CDs. We're transitioning from NB to S and it's a bummer because neither fit well and we're having leakable. I really hope your ILs get out of Beirut safely. We came back from vacation where we'd had now news a few days after the initial raids and were just sick about the whole thing. And sorry about the hemmeroids. That sucks.

max - I don't let many other people hold my baby for very long, either. And we haven't left her, even for date night. And I just can't seem to make the time to pump so we could get away (because I don't really want to leave her). She's my last, too, so I'm trying to savor every second. The Mummy Tummy book isn't for losing weight, but rather buildling core strength and strething and toning. It wouldn't work as a single routine but seems to be right about toning the tummy. I'm not seeing big results but things are going down a little.

Gotta go...we're having a horrible heatwave and dh wants to go to a park with a fountain. Talk more later!

[mamacatsbaby]

Oh man, why would you do that with pics of little babes? People are sick...

I knew that was a Moby sheandaru!

Big hugs to you mamas with other DCs acting out.

Oh, I forgot, Sayon's now 14 lbs, 3 oz and 24 inches long. Go BM power!

[Peppamint]

woohoo! big babies!


I can't remember if I posted after our 2mo WBC, she was 11lb even and 23" long. She's longer than she is heavier but has awesome cheeks and little fat rolls on her upper thighs.


The wedding was FABULOUS : though I think my heels were designed to be torture devices... sore feet I have! Audrey did GREAT- hanging out in the pouch sling while we did prep, sleeping in her little chair while I got dressed and during bridal party pictures, sleeping in daddy's arms during the ceremony and cooing at everyone. I didn't get to NIP because my dress was a one-piece strapless and the design was not at all conducive to nursing but I SWEAR that she couldn't have gotten hungry at better times than she did!

I cannot wait to see the photos, the photographer is amazing.. I love browsing his website because he gets fabulous photos!

[Sydnee]

Good Sunday morning everyone We skipped out on church this morning, naughty us. It has been a breautiful weekend here, but hot. We haven't really done much, I got alot of cleaning done, and that's about it. DH is going to be working outside today, we still have a lawn that has to be put in, so he's doing all the prep work for it.

Max- I feel the same way, I remember with Rachel that I really needed alot of breaks, but with each one since, I don't feel like I need a whole lot of time away. And I do always want to keep Alayna to myself, that's what is nice about BF'ing.

BBM- So glad the wedding went well!! Can't wait to see pics, and your kids are beautiful!!!

Marylizah- Have fun on your little trip, I hope you can enjoy it!! Hugs mama!!

Anakna4- Hope your DD acting up goes away soon! It's so hard for them to understand changes like a new baby. It will get better!!

Sheandaru- Welcome back!!

NYCVeg- I'm glad things are getting better! And Samara is gorgeous!!!

BambooMama- Yay to your Ped! Mine is very ok with delaying, I just am not sure how she is if we decide to not vax at all. She very open minded though.

Dharmama- What a great idea with the grocery thing! I saw that episode too. The thing that I do, is take what I think might work for us, and foget the rest! There is no reason to not watch something because you might not agree with a few things. I have no guilt in watching it!

LuckyMommaToo- Bea is beautiful!! DH also gives Alayna a bottle every couple days, it's nice for him to have a bond with her too.

MCB- Sounds like the appt. was ok, you didn't get harrassed, but maybe didn't get all your questions answered either.: I'm still waiting to get asked about vax'ing from my inlaws, *sigh*...

Kat-

Well, I should get something done here, although I fele very lazy today. I'm trying to go throught the girls' toys and ELIMINATE some, ugh!!