Life with a baby week of 10/15

[myhoneyswife]

She's a little over 1 month old Wow!

She learned to smile yesterday! Still sleeping well, I don't really wake up 100 percent when she eats, so I don't know a whole lot. Woke up a few times in the mornings to her sucking on the side of my boobs (I have tiny BBs and she can't reach unless I lift her up and rest her head on my arm when I lay on my side). In the mornings we lay in bed for a few minutes and I prop her on the pillow facing me and we look at eachother and she GRINS! Oooo, it's so fun!

She must be having a growth spurt, she's very into eating all morning yesterday and today. For the past couple weeks she has been sleeping for a long afternoon nap, though, and she still did that.

We took an outing this past weekend, put her in the pouch sling. It's funny, people in Montana have never seen a baby in a sling. I'd rather pop her in there than drag a bucket around, she's so light still that it's like I'm carrying nothing!

We started EC on Fri, didn't do it on Sat because we had a bunch of stuff going on, and did a little on Sun. Caught 3 poos and 1 pee so far. If I would drag our butts back to the bathroom right after nursing and naps more consistently, I have the feeling I'd catch more

Bleeding... stopped at 4 weeks. One of the advantages of HAVING to lie down all the time because of the stupid blood loss still!

Sooo, that's us!

Cara

[maciascl]

I have determined we are battleing an serious oversupply of milk that is causing Rhys to not get enough hindmilk. Yucky green poops & my constant engorgement and leaking... no spraying were the 1st clues. Other than that we are doing great. In fact I have decided that I have done way too much in the last 2 weeks & plan to stay home more this week.

How is everyones bleeding? If you don't mind my asking : Mine has been off & on. I'll have none for almost a whole day & then I suddenly get a gush. I think that too is a clue I am doing too much.

[AutumnMama]

Well, since Hannah and Alden have the same birth day, he's also a month old...and starting to smile too! Oh man, is it ever cute

He's still pretty mellow, though I think he's got an issue with me eating dairy, and has been fussy/unsettled lately. He was awake for 5-6 hours last night, he'd fall asleep, but then he'd wake up after a couple of minutes (yes, literally)...Mama's tired!

I've been using a fleece Hotsling (pouch), and really loving it. Sometimes it gets too hot, so I ordered a stretch corduroy one from Lanepieslings.com this morning, I'm so excited

I haven't been able to do much on the EC front, he 'leaks' poop fairly constantly

I have managed to catch 2 pees and 2 poops (helps that they happen at the same time ), and hopefully he'll stop leaking soon so we can give it more of an effort!

As of thursday he weighed in at 10 lbs 11 oz, up from 10 lbs even the thursday before (Midwife, then WIC appointments). So he's growing juuuust fine thankyouverymuch.

I have a Midwife appointment next thursday for a postpartum check (again) and a pap test (whee! ).

I haven't taken him into a ped yet, not sure exactly how I feel about that.
With DS 1 I took him in for a newborn check, the Dr pushed back his foreskin a bit and that really made me mad (of course I was a ditz and didn't say anything to him about it..I guess I was a little shocked by it). Then I took him to another ped when he was about 2 months old because he was sick, and he hasn't been to a Dr since then.

I kinda want to have him 'on the record', just in case anything should happen with CPS (not that it would, but it freaks me out to hear other people's stories from here).
And I guess if anything serious were to happen it would be good to know a good Dr.
Actually the Dr (he's a family practitioner) that my Midwife works with on her days she's not doing the MW thing sounds pretty good.
He won't perform circs anymore, which is something that is morally/ethically really important to me. I really didn't feel comfortable with the idea of going to a Dr who thought it was acceptable to do that.

Anyway, my MW also does well baby checks. I think she charges $25 or so, so that's probably cheaper than going to a regular Dr.
So yeah, haven't made my mind up about that yet, sorry about the rambling!

Oh, I have some pics of Alden on my MySpace page, so if anyone wants to check those out they can.
I really need to upload some of my labor/birth pics and write out my birth story for you all...I'll do that soon, I promise! :

ETA: Bleeding...I've been down to almost nothing for a couple of weeks or so, but just had some bright red bleeding this morning. I feel great, but maybe having been to church, then the store, then taking care of Alden all night when he was being fussy/awake was a bit much for me

[myhoneyswife]

okay, i'm lughung at myself, but today i caught myself wondering when i'd get pg again.... and i wouldn't mind it being whenever logically I don't want to be pg right now because I'm afraid it might dry up my milk... but I dunno!

[Becken]

I've got a major sleep fighter on my hands.

Does anyone have any advice? I am going out of my mind! Where is the sweet, easy baby I ordered?

She's so precious and so alert already at 3 weeks; I guess that's why the sleep comes so hard - she is super aware of everything going on around her and wants to be involved.

I, too, have been having some hind/foremilk imbalance issues. those are clearing up fairly well, I think. Her poop is still green, but no longer frothy (or stinky). I finally see curds in them again. As for the green...maybe that's okay? I'm terrified of having to start eliminating foods from my diet. As a vegetarian, dairy and soy are my two main sources of protein!

She's asleep in the sling as I type this, but if I sit still for too long she'll wake up. Time to do some chores!

Oh, as for bleeding - it's slowed down a LOT. I had an enormous clot from hell in the shower about 10 days ago. Seriously, it was the size of a grapefruit and I thought I was going to die. Completely horrifying! But ever since getting that nasty thing out of me, I've felt SO much better and the bleeding has really died down.

[crazyeight]

i stopped bleeding about a weekish ago. it slowed down really quickly and then was just enough to be ANNOYING for about 2ish weeks. finally stopped though. and we are back to dtd!! 2x so far and i feel pretty good. as long as its not fast and doesn't push on my periniem (even thoug thats not where i got stitches????) we are good for loving!

i hadn't thought of being pregnant again but i find myself looking at other pg women and thinking/wondering if that stage of my life is really over. can i really not be pg again for the rest of my life? (i am 21). i have a feeling that my "luck" wouldn't be that good and that somehow someway we would end up pg again but i KNOW dh isn't planning ANYTHING so it would be another accident. i guess we'll see!

[blairinargentina]

Isabel is 8 weeks tomorrow and believe it or not (I can't believe I am saying this : ) I too have wondered when I would be pregnant again. DOesn't take long though before I realize that I need alot of time before we go down that road again!

We are still dealing with tummy issues that I think are related to thrush. It's been 4 weeks and we still cannot get rid of that stuff... uuuhh. It's such a pain. I think we are atleast making progress though, which is good, but she is still really, really gassy from it. Yuck. She is sleeping through the night pretty consistantly now so i am feeling rested and together, most of the time!

My bleeding stopped completely at 4-5 weeks. Though it was really light for the last week or so. Glad it's done. Ahhh yes, DTD. I guess if there were such a thing as a "plus" of a c-section it's that theres no soreness "down there" to deal with!

[ish]

Everything seems to be going well here. nak.

Ewan is a big time boob tick! I can only put him down to pee and even then he protests! He eats 'round the clock and enjoys his marathon sessions. We had weight gain issues the first two weeks - too much foremilk, not enough hindmilk (seems pretty common), but dispite that and all the spitting up Ewan is at least 10.5 lbs and 2 feet tall.

He's been smiling for just over two weeks. Everyday that passes he smiles more and more. His big brother gets the best and biggest smiles. It's unbelieveable to watch these two interact.

I'm still not getting much sleep. Once Ewan falls asleep (midnight), Kellen wakes up, squeezes into our already crowded queen size bed and proceeds to kick and punch my entire backside until 5:30 am when DH rolls out of bed to get ready for work. I'm trying to convince DH that we need a bigger bed, but there are other things we need to do/buy first.

My lochia was so much heavier the first time, complete with scary, "OMG, I'm going to die" sized clots. This time the bleeding was pretty light, no clots, and was completely gone by 2 weeks postpartum. I really think using mama cloth made a huge diff.

As for more babies... I'm not sure yet. I worry about ending up with a tribe of boys, twins, more medical complications, and an extra short labor (don't they get shorter with each kid?). But I haven't ruled a third pregnancy out completely. We've been dtd for a few weeks now, and even though we're using condoms and I'm bf, I am still scared that I'll end up pregnant before Ewan is 6 months old.

[Hazel]

Baby is three weeks today!
I'm still bleeding off and on. Its more dark brown type blood with stringy discharge type stuff in it. Sometimes a few tiny blood clots. Its been more yesterday and today, before that it had almost completely quit, just when I wiped I would see it.
We are strugglign with overproducing of milk and the balance of baby getting enough hindmilk after the gallons of foremilk. She sleeps a lot during the day, and I cant seem to wake her for anything. At night its hit and miss. Last night she had a 3 hour stretch, was awake for an hour then back to sleep for another 3 hours. But the other night she was up pretty much all night. I hope we can get that straightened out.
She's a doll and we are loving having her here! Her brothers just adore her!
I had a c-section and wishing the healing time would fly by. I feel pretty good but I keep being warned not to over do or else I will pay for it. So now I'm paranoid about what 'overdoing' it is.
I also found out I have high blood pressure now. Not happy about that.

[blairinargentina]

lots of folks seem to be having hind/foremilk issues... how do you know if it's a problem? isa has started spitting up alot... super watery. especially after feedings when i am engorged. her poop isnt green though. anyone got an idea here?

[ish]

If she was getting too much foremilk her poop would be green. It shouldn't be causing her to spit up more, at least that I'm aware of. All babies spit, some more than others. I think it's just because their digestive systems are still really immature.

[Guest*]

Evan is 6 weeks today. He's been a little colicky this week (probably a growth spurt), but otherwise is just a doll. He slept 7 hours last night! I just keep thanking my lucky stars that he's a good sleeper after the hell we went through with his sister. He loves to be held all the time, but hates the slings. So I pulled out the Baby Bjorn....loves it...so, now I can get some work done around the house and keep him happy.

I'm doing well, except I think I had a period. I had stopped bleeding, then suddenly started again. It was heavy for 3 days combined with cramps and feeling just blah...I didn't have a period for 14 months with dd, so I just wasn't expecting it back so soon. I guess I'll find out soon enough if it really was my period.

[dvons]

We're doing well. No fore/hind milk issues but I've been really carefully trying to stick to block feeding like is recommended on kellymom since I had such over supply issues with #1. I do have oversupply issues slightly this time but not as bad. (with #2 my body still thought it was nursing #1 so nothing really changed when he was born). She must have been going through a growth spurt though because Tues, Wed, Thursday she wouldn't stay off the boob then Friday took 2 4 hour naps then slept 6 hours that night. That led to mastitis since my body was like "hey, she needs more" and then didn't take it all. It was so fun complete with fever, breast lumps and red splotchiness. Fortunatley my midwife was able to recommend a homeopathic remedy to go with some pretty funny looking nursing positions and masage which totally worked. I was so glad not to go the antibiotic route and risk thrush.

My bleeding has been gone since about 10 days PP : On the advice of the midwife I stuck to mamacloth and the chemical free pads from Whole Foods. She said it would make a difference in how long I bled and she was SOOOO right. I think I bled more with my miscarraige than I did PP this time.

For those that are interested here is the fore/hindmilk pages reguarding oversupply on Kellymom. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

Deb

[dakotamidnight]

Trinity has been dong fairly good, except I bought some cereal that didn't say oats on the front but had oats in it. SO we spent another 4 days with allergy colic: I think I may have isolated the other food she is allergic to though - soy flour! I've also cut that out, so we'll see if her gassiness goes away. She's growing like a little weed though

is anyone's babe being especially fussy? Not colic, but just fussy and wanting mama ALL the time? Trinity seems to want me constantly, where before she was perfectly happy with gramma or grampa and me gone. I almost wonder if she isn't starting to teeth - she is chewing on everything {hands, snugli sides, etc} and is nursing tons, but it's mostly just comfort sucks.

My bleeding quit at around a month PP - thankfully! But now I'm left with TMI - this watery clear discharge similar to what I used to get while ovulating. Is this normal?

I have my PP checkup next week, and then I have to go back to work I really don't want to be gone from 7 am to 5 pm, but I have to for school and work. I need to call WIC and see if I can get a breastpump from them to use at work. While I have one, it's used and the motor is going out : Luckily it's the same type as WIC uses, so I can still use the larger flanges I just bought.

[crazyeight]

Oh. How can 2 kids be different from the same mom!!?? Ds wakes up at 7:10 (yes EXACTLY and dd is now starting to stay up till 11 and only goes to sleep when i nurse her in bed. ugh. i am still doing our routine but she must be bored with it or soemthing! not sure whether to try another routine or stick with this one. we'll see how tonight goes without me taking a nap today as that seems to mess her up (i guess i will have to pick whether i want a nap or to sleep at night

i am going to weigh her today and see how much shes grown. she has a big double chin and pudgy cheeks and she looks so much older than a 6 week old!!

my pp checkup is this week...wahoo (sarcasm).

[maciascl]

Originally Posted by dvons

My bleeding has been gone since about 10 days PP : On the advice of the midwife I stuck to mamacloth and the chemical free pads from Whole Foods. She said it would make a difference in how long I bled and she was SOOOO right. I think I bled more with my miscarraige than I did PP this time.

I never thought about mamacloth making a diffrence, but I guess it makes sense. Good thing I decided I wanted to try it for the 1st time postpartum Rhys will be 3 weeks thurs & my bleeding is mostly gone, just once in awhile I get a gush that freaks me out, but they are getting less & less.

As for the oversupply we are block feeding, except at night as he sleeps 3-5 hrs at a time, but it just doesn't seem to be getting much better. I am not as engorged, but I still leak like crazy & he is spitting up alot & has green poops. I guess I just need to be patient.

He has also gotten pretty fussy lately. For the 1st week he hardly cried & I could lay him in the bouncer chair & he'd stay asleep for an hour or so. Now he cries so much & if I try to lay him down he's instantly awake & screaming. The constant, well not constant but too often screaming is really starting to wear on me & poor DS1 is getting the short end of the stick.: I feel like such a bad mama sometime because I just seem to lose my patience too fast with him & I am always rushing him so I can get back to dealing with the screaming baby. UGGGG...I hope this phase passes soon, or atleast I get better at doing things around the house with baby in a carrier :

[quinbearzmama]

We're doing really well. Arabella is 2 1/2 weeks old and a very content baby. She has gained 1lb since her birth and is nursing like a champ. She has been a very different baby than my first. He would nurse all day/night and wake if I wasn't nursing him; she seems content to nurse for a few minutes and sleeps all of the time. I won't complain So far life with two kids has been easy...because of my Storchenwiege sling. Arabella is in it most of the waking hours of the day and falls asleep the second I finish tying her in. Yay for babywearing! (Although I can't tell you how many "looks" I've gotten out and about- I even overheard one mom tell her husband that she didn't understand why women would put their babies in "that contraption" when strollers are made. Hello!!!) Anyway...

I too have thought about pregnancy and am mourning that part of our relationship a tiny bit. It's funny...I was so anxious to meet my baby when she was 8 days overdue and now I miss it a little bit. However, with a 2 1/2 year old and newborn, I don't think I will be ready for at least another year. My period didn't return for 17 months with DS so I think we will enjoy being a family of four for the meantime.

[noteworthy]

Well remember all the times I posted that each child gets what they will need, but maybe not when they need it? I am eating my own words. Life with 3 is hard and no one likes to wait, especially not the mama! We are adjusting to meeting the needs of three little ones. You know though, I can't stop thinking about being preggo again. Even after all the whining I did. I keep thinking "next time... I will do this or that differently". Dh has not made the big V appointment yet. That is his call. I wouldn't want to get pregnant until school is out and J has weaned completely. Then there is the how do we afford 4 question. Where do they sit in the car? Who will put shoes on their feet? Ah, reality... :
We have been lucky. We have had meals provided for us for about 3 weeks, every other day. I haven't cooked beyond pancakes or leftovers. That has been a huge help.

Baby J will be 3 weeks on Thurs and I am am so sad that this special time is starting to come to a close. She is growing right before my eyes. Each day, we get naked and I hold her close and try to relive that moment she arrived. Aw, brings tears to my eyes to type it. She just can't be our last!
I have been having some wicked hormonal migraines, thanks to the estrogen swing. Trying not to take any meds, but gotta keep moving forward. Bleeding is slowing down quite a bit. There was much more this time then other two times. I have lost a lot of weight. I am hungry 24/7 and thirsty all the time. I am one size off fitting into my prepreg. jeans. I want to start walking on the treadmill soon, but want to give myself 4-6 weeks to rest and recouperate.
Mostly, I am more tired this week. The lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. I just want 1 day to crawl under the covers and nurse and hold baby. I had several of those days, but I want another one! No other responsibilities. In other words, I want to go back to the hospital! ( ha ha ha )
On the other hand, I am missing my school/work friends too and am ready to resume my social life.

[VBMama]

We're doing pretty good here. Connor is such an easy little chubby baby. He's 13.5 lbs at 8 weeks, has been smiling big heart-melting smiles since about 4 weeks, and gave us the sweetest little baby laugh a few days ago! He often has a fussy period in the evening starting around 7 and lasting anywhere from 1.5-3 hours, but once he finally settles down to sleep he only wakes once before 5 am. I feel like Connor hardly nurses at all compared to ds1, especially since he's not interested in comfort nursing, but he's obviously gaining plenty of weight so I'm not worrying.

I'm struggling very hard with being a patient mama with my intense little ds1. Some days we do okay, and I'm content and happy with being a mama to two, and some days have been just awful, awful, awful, filled with temper tantrums and bad yelling mama.

My bleeding stopped around 4 wks pp and was not very heavy at all. 6wk pp appt was fine, although I've put off any decision about birth control. We did FAM before ds1 and tried to get pregnant again immediately when my periods finally came back when ds1 was 18 months, so I haven't had to think about it for a long time.

Off to bed - wishing everyone some sleep!

[crazyeight]

shoot. me. please. i think it would be better. i just can't figure out what dd wants to be put to sleep. i don't know if i confuse her by not putting her to sleep the same way all the time...sometimes its the carseat, sometimes she falls asleep in the swing, sometimes its nursing. the last 4 days she hasn't gone to bed at night well AND hasn't slept "on her own" (i.e. no one/thing soothing her) for quite some time. yes i know she doesn't have anything to soothe herself but she HAS been able to STAY asleep after being put down before.

so my question when your babies fall asleep is it the same way each time? i literally can't deal with this much longer. with ds being a morning person now and dh going to bed at 9:30 or 10 and ayla not going to bed until 11 or later i am getting nowhere fast (except crazy). she doesn't like the bath routine anymore. i am going to try the stroller tomorrow about a half hour after dark and then when she wakes up to feed i will do it like i do in the middle of the night. maybe she needs to go into "night" sleep earlier? she does wake up at 7 or 8 in the morning and has an hour or 2 of awake time so i know little babies are "supposed" to sleep about 13 hours or so at "night".

i would be really interested in what routines your little ones are on.