Any other May '07 mama's lurking here? - Page 5

[kdtmom2be]

Thanks Heidi,
I don't think it's reflux. It's a limited night-time problem and she doesn't seem uncomfortable during or after feedings, doesn't spit up or vomit (has spit up maybe 4 times in 3 weeks and it was always accompanied by a huge burp). She DOES have gas though, and if I have to cut dairy out of my diet I think I'll starve to death : so I hope it's not that! I don't know how much gas is normal, given that this is my first, but boy can she fart!

[BrooklynDoula]

Clay lost his cord stump at day 5 and I was thrilled to have it gone! We are doing well - thought I would join this thread now. He is 8 days old = sleeping and nusing well, not pooping so much, gaining for sure (no weigh in yet but he was 8 and a halg pounds and birth and he is bigger now for sure).

I have lost almost 25 pounds but for me that is only about half what I put on!

[dancebaraka]

So the night before last we had the most difficult night- this is after many blissfull nights in a row. It was down right exhausting and the following day my little one had dark circles under her eyes and wanted to be held all day long, although was unable to really sleep at all... I was starting to freak out and looking up all kinds of information on food allergies and anything else...

But last night we were back to our old routine... we all got a good night's rest and my baby is suddenly contented again. So what was that little episode?? Does this just happen sometimes Mamas? Just random 24 hour periods of high needs and then back to normal... hmmm.. I am just so grateful she is happy and resting again. It's hard to see a baby so obviously exhausted but unable to relax enough to sleep...

[kittn]

hi there.

nice to know that at least some people are skeeeeved by the belly button thing.

i learned a new swaddle from dh's cousin that they use in russia. its amazing and nice and tight plus it doesnt come untucked! nathaniel loves it!!!


for all of you new nursing mommies dont forget sometimes babies will go through growth spurts and want to nurse non stop and get kind of fussy. there is one around 3 weeks

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/growth-spurt.html

http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/growspu.asp
keep up the great work !

[amyleigh33]

Originally Posted by LizzyQ

Amy- Sebastian drowns in his newborn clothes too. He is probably 7 lbs by now and they are still too big for him. The only thing that fit the first week was Gerber Newborn onsies.

yup, she's been living in Kushies Onesies and wrapped in a receiving blanket. works just as well, and easier to change when she spits up.

wait a minute -- some of you are actually able to put your babies down?! (i'm only half-joking here). i knew i was in trouble... she does not go for being left alone whatsoever no matter how deep a sleep she's in, she almost always wakes up if i lay her in her bassinet or anywhere other than with me. thank god for slings. this is not normal? i just kind of thought it was...

so i had terrible engorgement yesterday and couldn't do anything to help it and finally sent jeff out for a breast pump. i was reluctant to do it because i didn't want to have one in the house tempting me later, but it didn't come with any bottles so we're probably good the pump didn't even work right away and i think i was too tired and frustrated, so i went to bed and before her 3 am feeding tried pumping a little bit to get her to latch, still couldn't really, so gave up and fed her from the other side again. but this morning, finally, i repeated the same thing pumped a tiny bit to get her to latch and finally she managed to get a good portion of it emptied and the swelling behind the areola went down bigtime (though not completely yet). that was the biggest problem, the pump seemed to only be worsening the areola swelling not helping it. good thing she was hungry. anyone else have this problem?

[crysmomofthree]

Originally Posted by doulalove

how many of the unconsolable babies are first born? ezra is #3 for me & quite an angel but dd1 was impossible!? reading these posts brings back exhausting memories of bouncing on the birth ball at all hours of the night & never being able to sit down during the day. she hated the car seat & screamed until she puked & demanded constant motion in arms! everyone kept telling me it was "first time mommy" stuff but i didn't & still don't buy it....but what is it about first babies? there's some research to be done here!

.

I think this is quite true, but I think its based more on perception and experience

My first son was awful cried if i wasn't holding him never slept longer than an hour until he was 12 months, refused solids altogether still is a picky eater at 11 years lol but really my struggle was more with what I thought he should be doing. I assumed babies slept pretty well by 6 months (wrong) I thought you should be able to put baby down for a nap, babies at that time were supposed to eat food at 4 months I thought babies could play with toys without me sitting right there. and I really struggled with why my baby wasn't doing these things

fast forward to baby #2 he was a real passive guy nothing like number one
but #3 was a really high needs baby with acid reflux and he cried all the time and woke up every 2 hours until he was three, but for some reason I was never frustrated by it I just held the crying baby knowing that it was all I could do and that eventually it would get better (experience and lowered expectations)

People always ask how I can handle 5 kids don't I lose my mind but really its all about lowering your expectations by 4 weeks all I expect to be able to do during the day is feed everyone and change diapers (everything else is a bonus ) This prevents me from getting stressed out when the baby is having a bad day and I can't get anything done stress makes baby crying much worse

[crysmomofthree]

Originally Posted by kdtmom2be

I think it just takes us a little longer to figure out what works with the first baby, by the time you've had a few you start to know the "tricks" to onsoling them a little faster..

Very true

Originally Posted by kdtmom2be

Liz, same as Crystal here. We (babe and I) had a bath together at 5 days and the cord was still attached and was fine after. It fell off around 12 days or so (after a few other showers and things too) on its own. I have a super cute picture of DD floating in the tub, she absolutely loves it. Forget those stupid baby baytubs though, that's a recipe for disaster, or at least a good screaming fit.

definately I have found after all these kids that the only time I like the baby bathtub is A) when my hot water tank was busted all kids under 2 could bathe in the baby tub and I didn't need to boil so much water
and B in the middle of a hot summer I'm not so inclined to get in a tub of warm water to bathe with the baby and I don't think newborns like ice baths

[crysmomofthree]

Originally Posted by dancebaraka

So the night before last we had the most difficult night- this is after many blissfull nights in a row. It was down right exhausting and the following day my little one had dark circles under her eyes and wanted to be held all day long, although was unable to really sleep at all... I was starting to freak out and looking up all kinds of information on food allergies and anything else...

But last night we were back to our old routine... we all got a good night's rest and my baby is suddenly contented again. So what was that little episode?? Does this just happen sometimes Mamas? Just random 24 hour periods of high needs and then back to normal... hmmm.. I am just so grateful she is happy and resting again. It's hard to see a baby so obviously exhausted but unable to relax enough to sleep...

babies are very unpredictable little creatures once you think they have a pattern they switch it up I'm glad you guys are more rested now

[crysmomofthree]

Originally Posted by amyleigh33

yup, she's been living in Kushies Onesies and wrapped in a receiving blanket. works just as well, and easier to change when she spits up.

wait a minute -- some of you are actually able to put your babies down?! (i'm only half-joking here). i knew i was in trouble... she does not go for being left alone whatsoever no matter how deep a sleep she's in, she almost always wakes up if i lay her in her bassinet or anywhere other than with me. thank god for slings. this is not normal? i just kind of thought it was...

so i had terrible engorgement yesterday and couldn't do anything to help it and finally sent jeff out for a breast pump. i was reluctant to do it because i didn't want to have one in the house tempting me later, but it didn't come with any bottles so we're probably good the pump didn't even work right away and i think i was too tired and frustrated, so i went to bed and before her 3 am feeding tried pumping a little bit to get her to latch, still couldn't really, so gave up and fed her from the other side again. but this morning, finally, i repeated the same thing pumped a tiny bit to get her to latch and finally she managed to get a good portion of it emptied and the swelling behind the areola went down bigtime (though not completely yet). that was the biggest problem, the pump seemed to only be worsening the areola swelling not helping it. good thing she was hungry. anyone else have this problem?

some pumps work better than others I always had the best luck with the avent pump and second best with medela

if the engorgement happens again you might want to try a hot shower before you pump it seems to help, also you can try expressing milk by hand in the shower, then you wouldn't even need the pump I think there are directions on kellymom.com

[firemommaof1]

This thread is really gorwing!!! Amazing how good were all doing
Ashlyn is still a great baby... eats, sleeps, poops and really loves her swing.
Big brother is sitll doing so well with her only wants to hold her once in a while and lets me know when shes crying.
Her umbilical cord stump is still there... shes 15 days old today is that normal?? I havent bathed her or anything!
Today MIL is taking DS and Im doing some shopping with the babe for the first time.. need at least one more nursing bra! Hope any nursing in public goes well...

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by amyleigh33

wait a minute -- some of you are actually able to put your babies down?! (i'm only half-joking here). i knew i was in trouble... she does not go for being left alone whatsoever no matter how deep a sleep she's in, she almost always wakes up if i lay her in her bassinet or anywhere other than with me. thank god for slings. this is not normal? i just kind of thought it was...

Yeah, If I want Sebastian to wake up I will lay him down and leave for a few minutes and he wakes right up! But If I am holding him he sleeps all day (and I need him to wake up a lot too eat, my boobs tell me so )

So... I feel like a horrible mom this morning. We were sleeping in bed and DS was getting fussy and I was tired. I tried to get him to eat and he kept refusing and kept on fussing. Well, DH came to take him from me so I could get up and pee and other morning stuff and there was a big wet spot on the bed! : I really felt like I should have known that was why he was fussy, but I wanted more sleep and just tried to give him the boob so he'd stop fussing! Hmm.. oh well I guess. I'll know next time. I feel terrible about it though!

[* guest *]

My little daughter was born on May 19th. Despite being suctioned after an emergency c-section [placental abruption] because of blood in her stomach, she's got a GREAT latch. She nurses so well. I have plenty of milk and she nurses every 2-3 hours.

[kdtmom2be]

Originally Posted by amyleigh33

so i had terrible engorgement yesterday and couldn't do anything to help it and finally sent jeff out for a breast pump.

amy, have you tried the cabbage leaves? They really do work. remove the big vein, roll them with a rolling pin and stick them in your bra for a few hours. Sweet relief. Not more than twice in a 24 hr period though, apparently they can reduce your milk production. (which makes sense since they relieve the engorgement)

[mum4boys]

I like the cabbage leave cold to start out with.

[kdtmom2be]

Me too, but the instructions from my midwife said the leaves could be cold or room temperature.

Oh, and I second the hot shower.... the milk just starts leaking out all on its own At least for me, I hear gentle massage helps get it going.

You know, they say that engorgement can make it difficult for babe to latch on, but I find that when my boobs are really full, like if she sleeps for 4 hrs instead of 3, then she has an eaasier time latching. I wonder if that is the desperation of having gone lnoger between feedings or is it really easier for her??

[~Boudicca~]

I need to get back to this belly button thing. Is it odd that my kid is almost 3 weeks old and her stump hasn't fallen off yet? I am positive dd1 was gone by the time she was 10 days old; this kid's belly button doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Should I be concerned? I did totally forget to dab it with alcohol until about a week ago (funny the little things you forget from kid1 to kid2).

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by honeydee

I need to get back to this belly button thing. Is it odd that my kid is almost 3 weeks old and her stump hasn't fallen off yet? I am positive dd1 was gone by the time she was 10 days old; this kid's belly button doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Should I be concerned? I did totally forget to dab it with alcohol until about a week ago (funny the little things you forget from kid1 to kid2).

When I was in the hospital dh and I was what is up with no belly button care as none was being done on Maggie. We were told that all the studies shows that alcohol does nothing. So we left Maggie's belly button alone and hers fell off 8 days later the fastest of any of our kids.

Here is one of the studies:

One study, performed by the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation in Ontario, Canada, and published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, examined the drying time of umbilical cords treated with rubbing alcohol versus no alcohol. The study included more than 1,800 newborns. Half of the infants' cords were swabbed with rubbing alcohol and the other half were left untouched.

On the average, the untreated cords healed in eight days and the alcohol treated cords healed in 10 days. This and other studies have prompted some hospitals to change their standard procedure of umbilical cord care.

[koru]

yeah....no alcohol on the cord. our little guy's fell off on day 6!

i have to say, as a normally small breasted woman, i don't like these jugs! they look lovely (if i may say so myself ) but they are hot & uncomfortable. i feel self-conscious wearing certain tank tops & summer shirts because i'm not used to having cleavage & i feel overexposed. thankfully, though, they're big enough to balance out the fat that is very slowly going away on my stomach.....

and a question - do any of you have abdominal muscle soreness? mine actually feels like my uterus.....when i move certain ways my lower abdomen feels sore like i just worked out (which i suppose i did, giving birth!!!). i don't remember this after the girls were born. i have no other symptoms like fever or increased bleeding and it's not a constant pain. it definitely feels like an achey, overworked muscle.

[kittn]

Originally Posted by honeydee

I need to get back to this belly button thing. Is it odd that my kid is almost 3 weeks old and her stump hasn't fallen off yet? I am positive dd1 was gone by the time she was 10 days old; this kid's belly button doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Should I be concerned? I did totally forget to dab it with alcohol until about a week ago (funny the little things you forget from kid1 to kid2).

sammy was like that. I think it finally came off at like 20 days or something rediculous like that.
as long as it isnt red and/or oozing puss its ok I think

[happyhippimama]

NAK

My DD's fell off the other day. I never found it! yuck. I did save my other children's. So I was a little disappointed that this one got "lost" somewhere. But it was around 10 days. I'm sure it will come off eventually.