Baby already born? Check in here!

[Jennisee]

I see a lot of the mamas who have already given birth posting on other people's threads but not really giving updates about themselves. So, I was wondering how everyone is doing? How are you feeling? How is the baby?




We're doing surprisingly well here, so well that I keep waiting for Murphy to pull the rug out from under me. I'm sure it's because DH is home from work for two weeks, so I'll probably be crying when he goes back, LOL. Plus, my cleaning lady was here today, my in-laws are helping take care of DD, and my teenage brother came over this weekend to help. A good support system really makes all the difference in the world.

DS is one week old today!!! He's very laid-back compared to how my DD was. We mastered nursing lying down right away, so cosleeping is going great. He tends to be awake from 11 pm to 2 am, but once he settles down, he sleeps pretty soundly until about 10 am, waking two or three times to nurse. A photographer friend of mine is coming over this week for a photo shoot, and I'm really excited!

My older DD is doing pretty well. She is always asking to hold DS or help us take care of him. She is a bit more tantrum-prone than usual, but DH or my in-laws take her some place fun almost every day (the park, tumbling, bowling, Story Hour), and I try to play with her when I can. She's actually in a good mood today, so maybe she just needed a good night's sleep. She turns 4 this Saturday, so we're putting together a small party with 2-4 family members.

I'm pretty sore but getting better. As the swelling goes down, I seem to be regaining a bit of bladder control, but I'm still in Depends. I've noticed that constipation puts pressure on my bladder and makes it worse, so today is a fiber day, LOL--shredded wheat, chili, salad. I am ravenously hungry, I assume because of nursing. It's true what they say about hunger being the best seasoning because everything I've eaten this week has been SO good. I keep going, "This is the best chili ever" and, "This is the best cookie ever." I also managed to get rid of my plugged ducts! Lots of hot showers, massaging the area, pumping, and soy lecithin supplements.

I hope everyone else is doing well and having great babymoons!

[Amandamanda]

well we are doing pretty well here. its been slightly hard adjusting to going from 2 to 3, especially with my dd2 being only 21 months and still very much needy herself. baby katherine is a very good baby. she rarely cries, just whimpers, but to tell the truth we haven't really ever let her whimper for long enough to see if she even WOULD cry if given the opportunity. she doesn't like being in the moby wrap AT ALL, and seems to be okay with the babyhawk, but I'd honestly rather just hold her at this point because she is still so tiny and snuggly. she loves being held and won't sleep anywhere but on me or DH (and then only in her carseat? *shrugs*) nursing is going well i guess. she is a great latcher and i have a good supply but she only wants to do about 10 minutes a time and THAT'S IT. she nurses every 2 hours and put on 5 oz in 4 days so i assume its going well. they wanted me to pump and syringe feed her an extra ounce each time, and i did that for a day and she wouldn't have it. out the sides of her mouth and spit up city. so no more. as long as she keeps gaining weight, I'm not worried about her not getting enough. she also has the LOUDEST baby farts I've ever heard and hiccups pretty much 5 times a day. she's very alert and quiet and loves staring into her mamas eyes and exploring her surroundings.

everything else seems to be going pretty well. I'm excited to hear about everyone else and these new babies!

[Jennisee]

Amanda, I don't blame you for stopping the syringe feedings. If she's gaining weight, that's just a crazy hassle! And I can only imagine how hard it must be with such a young older sibling. My DD is almost 4, and while I'll always be a little sad that my children couldn't be closer in age, it is helpful right now that she understands and is so much more independent.

[chely7425]

I love the baby updates!!! So exciting...

[MissAnnThrope]

We are doing pretty well over here.

Today was our first day home with just me and Ds and Dd2. I managed to get us all down for a 3 hour nap at the same time!!! I felt much better after that.

She has been a lot more awake today. She is sleeping on my belly right now.

Ds has been really good with her. He gives her kisses on her head and takes my hand to control his hand to pet her. I gave her a paci today and she took it for the first time. Then she dropped it, so ds kept trying to put it back in her mouth. It was cute until he made her mad.

[limabean]

You stinkers!

(I'm just jealous -- carry on!)

[chely7425]

Originally Posted by limabean

You stinkers!

(I'm just jealous -- carry on!)

I'm jealous too!!

[Chinese Pistache]

Awwww! I love reading about your babies. How sweet I can't wait for mine to get here

[ChristyH]

Love reading all of the baby updates!! And yes I"m a little jealous too but we'll all be here soon

[treehuggermama]

My little man will be 3 weeks on Wed!! As some of you may have read I had an emergency c-section for cord prolapse and he was 2 1/2 weeks early. I am finding the recovery soooo much harder then my 2 vag deliveries and cannot believe that so many celebrities opt for c/s! It is especially challenging since I can't lift ds for 2 more weeks and he is 22 mos old and still very dependent. Going from 2 to 3 kids is a bit overwhelming as well. So far though baby Kalum is just a darling who rarely cries and loves to snuggle!! He is nursing really well on average every 1 1/2 hrs - 3hours during the day and every 4 hours at night. He has issues with regurgitation though so we can't nurse in bed and he must stay upright for up to 1/2 hr after each nursing. He loves the ring sling and ergo/infant insert but is not fond of my moby either.

Can't wait to hear how everyone else is doing!

[ORLY?]

UPDATE on ORLY? & Caleb

Tomorrow is Caleb's due date... he'll be TWO weeks old.
I'm starting to feel it in the nips and boobies. No, but really, NIPPLES.HURT.
He is a happy boy most of the time... because he is on my boob... poor daddy... he doesn't have boobs.
Caleb's cord is about to fall off. Hooray.

[Alpaca Wacka]

Katie is a week old today-we've been home for three days. Honestly I'm finding it a bit harder this time around than with my first DD-or I just don't remember what it was like. I find myself more frustrated with this child-which is silly, since Katie's NOT a crier. I think I've heard her cry maybe 4 times, and a full out wail only once. But, she is high maintainence in the sense that we haven't established a good sense of what she wants or when. Still, Igotta say, I'm more in love with my family than ever before. Our daughter has a harder time sharing Katie with us than she does sharing us with Katie.

[paphia]

Isaac is such a sweet baby. He looks a lot like dd when she was born but acts so differently from her. She was fussy and hn from the beginning, he only fusses now and then, he sleeps w/o the boob in his mouth, likes to look around now and then, will tolerate being put down for a minute or held by dh. Wonderful, really.

DD is taking to tandem nursing pretty well, only a few tantrums. She kisses his head and points to him and says/signs 'baby' and laughs. She wants everyone to kiss him and look at him. She is being very sweet for a 21 month old mommy-addict.

Overall I'm feeling really well, physically the birth took almost no energy and I'm pretty much recovered. I don't exactly miss being pregnant, but I'm feeling totally shocked that I'm not anymore. I really thought a mama had to feel 'done' before she would go into labor - I never felt ready. I still walk around the house trying to get it cleaner, there's nesting stuff I never got to... oh well. I'm a little worried about how to deal with dd and ds by myself but Dh went out today for several hours to do errands and I managed to get myself to the bathroom and fed and played with dd a little and a nap for all of us. So maybe I won't be in tears when dh goes back to work.

I should get dh to post that pic!

[momtoafireteam]

Lola is 3.5 weeks old, she is finally fattening up and losing her "plucked chicken" look that she left the NICU with. Last night she smiled for the first time, which was lovely. Nursing is going great now, once we got past the pumping/ engorgement hurdle it was smooth sailing and we are a pro team now. She still isnt "due" for another week, so she is still very sleepy and we are thankful.

I have four under 3 here and my DH is barely around (thankyou, US Marine Corps...) so its been tough at times. The other kids, especially DD2, absolutely adore Lola and want to kiss and hug her all the time. DD2 climbed into bed with her yesterday and I found her stroking her face cooing "S'Ok baby Lala....S'Ok...." They call her Lala, a loose variation on the Polish word for Doll (my DH is Polish and speaks it, so they know some words...) which is really rather cute.

I am struggling a bit emotionally, coming to terms with the terrible delivery and NICU time etc. Grappling with guilt and trauma and a lot of "If I had done THIS different....". I am going to go talk to someone about how I feel, specifically about my c/s, since I am having some worrying feelings about that. *Sigh*.

Anyway, mostly everything here is great. Just sleepy. lol.

[limette]

Isobel is 4 days old today and is starting to wake up a bit more. I was really surprised that my milk came in Sunday morning as it took a 5 days to come in with my first (c-section). I'm currently suffering from engorgement. Milk just pours out. I woke up this morning pretty much soaked in breastmilk. I'm hoping this evens out soon.

Izzy is lovely just like her sister. She's a loud crier but she only cries during diaper changes, she's perfectly content the rest of the time. She's sleeping on my chest just like dd1 did.

Dd1 is handling things very well. No tantrums or anything. It helps that her dad is home for two weeks to help out.

Still sore down below. I had some 3rd degree tearing and a couple of smaller tears so I have a few stitches.

We talked with the student midwife who was at our birth and my doula and I am appalled at how unprofessionally my midwife acted at the birth. Despite the fact that they were against my hbac they had to legally attend and I thought we had discussed everything and sorted feelings out before hand. As soon as she got there she started reading me the riot act about how I was going against medical advice. She constantly berated the student midwife (who is licensed in several other countries). When I hit transition she started in with the what if's and promised me drugs if I went to the hospital. She also made subtle comments about things going the same way as last time and that my pelvis was obviously causing problems. No doubt this is why I eventually transferred to the hospital.

I will definitely not be using this midwife trio again. I don't care if I have to hire someone from out of town.

Other than that, things are going really well. My energy is up despite waking every 1.5 hours to feed.

Loving the new baby and I can't get over how small she is!

[sapientia]

Eliot is doing really well...He seems to be really waking up and checking out the world. I still can't get over his head full of hair!

He;s mostly a quiet guy but really only likes to sleep being held-if I put him down he's awake in a minute...a little cat napper!!!

[KariM]

We're doing GREAT here!!

Meghan is just a day over a week old and such a happy easy baby.

She's nursing well now. I can't nurse side-lying yet because she can't seem to hold onto the nipple properly in that position. But - since she generally sleeps for 2 hours or more at a time, I feel like I'm getting enough sleep even though I need to sit up to nurse her for nighttime feedings. We tried side-lying for the first three nights, but then I was getting blisters and sores on my nipples. I was happy to figure out the source of the problem quickly and they're healing nicely now.

DD is adjusting VERY well to her new sister. She still shows more jealousy toward her 16 year old brother than her new baby.

I'm a little envious of some of the support systems you other mamas have! I had my DH home the first week and now it's just me and the kids. All of our family lives out of state.

I'm healing VERY well! The swelling is nearly gone and I didn't have any tears. In fact, I was feeling pretty close to 100% at about 3 days post-birth. I credit the gentle birth and placenta smoothies for my quick recovery this time!

We took Meghan to the family doc on Friday for a general check-up and to get the metabolic screening done. We ended up having to go to the hospital lab for the PKU test, but the doc declared Meghan healthy and wondered how her head was so perfect! He was very curious about her birth, but he's a natural birth advocate and he used to deliver babies years ago before the OBs took over (he's a GP). I love visiting him because he's one of the few docs I've met who honestly believe that parents know best what their kids need. He knew we had our DD1 at home with midwives, but was surprised to hear that this time we UCed. He laughed a bit with my DH about it. I guess in med school they teach - "see one, do one, teach one" - meaning you observe a procedure, practice a procedure, and then teach the procedure. He didn't seem to think it unusual that since we had had a natural birth at home before that this time we'd do it without assistance. And he was the first to point out that we're a short drive from the hospital in case any complications would occur. BUT - the doc was the first to point out that complications rarely DO occur!

ETA - Meghan's cord stump fell off on Saturday.

[Jennisee]

Originally Posted by KariM

the doc declared Meghan healthy and wondered how her head was so perfect!

OMG, what is it with doctors and babies' heads?! When we took DS for a check-up with our family doctor, the first thing the doctor said when we took DS out of the blanket was, "Oh, he has a great head." What the heck is "a great head?"

[Jennisee]

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[Jennisee]

Bump.