I agree, Zoebird, regarding EC. It is the one thing that I've loved most about being a mother, about our relationship and I really think it has strengthened our bond no end!!! We've had a bit of a rough run, with breastfeeding issues (off the donor milk 2 months now!!!!) and DD being, well, definitely High Need. EC is a positive bond, which makes me focus on DD in a happy way so many times every day! We read books, sing songs and make silly faces on the potty. I have to say, that for me breastfeeding has never been such a positive bond, it is often frustrating, a bit of a "must" (although I'd never give it up, we've worked so hard for it, and I really want to make sure DD gets the benefits of BF for as long as possible!!). Babywearing hasn't been the easiest either (DD dislikes most slings and carriers), although DD wants to be held constantly. I don't mind most of the time, but it certainly isn't an elective.

I love this little girl so much, and there's nothing I'd rather do than stay home with her. She is funny and stubborn and strong and happy! By now she cruises on furniture, climbs on everything and demands "mamamamama!". She jumps, rocks to music and "reads" her favourite books, turning the pages in order, stopping at her fav pages!

Anyway, EC makes our day together easier, and our bond stronger!!!!

:joy::joy::joy:

I think co-sleeping has made our bond very strong, stronger than breastfeeding. While I love being able to nourish our daughter, she is a Snacker, which makes things frustrating for me, so perhaps I don't enjoy it as much as I should.

But breastfeeding at night and being able to sleep with my baby beside me (whether between DH and me or just next to me) is simply wonderful. Mornings are wonderful. Yesterday, DH had the day off for Veteran's Day, so we all had a lazy morning. I had left to go to the bathroom and found DH snuggling with Rhea. I said something to the effect of how moments like these wouldn't be possible if we just put Rhea in a crib. And DH said, "Thank you for being smarter than me," which made me go "hunh? why?" And it was because I had pushed him to really think about the benefits of co-sleeping, and away from getting that crib. He feels it has really helped the two of them bond as father and daughter! :joy:

And thank you ladies, for keeping me thinking about it during my pre-pregnancy and pregnancy. It just feels so right!

My dh loves cosleeping too. The other day, I was telling MIL about how I was hoping to have Dd in her own bed full time by 2yo. Dh had heard and said, "By the time she's two? So soon?" So cute! Made me second guess my own feelings. I would love to have her in bed with us, but I'm worried about having her there with a newborn. Our bed is queen-sized on a tall bedframe. We'll see what happens...

i have a love-hate relationship with cosleeping. i love it because it is so healthy, convenient, and really wonderful. i hate it because i'm still nervous/afraid of harming the little guy. it is such a funny thing!

but, as he gets older, i'm getting used to it and starting to relax more. but i still feel this sense of panic when i wake from a deep sleep.

but i still feel this sense of panic when i wake from a deep sleep.
I got that for a while in the beginning too. Not fun.

I think Rhea's teething already. Abrupt change in fussy behavior, which seems to be helped when her gums are massaged. She's been drooly for a few weeks now, but I figured that was average. Maybe I'm wrong, but yikes, the crying is piercing.

She's only 3 and a half months. Sigh. I feel so bad for her, whatever it is.

Oh, poor Rhea! :hug Abby started teething around then too, so I feel your pain.

I :love cosleeping too! I wouldn't want it any other way. We had originally talked about getting her in her own bed by 1, but I think we're both on the same page that we really don't mind it at all...in fact, we both love snuggling with her. :)

Anyone else here doing nanowrimo? (national novel writing month)

It's kicking my butt!

I LOVE cosleeping! :joy: It is the best!! I can't imagine how people can sleep without their baby next to them. I don't know how I'll sleep once Kai is ready for his own bed.

DH usually likes cosleeping but he LOVES babywearing. Kai doesn't really like to be worn by me unless we're going somewhere really interesting and I don't like wearing him too much as it's hard on my back. Riding in the sling has become a special papa-baby thing and they love it and I'm happy seeing them so happy.

ECing, however, is not on top of my favourite list. Kai hates using diapers (though he likes wearing them :shrug) and it is very cool when you get a catch but I do feel chained by it. And I'm sure I've said some things to Kai when we've missed that are far from positive (I don't yell at him but it's no secret that Mama is not pleased to find poop on the floor two minutes after he says he's all done trying the potty :o ). I wouldn't stop though. Kai really seems to like it so much better than diapers (this is the baby that actually waited for me to take the diaper off him before he would let out his merconium) and poop on the floor is usually easier to clean than poop mushed into a diaper. And one diaper all days are so fulfilling.

And I'm falling asleep at the computer. Good night everybody!

And DH said, "Thank you for being smarter than me," which made me go "hunh? why?" And it was because I had pushed him to really think about the benefits of co-sleeping, and away from getting that crib. He feels it has really helped the two of them bond as father and daughter! :joy:

And thank you ladies, for keeping me thinking about it during my pre-pregnancy and pregnancy. It just feels so right!That sounds like something my DH would say. :lol I love cosleeping too. I just don't understand how people do it any other way. It would take so much time for her to fully wake up and cry enough to wake us up if we were in another room. One thing that still bugs me, though, is that I still don't know what to do with my lower arm. :eyesroll I used to sleep with my arms right out in front of my face, but that is where DD is now, so my elbow would be at her head. So now I keep the lower arm tucked under my pillow, but I often wake up sore that way. <?>

Also, dd has become very clingy while sleeping lately....seems she has to be nursing or at least snuggled up next to me to stay asleep. I guess maybe it's the teething.

I think Rhea's teething already. Abrupt change in fussy behavior, which seems to be helped when her gums are massaged. She's been drooly for a few weeks now, but I figured that was average. Maybe I'm wrong, but yikes, the crying is piercing.

She's only 3 and a half months. Sigh. I feel so bad for her, whatever it is.J started teething around then too. :hug it's tough, I know.

J's top tooth (teeth?) started cutting through her gums this week. It's been a very rough two weeks so far. I hope there is some relief soon! She has been grinding her bottom teeth on the top, and it makes this awful sound that sends chills down my spine. But, that's also how I know the tooth is definitely there.

I love this little girl so much, and there's nothing I'd rather do than stay home with her. She is funny and stubborn and strong and happy! By now she cruises on furniture, climbs on everything and demands "mamamamama!". She jumps, rocks to music and "reads" her favourite books, turning the pages in order, stopping at her fav pages!I loved reading this - it made me :) My dd is only a little bit younger than yours, and it's so neat to read about the similar things they are doing. :love

witchy, for us this early teething (descending into gums from bone?) was the worst. of course she has only 4 teeth so who knows what's to come.

One thing that still bugs me, though, is that I still don't know what to do with my lower arm. :eyesroll I used to sleep with my arms right out in front of my face, but that is where DD is now, so my elbow would be at her head. So now I keep the lower arm tucked under my pillow, but I often wake up sore that way. <?>
I had this problem too. I sleep with my arm up under the pillow and my head. And I think this caused my backaches that I had every morning for probably the first 10! months. I would wake up so sore!! Now my back has gotten used to it finally, I guess. Also, if she's not teething or sick she'll let me move away and roll over onto my stomach (how I've slept my whole life, except in pg) after she's nursed back to sleep. Aahhh! I sleep so much better that way. But there are some nights where she'll wake up right away if I try to move. Then it's harder for me to go back to sleep. :irked:

The thing Dh and I like most about cosleeping is waking up next to her in the morning. :love I love it! Especially on the weekends if we sleep in a bit. She'll wake dh and I up by patting our heads and saying, "Hi, hi!" I'm going to miss that so much. Right now we put her in her bedroom for the beginning of the night until she wakes the first time. Some day she's going to sleep right through the whole night in her bedroom. I'll be happy for the sleep, but so sad that I didn't get to wake up next to her like we've done every day since her birth.

J's top tooth (teeth?) started cutting through her gums this week. It's been a very rough two weeks so far. I hope there is some relief soon! She has been grinding her bottom teeth on the top, and it makes this awful sound that sends chills down my spine. But, that's also how I know the tooth is definitely there. Abby does this too. *shiver*

DH said it sounds like she's eating potato chips, so I try to imagine that's what the sound is, and it makes it a *little* less annoying... :lol

Right now we put her in her bedroom for the beginning of the night until she wakes the first time. Some day she's going to sleep right through the whole night in her bedroom. I'll be happy for the sleep, but so sad that I didn't get to wake up next to her like we've done every day since her birth.

this interests me. would like bed back for dtd. but don't want to give up cosleeping, and honestly don't think she is ready for nightweaning.

I just took some pictures of our (clean!) house a couple of weeks ago. I put her down on a mattress (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a280/Maela_/100_7437.jpg) on the floor in her room (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a280/Maela_/100_7433.jpg). I have to rock/nurse her to sleep first of course. Then after we'vg e gone to sleep, when she wakes up, we bring her back to our bed. (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a280/Maela_/100_7451.jpg)

I know - the pictures weren't necessary, but it was fun. :) :eyesroll

We've been talking about getting Q a toddler bed to put in our room (like 2 feet from our bed) but I just don't feel like it is time yet. I keep thinking how most adults I know don't like to sleep alone, why would a baby/toddler. No judgment here, just my own little feeling. Of course, we wouldn't be considering it if we didn't have [I]some[I] interest in doing it. We'll see.

Now I am thinking we'll do the true family bed until the second child (no, no news) is around 2, then put Q (at 5) and the second kid together in a double for a little while, then when the 3rd kid is 2 (Q will likely be 8), move Q into his own bed and the 3rd kid in with the 2nd. Guess the last little one gets their own bed at 5 this way.

Any ideas? Might have to ask some experienced mamas (not that you all aren't, but you know what I mean!) if this is feasible.

mattress on floor would work better than crib for nursing down. hm.

Maela, cool wall color in your bedroom...so fresh! Did you have to do much painting before y'all moved in?

Holiztic, I totally understand where you're coming from. I have a feeling we might end up bed-sharing longer than we originally thought...

I don't have any advice on your plan, but it sounds doable to me (as long as you have a plan for DTD :o )!

Now I am thinking we'll do the true family bed until the second child (no, no news) is around 2, then put Q (at 5) and the second kid together in a double for a little while, then when the 3rd kid is 2 (Q will likely be 8), move Q into his own bed and the 3rd kid in with the 2nd. Guess the last little one gets their own bed at 5 this way.

Any ideas? Might have to ask some experienced mamas (not that you all aren't, but you know what I mean!) if this is feasible.
I have thought about this too. Will Dd feel left out when Dh and I are sleeping with the new baby and she's all alone in her room? If Dh and I would be willing to give up our bedframe for a few years and put the mattress on the floor with the twin mattress alongside it, we would be able to cosleep with both kids until they could share a bed (or just a room) - like you said when the younger is about two. That way no one would feel left out. I think that I would be willing to do that, but I don't know if Dh would. I don't want him to resent cosleeping; he enjoys it so much now. I think I will wait to see when we actually end up having the baby and how Dd copes with it before I ask Dh what he thinks.


mattress on floor would work better than crib for nursing down. hm.
Yes. That is why we got the mattress. Soooo much easier.

Maela, cool wall color in your bedroom...so fresh! Did you have to do much painting before y'all moved in?
Yeah we had to paint the whole house. We need to paint the outside too. I really want to do Dd's room soon, but we're trying to spend as little money right now as possible.

Maybe I didn't ovulate. :( FF took away the coverline. But then how can I get accurate temperatures when Dd is sleeping so poorly?! I think she's getting more teeth soon. I've been noticing her gnawing on her fingers and drooling lately. She woke up every hour last night. I woke up with a sore back again.

:joy: I'm done with work! It's a relief but also a challenge, I have to admit. Though I genuinely don't subscribe to thinking that being 'just a mum' is not valuable, I've realised that a lot of my identity is definitely bound up in my career. {honestly, i believe it's the most valuable job in the world - no flames please!!!} It's interesting though that even with my world view and ideologies, that I'm carrying so much of that societal, lack of valuing motherhood crap. I'm nervous about being judged. Silly, huh?

I suspect that once Squeak is earthside that I'll be way too busy to navel gaze like this - I'm just being a brat I think.

I can't wait to meet this little creature and I'm looking forward being able to better contribute to parenting conversations with y'all when I actually have some kind of point of reference too.

Meanwhile, I sit here - pondering the need to nest and its incompatibility with my complete inability to move - partially due to exhaustion and partly 'cos my pelvis is pretty much shot at this point. 1 more week and I can birth in the birth centre, 2 more weeks will give me half a chance of getting done, what I need to get done. 3 more weeks and I don't think I'll cope any longer!! Please please let the midwives be right about the early arrival of my boy!

MMM, congratulations on being done with work (well, monetarily paid work :wink)!! That's so exciting. It is a big change. I can't say I missed my job, but I did really miss the kids that I worked with.

Maela, :hug for the rough night of sleep (or lack of it).

MMM, congrats on starting the next phase of your life! You will be a great mom--or mum, as the case may be. ;)

MMM,

just peaked at your blog for a minute and had to share that shortly after Quinn was born (maybe 2 or 3 months) the indigo girls were here, my all time favorite live show ever. I have seen them 6 times and NEVER miss them when they are within 25 or so miles.

Well, we missed it, I didn't even consider going (still deep in my PP stress/anxiety attacks was just 1 reason, DS nursing every 30 minutes was the other), but the night of the concert I put on some of their CDs and felt like I was really missing something. Perhaps if we'd had somewhere to leave him 5 minutes from the show... okay, yeah right, it could have been in our living room and I'd have told them to be quiet, they were bothering the baby. You'll see!

:wink

we had baby's first haircut today, they cut off way too much, i am super traumatized and sobbing over it. lots of finger pointing between nathan and me over it.

I got engaged last night so I thought I'd pop in and tell you ladies about it. :love

We went on a memory walk where as we walked around campus, he told me different memories he had of me. We walked past the different places we've lived, worked, studied, etc. He brought up memories of past walks we'd gone on and different things we've done. Then we walked up to our school's campanile and he had a dozen roses waiting for me. He told me it had been a great three years together and that he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
This is a picture of our hands together this morning.
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg105/TwilightJoy/n16905103_38324600_4800.jpg
And a close up of the ring. It has 11 diamonds on it. It's white gold. The middle one is .52 karats and it's round cut- though the prongs make it look slightly square. On each side of the middle ring is a small baguette diamond. Then in the band on each side are 4 small square diamonds. It's SO sparkly!
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg105/TwilightJoy/n16905103_38324598_2991.jpg

More pictures are on facebook if you're friends with me.

No idea when the wedding will be, probably in the next year or so- really no idea.

I'm so happy I just can't stop smiling. :joy:

Congratulations TJ!! :joy: That's so exciting! And your ring is beautiful.

I remember when I got engaged and I couldn't stop looking at how shiny it was. I'm usually not that into jewelry, but it was because it meant something so important, yk? Anyway, have fun planning!!

we had baby's first haircut today, they cut off way too much, i am super traumatized and sobbing over it. lots of finger pointing between nathan and me over it.

:Hug I'm sorry about the haircut. Everyone keeps asking me when dd will get one, but I'm not ready. :innocent Maybe when she's two.

TJ, mazal tov! i remember my engagement very fondly. we had known each other for 3 mos, 10 days, and he cooked me dinner and presented the ring. which, like maela, i :love even though i had a feminist opposition to engagement rings. which reminds me, dh's wedding ring is at the bottom of the gulf of mexico, lost while snorkeling. :( apparently the price of gold has really shot up, which apparently happens when the rest of the economy is in the tank.

Congrats TJ!!! Nice ring, but seriously, your hands are gorgeous! :wink

TwilightJoy!!!! Congratulations!!! Beautiful, beautiful ring.

I felt a lot like PiePie and didn't think I wanted a diamond engagement ring at all until I saw the sparkly diamond on my hand. :lol

PiePie, I'm sorry about the haircut. :(

PiePie - that's what I'm afraid of so, DS has long hair. which, facebook members can see. :D

TJ: Congrats!!!! If you need a wedding photog. :) what a sweet proposal.

congrats tj! we got engaged because it occured to us at the same moment that we should probably be married. but we didnt' get married for 5 more years or something. lol then, 5 more years before baby.

mmm: work! i love my work. but, being a mom, i've never worked harder and i feel like i get nothing/hardly anything done. i love caring for this little one though! he's so awesome.

piepie: my hindu friend said that i should never cut hawk's hair, unless he gets his head shaved at a temple (in india) first. likewise, i should never cut my hair again. so, i figure i'll just listen to him. he did say that small trims (to get rid of dead ends) are fine. so, i get a cut this week. but the baby, no cuts until we go to india. i look forward to braiding his hair like a norseman! :D

i think ryan put up new pictures which should be linked under hawk's name, and also, hawk has learned to roll over from back to front, and he's working on getting from front to back now.

he's a cutey.

any i know that this is totally stupid, but i'm psyched. i really wanted to see the animated film Bolt when it came out, but of course i can't take hawk tot he movies yet (too loud for him). but, when he's being carriedin his wrap, ,he'll sleep for a good 3 hrs.

so, my dad and i are giong to see the movie on friday while my mom walks hawk in the mall. i'll keep my phone on vibrate just in case, but we should be able to see the whole film, no problem. i'm so psyched. i love goign to movies with my dad!

oh, and having ILs babysit hawk wasn't terrible. i was still freaked out, but i wrapped him onto FIL and told them to walk until the end of class. they actually ECed him twice, too. so, they did ok, and he was asleep through most of their visit--which was all day, but he got his am and pm walks in--which were two wrapped naps!

zoe, fyi, many chain theaters offer baby matinees that have the sound turned down and the lights dimmed but not off, if you are craving a movie. i tried it once with dd and i have to say it wasn't right for us, because i spent the whole time chasing her crawling up and down the lighted steps. but this is a kid who was crawling at 5 mos. i should have tried it when she was younger.

i'm pretty bent out of shape over 2 BFing incidents on Friday. See Working Mamas forum. Only the daycare one is still hurting.

TJ, my belated congrats! What a beautiful ring, too.

DH is sick. He's had a rough cold all weekend that we've been bombarding with all sorts of vitamin C, echinacea, chicken soup, onions, garlic, you name it! Then he passed out this morning in the bathroom, scaring the $*!@ outta me. Turns out, he had been sweating all night, and was dehydrated and needed food also.

Somehow Rhea and I have managed to escape it thus far.

zoe, back to front already!? Rhea makes it to her side, but her shoulder gets in the way. She'd rather be standing, it seems.

:hug PiePie

Congrats TJ! Beautiful ring:joy::joy:

PiePie, sorry about the haircut. :hug

MMM, congrats on finishing up work. I understand how you feel. I didn't really love my job, but it still just felt weird (to oversimplify it) to be leaving it after all those years. But what lies ahead for you is going to be so amazing, challenging, and awesome. I am so excited to meet your little boy. :love

witchy, sorry DH is sick. I hope you and Rhea avoid it. J and I had our first since she was born cold a few weeks ago - very mild, but still no fun caring for a child while sick.

NAK for the first time in ages!

TJ: Congrats!! Best of luck planning the wedding. I hope it doesn't involve family drama like my bet friemd's did (not to scare you). Try to have fun with it!! I love'd planning ours once my mom gave up trying to plan for me.

PP:Gosh it sounds like you've been having a rough time! :hugs

PiePie it's so unfair that you're getting all this crap about bfing! :hug
I still haven't gotten a really negative comment yet about NIPing. :fingersx:


For the mamas of toddlers, I have a question: Does your baby have little 'routines' that they do? Like Dd will have a pile of blocks and then she'll move them over to another area in her room (sometimes stacking them, sometimes not) and then move them all back again doing this several times. Talking to herself the whole time. She doesn't move them in the exact same order or put them down in the exact same positions - just moves them all, then back again. Or she'll give me a couple of items, then take them back to put them on the floor and then give them back and then take them back to the same spot on the floor again...
I've been around more children with autism of this age than I have 'neuro-typical' children of this age, so obviously this behavior makes me just the teeniest bit nervous. But I don't know if this is just totally 'normal' behavior for a toddler... Also I saw her walking on her tiptoes the other day for about a half hour, but that could just be something fun she discovered... And at story/song time she doesn't dance around like most of the other kids (and how she did at the baby story time). She just sits in my lap and watches, but that could just be some stranger anxiety because she's totally silly around our family and friends.
I made the mistake of mentioning this to Dh and now he's more worried than I am and he wants me to ask you guys if your toddlers do anything like this. I'm 90% sure everything is fine and it's just my background (working with kids with autism) and my worrisome nature. :o

Maela :hug I'm sure everything is fine! Sure, sure, sure. But when we get a little worm like that in our head, it's hard to ignore it, I know.

Abby's just now getting into her own in independent play, so I don't have any experiential advice for you.

But I know how those little ideas can take root and scare you, so :hug from me.

Maela-
Teo takes a while to warm up to a room full of kids. He likes to sit back and take things in for a while and he's always a bit hesitant regarding lots of crazy kids. he's pretty little and not usually very 'aggressive'.
Tip-toe walking, which I'm SURE you know, can be a stage kids go through.
She seems like she has an activity she enjoys doing. Maybe she is cleaning like mom, or shopping or something like that. Sounds cute to me. :D

I don't see any problem at all Maela. It sounds to me like she is playing in a normal toddler way. Quinn has his little play routines like that and he is not the least bit ASD. He just discovered tiptoes and cracks up when he does it (but he only does it for a minute or so a day). My nephew ONLY walked on tiptoes for the first year of walking (and I suspect mild ASD with him) but he showed WAY more signs of it than just tiptoes, and like I said, I suspect very mild (if at all). Can't comment on the shyness or not dancing, this kid is super social and unfortunately IS big AND aggressive. He'd be the kid yanking your kids out to dance and crying if she/he refused!

So Q has his 4th cold in 2 months. He handles them really well, but gets every one! Ugh! We're staying home the rest of winter, kids with runny noses/coughs are everywhere--and Quinn being so social, of course, he touches everyone!

Thanks everyone! I am pretty sure she's fine. I guess I was worried because she used to be soooo social. A few months ago she would have been one of those kids out in the front dancing, but again I know that the stranger anxiety at this age can be strong, so... And I'm glad to hear that you think the play 'routine' is typical of a toddler. I just wasn't sure about that having not been around many 'non-ASD' toddlers. I was 12 when my brother was born, so I remember him, but it turns out that he's been having some problems lately with OCD and anxiety, and now that I look back he did have some ASD-type symptoms as a child, so that's part of it all too.

Anyway, thanks!

Poor Quinn! Hope he feels better soon.


Witchy, how is your dh? How are you and Rhea?

DH is better, but I've now come down with his cold, as has Rhea. She doesn't seem too bad, though--she coughs more at night and when first waking up, and except for a teeny bit of congestion, it's hard to pick up on. So hopefully, it'll go away soon.

No teeth have shown up yet, but the really acute behaviors have gone away. Maybe things were just shifting in there. She has such a little mouth--I just hope she didn't inherit DH's big teeth!

And Maela, I echo the thoughts of others--most likely, it's a stage of self-exploration more than anything. :hug

My birth center is safe...for now:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/14/birth_centers_possible_demise_ignites_protest/

I just don't get why malpractice insurance has to be so high when the clientele of birth centers is by definition LOW-risk. Argh.

And a :hug for Quinn--I hope he recovers soon. Poor little guy.

Abby pulls at her ears when she's tired. Could it be an ear infection? Or is that just a nice tell-tale sleepy sign?

kelly, very unlikely ear infection (although if your gut says it is and you see fever and fussiness definitely get it checked). my mother and otehrse swear it's a sleepy sign but i swear dd did it just because from about 3 mos. till about 9 mos. (that's an overstatement -- maybe 7?) just because. no longer.

i am so tired.

I think I'm on the road to the cascade of interventions and I'm mad at myself for letting it happen. Spent all day yesterday in the hospital having every conceivable screening and test for pre-eclampsia just because of some very sketchy/borderline urine protein and marginally elevated blood pressure (elevated for me, but by no means high - 120/80). All was clear but I've got to go back and do it all again on Monday, if I don't, they'll risk me out of the birth centre. :irked::angry:(

I think there's some politics at play too which frustrates me even more. See my post in 'birth professionals' for the long version of the story.

Ugh, MMM, I'm sorry that happened! I would say keep really well hydrated and eat bananas daily 'just in case'. I watch my BP like a hawk because of family history so when I saw my own BP go higher than I liked closer to the end, I started eating bananas to keep it down. Not sure if that was what really did the trick, but my BP went back to normal.

But ITA that it was overkill, big time. 6 hours of tests seems rather extreme. If you have to do it Monday, else risk out of the birth center, I suppose you need to, but I would definitely BRING IT UP at your next regular appt.

:hug You're so close!

MMM,

My BP started to go up at 37 weeks, just a tad at first. Not to scare you, but it went up and up and up. I tried EVERYTHING including a cupboard full of herbs, to no avail. The only thing that kept it low enough to still have a homebirth was drinking epsom salts (in warm water) and chasing it with a milk/egg yolk drink (for the protein hit). This lowered it for a couple hours at a time. I only did this during labor and in the day after--not a long term solution! I don't recommend this unless you really believe you don't have pre-e. I had no protein and late-onset moderate swelling. My MW didn't even send me for tests when I was hitting 150/110 (but again, no protein in urine).

Good luck, you and baby will be fine! My worries over my BP (and the thought of being risked out to the hospital) is what brought on my PP stress/anxiety disorder (which I can't emphasize enough how bad it was). So whatever you do, don't get too worried about this, you and baby will be just fine (I promise!!!!) :love

MMM, :hug and :goodvibes:

Kelly, I think it's probably just a sleepy sign.

MMM, sorry you had/have to go through that. :Hug Hopefully, things go well Monday. Try not to get too stressed.




No nap again today. Second time this month, I believe. This is crazy. Nice bedtime though - 7:15PM :D

Dd is having a language explosion! It's so cool. She's saying new words every week. She finally uses "mama" consistently - I :love it! She also consistently uses Dada, Nana (grandma), papa, and Gigi (grandma). Tonight during her bath, she pointed to her towel and said, "Towel." No joke. She also pointed to the moon in Goodnight Moon and said, "moon."

Oh and she's getting into playing with her baby doll and her other stuffed animals. She puts them on her bed and says "night" for good night/night night. and she picks it up and says, "baby" and gives it a hug and kiss.

maela-
that is SO sweet.

so after 2 weeks of Quinn being almost completely toilet trained (after only 2 days of learning!) He has now almost totally regressed! He had a yeasty-type infection under his foreskin last weekend that really hurt him for about 24 hours. When he peed, he screamed! I think he started associating the pain with using the toilet. The first few days this week he was inconsistent about avoiding the toilet, about 50/50. So far today, he is totally refusing. We have been through 3 pairs of undies/pants. So frustrating after having this almost perfectly toilet-trained kid for 2 weeks. Any thoughts?

mujerista, god. totallly scary.

maela, i want you to know that i wrote a super long post re your autism fears and then it didn't show up. the short version is that 1. i have read about such rituals kicking in at 18 mos. in neurotypical children and 2. a 2 yo in dd's sch does this.

mujerista, god. totallly scary.

maela, i want you to know that i wrote a super long post re your autism fears and then it didn't show up. the short version is that 1. i have read about such rituals kicking in at 18 mos. in neurotypical children and 2. a 2 yo in dd's sch does this.
Really? Yay! I'm glad she's not the only one!

We went to a wedding tonight and had so much fun! Dd was dancing so much; she was the life of the party! She also ran around with some other little ones on the dance floor. So cute. No fear of strangers tonight. I'm beginning to think that there's something about that room in our library where they do story/song time that she doesn't like because it's the only place where she stays glued to my lap like that. I don't know what it is though. It is a big room, but... :shrug


so after 2 weeks of Quinn being almost completely toilet trained (after only 2 days of learning!) He has now almost totally regressed! He had a yeasty-type infection under his foreskin last weekend that really hurt him for about 24 hours. When he peed, he screamed! I think he started associating the pain with using the toilet. The first few days this week he was inconsistent about avoiding the toilet, about 50/50. So far today, he is totally refusing. We have been through 3 pairs of undies/pants. So frustrating after having this almost perfectly toilet-trained kid for 2 weeks. Any thoughts?
That's too bad! Poor Quinn! Is it all cleared up? No advice, sorry. Maybe if you be really careful not to push it, he'll want to try again in a couple of weeks. It can't last long; but it is inconvenient. :Hug


Dd seems totally ready to get serious about this potty thing. We've been half-heartedly ECing her since 3mo, but lately she's been having lots of dry diapers. Also she'll often let me know when she's wet or going. And she says good bye to her pee/poop when the toilet is flushing. She's just so aware of her elimination and that we try to get it into the potty, that I think she could be "potty trained" fairly easily with a little more effort on my part. So either after Thanksgiving (did I say we're going to Disneyland?! :bouncy) or maybe I'll wait until after Christmas, I'd like to give it a try.

:( I was so sure I was ovulating a few weeks ago. Turns out I hadn't, even though I had all the signs. I'm so ready to get my normal cycles back. Lots of (okay 3 :o) people I know are pg, and I would desperately like to join them - or at least to have the ability to get pg again.


Oh and MIL keeps dropping hints that she's hoping to hear news soon of a pg from one of us (me or my SIL). This is because my SIL and I both announced our pg at Disneyland two years ago on Thanksgiving. So now I think she's expecting to hear that again this time. :irked: Kind of annoying. I'm tempted to tell her that she should be careful when she's saying stuff like that to people because she never knows if that person is TTC and having a hard time or not. But then she would know that I actually would like to be pg again, and then I would never hear the end of it. :eyesroll Are you pg? Are you pg yet? You're not pg are you?


Just a little (undeserved, really) rant. I'm just in a bad mood.

I also am home sick. dd started puking on Friday night and did through Saturday night, between between pukings she was really happy. I OTOH came down sick on Sunday -- really really sick. Haven't kept anything down in 36 hours. So also feel really really weak. dd's teacher had warned me it was going around. Per the class email list-serv, 5 out of 7 kids have had it -- one for 6 days and counting! Please God I am not up for that. On the bright side, dh totally redeemed himself from his ua violation behavior as soon as dd started puking and was incredibly sweet with her all day yesterday. I am a little hurt over her severe separation anxiety from dh (screams bloody murder if left with me). So a question about morning sickness and other pukiness: do you try not to puke? Instinctively, I lie still and try not to puke. Yesterday I was even spitting out my spit, on instinct -- I guess I knew it would make me puke. But once I did puke I felt so much better. dh thinks I should actively try to make myself puke and perhaps then I wouldn't have been so laid low by the m/s. Anyway, I cannot believe we are hosting Thanksgiving. The house is a disaster and I can't imagine cooking anything.

I also am home sick. dd started puking on Friday night and did through Saturday night, between between pukings she was really happy. I OTOH came down sick on Sunday -- really really sick. Haven't kept anything down in 36 hours. So also feel really really weak. dd's teacher had warned me it was going around. Per the class email list-serv, 5 out of 7 kids have had it -- one for 6 days and counting! Please God I am not up for that. On the bright side, dh totally redeemed himself from his ua violation behavior as soon as dd started puking and was incredibly sweet with her all day yesterday. I am a little hurt over her severe separation anxiety from dh (screams bloody murder if left with me). So a question about morning sickness and other pukiness: do you try not to puke? Instinctively, I lie still and try not to puke. Yesterday I was even spitting out my spit, on instinct -- I guess I knew it would make me puke. But once I did puke I felt so much better. dh thinks I should actively try to make myself puke and perhaps then I wouldn't have been so laid low by the m/s. Anyway, I cannot believe we are hosting Thanksgiving. The house is a disaster and I can't imagine cooking anything.

That sounds awful - healing, healthy vibes for you and L.
As far as m/s - making myself vomit would offer me about 3 minutes of relief but nothing significant.
Take care :hug

:( I was so sure I was ovulating a few weeks ago. Turns out I hadn't, even though I had all the signs. I'm so ready to get my normal cycles back. Lots of (okay 3 :o) people I know are pg, and I would desperately like to join them - or at least to have the ability to get pg again.


Oh and MIL keeps dropping hints that she's hoping to hear news soon of a pg from one of us (me or my SIL). This is because my SIL and I both announced our pg at Disneyland two years ago on Thanksgiving. So now I think she's expecting to hear that again this time. :irked: Kind of annoying. I'm tempted to tell her that she should be careful when she's saying stuff like that to people because she never knows if that person is TTC and having a hard time or not. But then she would know that I actually would like to be pg again, and then I would never hear the end of it. :eyesroll Are you pg? Are you pg yet? You're not pg are you?


Just a little (undeserved, really) rant. I'm just in a bad mood.

Bad mood totally warranted. So sorry that you're not quite on the track you want to be on. It'll come, I promise.

As for your MIL - it's incredible isn't it? I think the pressure to have a second may be greater than the pressure for a 1st. I haven't even popped this one out yet and people are already asking me what my plans are for subsequent kidlets.

Thanks folks for your support and suggestions re the preeclampsia scare. I drank epsom salts, ate bananas, sipped on gallons and gallons of water and went through with round 2 of testing and fetal monitoring yesterday. Just as suspected, I am ALL CLEAR! :joy:My blood pressure went back down to 110/70 and the protein in my urine was minimal. Intuitively, I knew I was fine but with a whole weekend to dwell on it, I did let myself get a little stressed (ok, a LOT stressed).

Interestingly, I had been eating at least one, usually two bananas a day until about 10 days ago when I got all banana'ed out. I do wonder if they've been keeping my blood pressure good? I won't be skipping them anymore, that's for sure.

So now, at 37 weeks, I am finally clear for my birth centre birth! :jumpers: I cannot wait to meet this little critter but despite the super crampiness, I suspect it'll be a little while longer yet....the desire to nest has NOT set in at all. :lol

Oh, and I tested negative for GBS. :D AND my thyroid seems to have totally healed itself. Against all advice from the midwives, GP and naturopath, I took myself off my meds midway through this pregnancy and my most recent test results are the best they've ever been! Uncanny, seeing as pregnancy is supposed to make thyroids go crazy.

PiePie, hoping for a quick recovery for you and your dd. :fingersx:
Oh, and i can never make myself vomit. I do EVERYTHING I possibly can to not vomit because I hate it.



Bad mood totally warranted. So sorry that you're not quite on the track you want to be on. It'll come, I promise.

As for your MIL - it's incredible isn't it? I think the pressure to have a second may be greater than the pressure for a 1st. I haven't even popped this one out yet and people are already asking me what my plans are for subsequent kidlets.
Thanks. I just had a baby it seems like. I feel like it's really soon, so why would she be expecting another already? It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't actually want another one already. :o



Yay MMM!! :joy: I'm happy things went so well today, and I'm very excited for you.

I'm thinking of getting my hair cut - today or tomorrow. It would be an inch or two shorter than my picture in my sig. Is that too short for my face shape? I've never had it that short (since I was 3yo anyway) If someone could reply in the next hour that would be great because I might go tonight. :)

I'm thinking of getting my hair cut - today or tomorrow. It would be an inch or two shorter than my picture in my sig. Is that too short for my face shape? I've never had it that short (since I was 3yo anyway) If someone could reply in the next hour that would be great because I might go tonight. :)

I think you could pull it off if you made it a little choppier with a bit more layering. Do you know what I mean? Maybe I'll look for a pic...

Maela... perhaps something like this:
http://www.hairstylestalk.com/images/short-hairstyles1.jpg

BTW - totally jealous! I'm desperate for a haircut but we are stone broke this week because the accountant at work messed up my maternity leave payments so it's out of the question. :( I fear I'm going to birth with BAD hair :wink

Maela... perhaps something like this:
http://www.hairstylestalk.com/images/short-hairstyles1.jpg

BTW - totally jealous! I'm desperate for a haircut but we are stone broke this week because the accountant at work messed up my maternity leave payments so it's out of the question. :( I fear I'm going to birth with BAD hair :wink

That's cute, but I think maybe a little too stylish/fasionable/brave for me. :shy I prefer plainer styles for myself. Hmm...I have a picture of what I want, but no way to show you. :(

That's cute, but I think maybe a little too stylish/fasionable/brave for me. :shy I prefer plainer styles for myself. Hmm...I have a picture of what I want, but no way to show you. :(

Well I think you'd be super cute but you've gotta be comfortable too. I say cut it how you want it...if you hate it, it'll grow out. It's only hair. Go for it!

MUJERISTA, you crack me up! birth with bad hair -- honestly, that should be your biggest challenge!! my girlfriend was all hot to trot to get her teeth whitened before she birthed so that she would look just so in those post-birth photos -- well she only used pics of baby's face, so it was irrelevant... i found that the urge to be done already correlated more strongly with the onset of labor than the urge to nest.

but then again you are hearing this from a woman with a filthy apt. who is hosting thanksgiving (gulp). we need a better balance here at home: either hire more domestic help on stuff i don't care to do ourselves (cleaning, babyproofing) or care less or at least communicate/negotiate mutual expectations better. i swear dh is grieving his dead mother through expectations that i replicate her thanksgiving -- can we say set-up for failure? i feel dread at the thought.

dd seems better, i am rallying but not sure if it will last.

dd is also having a language explosion, and more saliently a reading obsession. she demands to be read to every minute of every day, demanding books by name. now yall know i love kiddie lit and have been longing to do this (read to my child) since i was, say, 5 (my favorite game with my little brother used to be playing librarian and reading him books out of a little red wagon) but it is absolutely constant -- she won't let me do anything else. she recites portions of books too -- of course it's our version, so she says democrats for donkey and gay whenever she sees a rainbow flag (side note: is todd parr gay?)

we got her sch pics back and she has the most uncharacteristic impression -- sober -- fwiw all of the kiddos (except the oldest) look notably unsmiling in the group photo. dh says someday she will post it on facebook. :D

I did it. It looks...not bad. I'm sure there'll be some pictures taken this weekend, and I'll post a few on Monday. Thanks for the help, MMM. I understand the wanting to look good for the birth. I felt that way too. I didn't care about the pictures. I just wanted to feel like I at least started labor looking my best. It helped me feel a little less self-conscious, knowing that my hair and make up were done, later on when I was on all fours with everyone staring at my butt. :lol


PiePie, Maev definitely has been like that - wanting me to read to her constantly. She's gotten a little better about "reading" to herself sometimes in the last few weeks. I also love reading children's books, but when that's all you do and it's the tenth time for that particular book....:eyesroll She would point to things in the book wanting me to name them saying, "That!" And if I was busy or just didn't answer her right away, "THAT!, THAT!!!" Now that I look back on it, it was cute, but at the time, it was very frustrating.

mmm: i'm so glad that your birth is good to go. and, i can understand wanting to look right/good for birth. :)

as for my hair, i'm going to break down and dye it. i have an appt with the aveda salon, as they have the second best dyes (closest to the earth that still function nicely). so, a small trim to shape things up, and then get it back to the normal shade of blonde. the pregnancy muddied it, so that the hair near my head is darker than the ends. so, i want it all to match. the hair dresser wants to go with a nicole kidman color. that might be a bit much, but ok.

so, i'm scared about that even though i understand that it won't affect the breast milk and stuff.

the house, currently, is a mess and it makes me nuts. i am keeping the bathrooms clean and ryan's doing a decent job of the kitchen, but there's a smidge of clutter downstairs and in our room, and the laundry isn't folded. that's my big thing--i gotta fold laundry!

but, the baby only wants to be held when napping, etc. so, holding is what we do. :) lots and lots of it and my arms are tired. so, the laundry isn't folded.

and, i'm getting more sleep. i finally just "broke down" and decided to sleep on my back with the baby draped over my breasts. he's the happiest of campers because he can snack all night long and snuggle too. my back hurts when i sleep like that, but, it works out because i get more sleep. also, ryan's been doing the night time pottying, so i dont' have to get up to do it. :)

as for thanksgiving, we usually have it here, but my mom recommended that they go ahead and host it. then, i would cook it. fab--because i love to do that. but then mom stepped in and wanted to make "everything easier" and so we're having boxed soup and whatever boring not hand made stuff which makes me crazy.

bah! oh well, she already bought the "ingredients!" so, no scratch soup, veggies, etc this year. just the turkey. bah bah bah! i was looking forward to cooking.

MMM, too funny! I went to my hairdresser a few days before my due date to get my hair done. I figured it would be the last time for awhile (meaning, I haven't had it done since and it looks AWFUL). Anyway, she said to me that she hoped I wouldn't go into labor and have the baby there, but she seemed comforted by me wearing jeans :eyesroll But congrats on having everything all clear, including your thyroid! That alone caused you soo much stress. Hooray!

Maela, I'd love to see what you had done. Your hair was cute before, but I understand not undertaking something major.

I need my hair done, though. Rhea's over 16 weeks old, and I usually have my hair cut every 3 months (my hairdresser is a little pricey, but she does a good job). But I'm partially stuck because I want something different, and not a style I have to "do" all the time. Yet I don't want to look like a stereotypical, minivan driving mommy--because I'm not. Sigh.

Zoe, good luck with the coloring. I like Aveda, but DH doesn't...he hates the smell of the local Aveda salon I went to before I switched to my current person.

Oh, and DH's grandmother is already asking about great-grandchild #2...um, there won't be #2 from us, and wouldn't it be nice to wait until she met the first one first before asking for more??? Oy.

z.b., please come here and cook and fold for us! jk. seriously, i;d rather hold a kiddo any day.

I got my hair cut about 4 months ago. It went from waist length to above my shoulders. I wanted something I could easily wear the boy with. It is a pain to tie on a MT or Wrap and get your hair stuck in it.

on a side note: I finally got some Livie and Luca (http://www.livieandluca.com/)shoes for the boy. I'm SO excited. They are having a clearance sale on the Futbol (http://www.livieandluca.com/vivaftbolred.html)style. So, instead of 40$, they are 20$. AND they had his size. I'm THRILLED!

I hope they get here soon.

PiePie - you think the haircut thing is funny...wait 'til you hear about the freakout I had on Friday when I realised my toenails were covered in ugly, chipped red nail polish! What if they'd rushed me into surgery for a c-section with toenails like that!??! Oh Boy! Fortunately my Mum is coming tomorrow and she's treating us both to pedicures!

I have never been a girlie girl. This pregnancy has turned me into such a princess. DP has even started calling me Princess (affectionately) and where once I would have decked her, I quite like it now. Now, if I start wearing make-up, then you all should be very very worried about me!:wink

My dad has just offered to pay for 3 months of nappy (diaper) service! :D so happy - we only have half our nappy stash bought and it's been stressing me out!

Talk to me about toys? I don't need to be worried that Squeak doesn't have any yet do I? People will give them to us, right?

no worries abt toys. hawk totally doesn't care! he wants people!

nak

:gloomy:
I needed to come back and see you all. I'm in such a dark place. Fenton is working on his molars ( i can see 2 coming through, and pray to God that the other two come today), and for the last week I haven't been to sleep before 4 am. Between bedtime and 4 am (5 am las night), he crawls over us in bed, shrieks, asks to watch the Muppets, asks for a snack, asks for the potty, says he has to poop....any time we get him what he says he wants, he still wanders around the house crying. He always wants whatever is on the opposite floor of the house that he is on. I fwe try to hold him to comfort him, he shrieks, thrashes and tries to hurt both of us. He wants to nurse constantly, but my milk supply is going down so he thrashes and I eventually climb the walls with the feeling of toddler teeth on dry breasts. I have been sobbing for the past week, on occasion punching my pillow....I'm angry, exhausted and seriously questioning whether I can ever go through this again with another child. I'm turning into a monster. I'm patting his back too hard, wanting to let him wander around a dark house alone at night while I put in earplugs...
I'm seriously considering putting the crib together and dividing the night with DH - one of us sleeps in the spare room with ear plugs while the other sits next to Fenton in the crib so he doesn't cry alone. I don't know what this will help - I just know that what is happening right now is that I follow him around the house for 6-7 hours in the middle of the night while he sobs, with me sobbing and feeling violent towards him. I can't help but want to at least see if these hours could be more productive towards him learning to sleep in a place where he can't just get up and terrorize us.
Every night I think that this is the night we'll actually get sleep because he can't go for a week without sleep, right? We're going on Day 7 and I'm afraid that I'm going to do something violent. I don't know what I need from anyone...I just needed to come here and be with friends.

mmm: i am a toy whore, and i believe that until babe is sitting, babe needs only 3 toys: a baby safe mirror, a mobile, and a gym. oh, and a musical pull-down toy. the mirror we had for dd is by earlyears and unfortunately is not made any more, but sassy and lamaze make nice ones. tiny love makes the best mobiles, but they are pricey ($40?) and we didn't have a crib to mount it on, so we just used portable ones. one (by infantino, not made any more, hand me down) was hand held and one we could velcro to the wrist. the latter is still made and is by tiny love and is like $12 and has non-tinny, non-electronic music. sounds like an old-fashioned music box. for gyms, i am a huge proponent of the gymini by tiny love. pre-baby i would have told you they are a waste of money at $40 plus. however, we got one as a hand-me-down, and it was the only way i could put her down (for 10, sometimes even 15, minutes for the first 3 mos). they are soft fabric, no plastic, and ours was an original version, no lights or music (but i have heard the music and it is quite nice, not extreme or electronic sounding). she loved it so much we cried when she outgrew it. i would check out craigs list for one if you don't luck into a hand-me-down.

sick to my tummy. :(

shanna, i think it is very much time to divide the nights with dh, if not turn every other night over to him entirely, till you get your groove back. would it be doable to try over the holiday weekend when he can nap during the day?

that is what we are toying with for nightweaning -- christmas week with dh on duty. it is either xmas or may, given his work schedule. i don't think it is good for our marriage to wait for may, although honestly i don't want to transition her to her own bed.

last night she woke only once but i had horrific insomnia, i am like dying here of exhaustion.

shanna, for today, try getting a sitter to take him out somewhere, just for a hour and a half, so you can NAP. he will be so excited with his adventure out in the big world that by the time he misses you you will be reunited and you will be refreshed.

Shanna - HUGS! You can do this, you will get through it, This too shall pass.
but, in the mean time you are very much entitled to your feelings.

I think spliting the night with DH is a great idea. You need to take care of yourself as well.

Pie Pie's sitter idea is fabulous. You get some sleep, he gets to get out w/ a change of scenery.

HUGS!


MMM: Toys? we don't have a lot, even when he was an infant. He wasn't interested in them at all. It was all Mom and Dad. We read a lot of books, a lot of talking, and hands on. I did have a gym thing that didn't get pulled out until he was almost too big for it. he still kinda liked it. :) He LOVES shoes, anyones shoes, as soon as he could get to them he'd go wear them. Very funny! Balls, he's always loved to throw balls, for us for the dog into a basket... Last night he went to sleep w/ the lilttle cheapy basketball DH got for him.

I say you are fine w/ no toys. Just wait until you see where his interests lie and then go with that.

Shanna :hug :hug I'm sorry things are so tough right now. At times like this I like to remember what Katt said This too shall pass. Although I guess that's really hard to believe when you're in the middle of it.
Could you let him roam around your bedroom (with the door closed) at night? Maybe leave some toys out for him while you guys try to sleep? Or is he just so unhappy that you couldn't even do that? Poor little guy.
I agree with the babysitter idea or even if dad could take him for a few hours this evening out somewhere?


MMM: we had lots of toys :o, but the things dd liked best were: the gym thingy, soft rattles, and mirrors of any kind. :)

shanna, i came back to say 3 things, offered in a spirit of pure support. the first, and i say this without judgment, simply as a factual matter, is that television right before bedtime can cause sleep disruption and sometimes delay the onset of sleep. so maybe have the muppets go nigh-nigh 30-90 minutes before you need fenton to? does he have a regular bedtime? having dd on a schedule is helpful. she conks out at exactly the same time every night and most days for nap. from what i have read here molars are a big issue, but if the sleep issues continue past that, in light of his history, it might be worth having f. checked for allergies, which sometimes manifest exclusively as sleep issues... we love you and you will pull through this.

Shanna, are these the 2 year molars or his first molars? Doesn't matter much, I was just curious as we still have the 2 year molars to go! Quinn's sleeping is going downhill with his canines coming through. For him, though (not trying to be glib here, I promise) it just means he has a 2 hour stretch where he sleep-nurses non-stop. I am so frustrated by it, but you make me realize I should be thankful that at least we are in bed, laying down. I don't want to make you worry, but have you talked to his ped? It sounds like you are saying he isn't sleeping more than a couple hours in a 24 hour period. Is that right? This sounds a bit extreme to me and might be worth a visit to the doc?

Okay, so after saying all that (which probably didn't sound helpful at all, feel free to glare at me) I absolutely agree that you need to do WHATEVER gets you through, mama! An insane (literally and hyberbolically) mama is no good to anyone, least of all a child in turmoil.

Wish I could come over and give you a break! See if someone can, NOW!

:love:love:love:love

:hug :hug :hug Shanna I hope you and Fenton find some relief soon.

Shanna, :hug :hug :hug :hug :hug :hug

You are having normal feelings for what you're going through.

I agree with everyone else: Get a sitter now--pay someone or get a family member/friend.

After you get some sleep, then you can think about next steps, like calling the ped. My personal take on next steps is that I wonder if there are herbal remedies to help with the teething pain. So if it were me, I would probably look into a naturopath and/or acupuncturist.

Shanna,

:hugs. i know how hard it is to maintain patience and a loving attitude toward someone who is screaming and running around the house. what helps me is to remember that your lo is in pain, and not only can't rest, but most likely doesn't understand WHY ON EARTH his poor mouth hurts him so. That doesn't get you any further in the sleep department, though.

are you completely opposed to tylenol or some sort of less nasty teething aid/pain reducer? it sounds like y'all could really use the rest.

:hugs

Thanks you guys - I really miss you all.
Could you let him roam around your bedroom (with the door closed) at night? Maybe leave some toys out for him while you guys try to sleep? Or is he just so unhappy that you couldn't even do that? Poor little guy. I'd be willing to do this, except he's so upset that he doesn't really want to play or do anything - he's just crying. Screaming, really. Nursing will often be what he wants and I do it when I can, but increasingly I don't have any more milk, or I'm climbing the walls from toddler teeth on spent breasts. It doesn't help that emotionally I'm really wanting to nightwean and intend to start helping him to do so as soon as the teeth are through.

Last night was a little better - he slept fitfully, but it seemed more due to an on-coming cold that we're all getting (big surprise there). He never fully woke up last night though, so its a major victory. He only slept soundly in 10 minute increments, so that combined with my exhaustion-induced insomnia means I still didn't sleep well. But at least it was peaceful. It helped galvanize our decision that putting him in the crib isn't going to help unless you can sleep through your child screaming. Which, thank god, we can't.

television right before bedtime can cause sleep disruption and sometimes delay the onset of sleep. so maybe have the muppets go nigh-nigh 30-90 minutes before you need fenton to? does he have a regular bedtime? ... from what i have read here molars are a big issue, but if the sleep issues continue past that, in light of his history, it might be worth having f. checked for allergies, which sometimes manifest exclusively as sleep issues... we love you and you will pull through this.There's a lot of wisdom in that, but I feel stuck because watching the "muts" is the only thing that seems to get him to relax enough before bed. Although, he's done watching them about 60 minutes before bed. Still, I'm not crazy about it being part of the getting ready for bed routine, period. But otherwise, he's a perpetual motion machine, wanting to tackle Daddy, chase Mama with the popper...all things that are so much fun, but make for very difficult settling down for bed. He's not even particularly interested in TV in general, just the songs and dancing of this particular show. I know all parents say this, and I think Steph can corroborate: Fenton is a particularly spirited child, so I'm often at a loss for how to help him relax. It's not hyperactive really, it's just that he seems to have a lot of things that he wants to do, and most involve running or bouncing :lol We have a routine and he goes down quite easily. The biggest culprit here is that nursing helps him feel better when he's teething, and this time around there isn't as much supply as there used to be. So when he wakes up in the night in discomfort, what used to be a constant nursing session is now a full-blown wake up and crying because the milk is all gone. As for allergies, I wondered the same thing. He tested negative for all common allergies, though I know he's sensitive to dairy and eggs because he gets a diaper rash about 5 hours after consuming. We've eliminated, but could be he's sensitive to other foods. But does it seem likely that he'd have the rash symptom for some and only sleep issues for others? To be honest, I've only seen these sleep symptoms in the weeks before a tooth pops through so I have a strong gut feeling that it is the teeth. I've just never seen it so aggressive. The past week he's also sleep deprived, as Elizabeth pointed out: ~2 hours of sleep early in the night, 4-5 hours of sleep later in the night, then a 2-3 hour nap during the day. But I don't see what our ped can do before we rule out that it's teeth. So I think I'll wait it out because I'm so sure it is.

Shanna, are these the 2 year molars or his first molars? It is the 2 year molars - he has only 2 more to go and we're. done.

Shanna,

:hugs. i know how hard it is to maintain patience and a loving attitude toward someone who is screaming and running around the house. what helps me is to remember that your lo is in pain, and not only can't rest, but most likely doesn't understand WHY ON EARTH his poor mouth hurts him so. That doesn't get you any further in the sleep department, though.

are you completely opposed to tylenol or some sort of less nasty teething aid/pain reducer? it sounds like y'all could really use the rest.Thanks so much :o Most of the time I can keep my patience and empathy. I hurt seeing him hurt so much. My magic hours where I totally lose it are between midnight and 2, or if I haven't been to sleep at all by 4 or 5. Which, well, makes sense. We aren't at all opposed to pharmaceuticals - The only thing that has ever helped his suffering at night is Motrin, and I have nightmares about how much we've given him. We never exceed the the rule of 4 doses in a day for 10 days in a row - in fact, we only ever give him 1 dose at night for maybe a 3 or 4 night stretch. But he's been teething for 17 months, so we've gone through what looks like a total of a lot.

But for how challenging night parenting has been this week, he's an absolute joy during the day. He's talking so much and so clearly, and has finally started to remember number 7 when he counts, so he's getting all the way to 14 (the number of steps at Grandma and Papa's house :D)

I really appreciate all of you. Sorry to come and navel gaze for so much space. It helps me to delineate what is going on, and to get your advice. I hope this also helps someone if they go through it. But I have to concur with Pie Pie, my sense is that the molars, for some kids, are an absolute nightmare.

MMM, I just caught the end of your eclampsia scare - I'm so sorry you had to go through that :( I'm trying to pop in here at least once a week to check for Squeak :joy: And I'm so sorry to vent on these things right before your little one comes - I really think our issues have been highly unusual.

Elizabeth, on the potty regressing, I don't think I've ever seen a kid not regress. I think most parents are either forgetting or simplifying if they talk about potty learning like it's an event. Especially if he's doing a lot of new things right now, I can see how he'd want to go back to what is familiar every so often. But it looms bigger to you because it's a big difference in what it means for your life, huh?

Have to go to T-day dinner. Thanks again you guys. I hope to report back soon that, whatever challenges we face, we can now be sure that it not teething. :o

shanna, why the supply drop? fenugreek??

Happy Thanksgiving!

:hug Shanna - please don't apologise - you're going through some stuff. I can take it, I swear! In fact, I try often to think about how I'll cope if my boy is a spirited munchkin.
Anyway, I sure hope you're all sleeping soundly as I type this. I have no advice but I think you've received some really sound counsel from these other awesome mamas.

Thanks all for the toy input. I need to stress less. It's not like we live in the middle of nowhere with no opportunity to shop! Squeak will be appropriately toyed, I'm sure :o

Shanna, not much advice here either, other than I hope you can get someone help you get some well-deserved rest. I didn't have internet at the in-laws, otherwise I would have said so sooner. :hug
sounds like you're doing the best you can under the circumstances.


MMM, I'm stalking you! You're soooo close now!

Thanksgiving was both better and worsethan I thought. The loveliest comment coming from GGrandma (Rhea was in a sling on me at the time) was that if I carry her around like this now, I'll be going with her on her honeymoon, too. Thankfully, her aunt, uncle, and cousin ALL BACKED ME UP ON THIS, even though they weren't AP at all. They seemed to think the philosophy made a lot of sense:)

whoosh! shanna--that's a lot to go through. i hope that everyone gets more sleep and that the teeth are d-o-n-e soon!

so, thanksgiving was great. mom finally realized that i wanted to cook, and so she went back and got all the ingredients for me to do so. hawk had an am feeding and just completely mellowed with my mom for a good 3 hours before he needed to feed again. this gave me enough time to get everything chopped and prepped to cook, and then while he fed, i just directed as such: boil that, sautee those, roast that after the turkey, put the turkey in now. . .and so on. it was perfect and the food was fabulous.

unfortunately, i didn't get to cook for m friends as much as i wanted. their baby is due any day now, and i was able to make a freeze about 10 servings of soup for them, which would be enough for dinners for 5 nights. i was hoping to get three more soups up and freeze for us and them (ok, so there are 20 servings total, but i figured that people wouldn't necessarily want doubles of cream of broccoli and corn chowdah and potato-leek). i wanted to also make a minestrone, a split pea, and turkey-noodle with left overs but my dad and ryan ate the left overs before i got to use them to make soop.

and of course, hawk got overstimulated throughout t he rest of t-day, and so he was a little koala on friday. . .which meant no extra cooking anyway. LOL

ok, so, the ILs were actually ok. they were modestly rude to opie, my mother was nervous and did her nervous laugh think that my sister also does. she doesn't like to entertain my ILs at all, and knew that i would be watching the baby like crazy and that my FIL has been on my case about my weight.

also, the book thing turned out ok. my ILs completely deny chapters 1-7 of alfie's unconditional parenting. . .that is, they don't think that they did any of those things, but since their entire self esteem is wrapped up in being "good parents" and what not, they certianly couldn't admit that they did any of those things (punished by rewards and what not). but, they did like the ideas that he gave in chapters 7-10, and were willing to talk about those techniques in specific. so, that was helpful--and we were able to describe how we were already implementing it in certain ways (such as, when pottying, we talk about how we enjoy the ECing process, and we ask him if he feels good/better after going potty, etc).

overall, it was pretty decent and we had a good time. but today, thankfully, was a PJ day. we just hung out all day long in our PJs and watched movies while hawk was a koala (a nursing koala this time) intersperced with reading and internet time. ryan's reading some icelandic saga to the baby now. i don't remember which one. :)

also, while switching between movies (we watched Amelie and Kung Fu Panda), i saw an informercial for Your Baby Can Read. looked interesting, and at least like a game i could play with hawk. i'm also considering using some hooked on phonics materials.

now, not so that he can be some uber achiever, but just to give me idaes of what to do. i read these books and they give examples, but then they say 'Oh, make your own cards and do X!" and i'm like "freakin'-a, i can't even get my laundry folded let alone take the time to make cards for him." so, i'm looking for different word/picture games that we can play as he gets older and more interested.

so, i know some of you are educators and speech-path folks and other smarties, so if you'd look into it for me, that would be awesome. :)

because then i can put it on the christmas list for him.

witchy, we had some of that here too. :angry dh's bff was in town visiting, and he came to visit with his wie's bff. they carried their baby in a baby carrier and went on about 1. how their bjorn was superior to our ergo (of course they didn't say it right, they kept saying ergobaby, and correcting us) whereas they actually drug their lo in an infant carrier and how there was, check this out, "no data" to support exclusive or extended BFing, invoking his expertise as a doctor (internist, so knows like next to nothing about peds). i felt obliged to be polite which was the worst because i really could have told him of up down and sideways. dh was not pleased that i was "judgy" of them, whereas i felt they were rude as hell for sitting my living room and whispering about me nursing on my own darn floor. i also felt like dh's friend didn't coo enough over my lo, who i of course think is the best thing ever. he said she was "human," which dh felt like for him was a really high compliment. (?) okay, i hear something on the monitor that sounds ominous.

now, not so that he can be some uber achiever, but just to give me idaes of what to do. i read these books and they give examples, but then they say 'Oh, make your own cards and do X!" and i'm like "freakin'-a, i can't even get my laundry folded let alone take the time to make cards for him." so, i'm looking for different word/picture games that we can play as he gets older and more interested.

so, i know some of you are educators and speech-path folks and other smarties, so if you'd look into it for me, that would be awesome. :)

because then i can put it on the christmas list for him.

My favorite authors. who I've mentioned before, Hirsh Pasek and Golinkoff, are all about play and learning, and not about flash cards, but it's good to read a variety of viewpoints. Anyway, they wrote a book called Einstein Never Used Flashcards.
http://books.google.com/books?id=pr8KhGm9B3UC&dq=einstein+never+used+flash+cards&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0

I haven't read it yet, but intend to. But I am somewhat familiar with their work, and their main thing is that kids need to play in order to foster creativity, which in turn fosters problem solving in all sorts of ways. This book has some suggestions about how to go about doing this sort of thing.

5 stars for einstein never used flashcards, although i think the age group of that book cannot reasonably be considered below 18 mos., and arguably has a lower limit of 3 yrs. the principles still apply to our babes, but most of the research is with older children, because they are comparing diferent presch settings.

Another thumbs up for einstein never used flashcards! Actually DP picked it up and loved it. I've only heard the general overview but it sounds awesome.

Cooked a huge pot of bolognese to freeze and spent almost 3 hours cleaning my fridge today. Mum and her cleaner are coming over to scrub stuff tomorrow too. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get the hang of this nesting thing.

I wish I could say that I thought Squeaks arrival was imminent but I think we're here for a while longer yet. This Aries sure gets a lot of tests of her patience....so much learning for me to do!!!

ZB, glad to hear you got to cook a little for Thanksgiving! And that the book thing went fairly well.
I don't know if this is what you are talking about re: cards, but Dd has a book that's kind of like a very short picture dictionary that she's always loved (like since she was just a couple of months old). It has pictures with the words beneath of several objects in categories like bedtime, eating, wild animals, farm animals/pets, bathtime, toys, etc.... She loves to look at it and can label or point out most of the things in it by now.

It's so crazy how fast she is learning new words now. I really can't believe it. I think this is pretty normal, but I'm just not used to it having worked with children with autism and my little brother didn't talk much until he was three. She's like a little parrot (good thing Dh and I started watching our language as soon as she was born :innocent).

We had a great time at Disneyland! The drive there wasn't so fun (7 hours with traffic), but she really did well for a 1yo. We stopped often. I forgot our camera, so I have to get ahold of my dad's and FIL's pictures, so I can show you all. Dd got so excited on some of the rides. Even when she was scared, it never lasted the whole ride. She would be alternately scared and and then super excited. On one ride she was scared when we first got on and then she was mad when it was time to get off. :lol And the gparents watched the little ones for a couple of hours both nights, so that we could go on the big rides. Dd had a lot of fun being with her cousins.

Another thumbs up for einstein never used flashcards! Actually DP picked it up and loved it. I've only heard the general overview but it sounds awesome.
I'll have to read that one; it sounds like something I would like.



Dd has a molar coming in! But she doesn't have all the teeth in front of it yet (sorry don't know their names :o). Anyway, I just noticed it today. She has been sleeping so poorly in the last couple of months, and I had noticed that her gum was swollen there, but nothing was happening. Then on Wednesday, all of a sudden she was sleeping well again (waking 1-3 times a night instead of 5-7 and taking better naps) and she's been sleeping well since! Yesterday when we were driving home she fell asleep at 5PM. I thought it was a late nap. We stopped to eat dinner and woke her up. She was so upset the whole time we were eating, and we couldn't figure out why. Then as soon as she got back in her carseat she fell right back to sleep and slept for the rest of the night (waking for nursing of course). So she basically had a bedtime of 5PM last night! And she didn't wake up early either. Maybe she was making up for the last month or two of poor sleeping. :) This too shall pass. I have to remind myself - during the bad times and the good times.

:gloomy:
DP's family have just told us that they are having Christmas breakfast at her sisters house - a plan they made in full knowledge that we can't be there because we're having a low key gathering for xmas lunch at our house (Mum is bringing the food and we've promised that the house WON'T be clean). Originally, none of DP's family other than her parents could make Christmas (because they're working or with their partners family) so we thus invited her parents to spend the day with us at our place with my Mum and her partner. We actually thought this was the best case scenario because it would allow both sets of grandparents to spend the day with their first grandchild. Now we've not only been ditched but they've knowingly excluded us.

I can't help but feel this is going to be a pattern. DP's father has not spoken to me since we announced my pregnancy. He has only acknowledged the pregnancy to DP twice. He has said to DP's mum 'it won't really be our grandchild' which still hurts me. DP's sister has serious middle child syndrome and is jealous that we're pregnant first - she has done everything she can to belittle and undermine the excitement that their mum has for her first grandchild. She even convinced DP's mum that it was rude of DP to provide a couple of suggestions for things we still need for the baby so we're likely going to receive a whole stack plastic crap now. (We don't do registries here but I really thought it was ok to ask our parents for things we need - my folks ask at every given opportunity if there's anything else they can help us with.)

arghhh - I could go on and on. I'll shut up now. Suffice to say, I'm hurt and offended and most of all, feeling really sad for DP.

maela, sounds like you had a really fun trip! DH can't wait to take Rhea to theme parks!

MMM, that's very upsetting. what small people they are. :hug to you and your DP

mmm: sorry about your DP's parents. that's just nuts!

thanks for the book recommendation, so long as i don't have to create the various play activities. see, that's the issue. i have read a number of books about play-as-learning and every one includes things that you can make!

because i just don't want to make anything.

as it is, we do play with him and read to him and talk to him. and, i have a few small books that have things like "Bee" and then B and also a bee drawing. right? this your-baby-can-read stuff is not for academics to me--i could care less--but they have these cards that are words with pictures and are a bit more diverse than some books i've seen.

maela, i'd definitely be interested in the book that you recommend. :)

also, i do plan on finding the Einstein book, i just hope that the play activities aren't craft-based for mom because i just don't have the skills (or time or desire!).

and, seeing as he's only 3 months, he's very happy just playing with people. moving his body, being talked to, read to, and he's into looking at our bodies move and mimicking (particularly hands--he's trying to snap as ryan snaps at him as part of his hand/finger games).

i'm not worried about it at all. i just thought it would be fun to have word-and-picture to play with.

oh, and hawk loves mirrors and photographs of people. he was looking at his newborn photos and loves to do that. he can look at pictures of people forever!

maela, i'd definitely be interested in the book that you recommend. :)
Here (http://www.amazon.com/First-100-Words-Bright-Baby/dp/B000F7BPCU/ref=pd_sim_b_5) it is. It's really not anything special, but Maev loves it.


MMM :Hug I'm sorry your DP's parents are being so rude. So it's rude of you and your DP to make gift suggestions, but not rude for them to say yes to coming to your house for a holiday and then say they're going somewhere else? :eyesroll

MMM, :hug :hug :hug

Maela, so glad you guys had fun! And enjoy that sleeping heaven. :)

Signing: Abby's doing "more" at mealtimes, which is great, but she's also doing it all throughout the day. Hmm. I can't figure out what she wants more of. Maybe she thinks it means "want" in general?

Just saw on local mom's list that baby born same day as Abby is saying "kee" for kitty and waving hello/bye and pointing at things when asked where they are. Abby's not doing any of that, except sometimes waving. Dang. I hate feeling like she's behind, even though I know know know every baby is different.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=12712106#post12712106

so despite Rhea being sick all through Thanksgiving weekend, she had a cluster of surprises for us. first, I noticed her passing her chew bracelet back and forth from one hand to the other several times in succession. Then 2 days later she rolled over twice! then today I had a boppy pillow on the couch with the opening toward the back, and I had her inside the space so I could eat some lunch without dropping it all over her. She first did a kind of back bend, then I saw her wriggle up to a cockeyed sitting position! I moved her back because I barely believed what I was seeing, and she did it again! good thing we ordered her high chair last week.

snozz, she's fine, promise. She is signing, and probably attaching different meanings to it. The other baby might not be signing. But in essence, comprehension always comes before production, so she's gearing up on that first. She'll be producing more in no time, promise.

maela, I keep meaning to comment on how much fun it must be to see maev's language explode like that!

zoe, I hear ya on the no crafts thing...I married an artisan, so I figure HE can make the crafts, but even if I didn't, I'd not have any idea what to do in that dept.

I think I have to take another break from the computer. I don't watch more than one tv show a week, but i'm online sooo much. I feel like it's almost just asbad, yk? i'n not getting anything accomplished and december is going to be a crazy/busy month for us. So, yeah i'm ging tobe gone for at least a few days. I'll miss you all though! :(

might check in once in a while to stalk MMM! :innocent

oh and yay Rhea! I can't believe how old all our lo's are getting!

Please tell me this extreme crying and anxiety is a sign of imminent labour. I cannot possibly be THIS upset just about xmas.
Thanks all for the hugs.

mujerista, i had a sobbing meltdown the day before i went into labor when my mw told me i was not dilated at all.

I had a meltdown a few days prior when I was at the birth center for 12 hours, only to be told I hadn't progressed at all, and should just go home and be patient. :thumb

yeah, my water works picked up too! haven't stopped; i cry at everything.

i am so angry at dd right now and am coming here because i need to express it to someone who is not her. she broke my glasses. yes i know i should not have let her access the glasses. but that just makes me angry at myself. having a rough time with this unfamiliar emotion.

also having a lot of tiny but frequent concerns re her development -- 1. is she "behind" and 2. is she not being given optimal attention in her daycare setting. the second is definitely partly working mamas guilt and is not at all tiny. dh is so sick of hearing about the first -- he thinks dd is perfect and is hence offended when i query whether her speech is too indistinct, etc. mostly i am worried that she "lost" a ton of words between 9 and 11 months, when she was working on walking. has tons of new ones every day now (picked up again in october), but not very well articulated -- too many things sound like "gah." also has stopped maintaining eye contact for long periods -- dh thinks she is just too busy to have a staring contest. the pretend play however is through the roof cute, and making up tons of interactive games. he also really doesn't get the second, in part because he does not get the professionalization of early childhood education -- she is happy and that makes him happy -- he is a simple man. he is completely smitten that she identifies her body parts. i am less surprised because i have a much higher estimation of her receptive vocabulary, and her verbalizing it is just an extra.

Just popping in on baby watch.

MMM: I'm sorry the ILs are being so insensitive! (can I call them ILs, they're acting like ILs...I call my parents the ILs when they insist on acting stupid). I hope they'll fall in love with the litle guy when he comes and this doesn't become a pattern. You don't need this, especially now. Don't worry, I was a wreck too. :hugs


Signing: Abby's doing "more" at mealtimes, which is great, but she's also doing it all throughout the day. Hmm. I can't figure out what she wants more of. Maybe she thinks it means "want" in general?

.

Kai uses the sign "more" to designate want. When he does it I say "More what? Show me." and he'll point to the desired object. Usually. He's doing it more and more.

piepie: our LOs are on par. Kai is far to busy to be his usual social self...unless it means chasing other children.

meala: My dentist FIL says it's normal to get molars before the canines (the third ones out). Kai has 11 teeth (the front 8 and three molars)...I am simply blown away by that number...it's crazy! When did he get so big!

DD has only 4 teeth!! That is one area of "behind" as to which I have no worries....

Kai uses the sign "more" to designate want. When he does it I say "More what? Show me." and he'll point to the desired object. Usually. He's doing it more and more.



ditto. today she did it in the swing to indicate no more swinging, want another part of the playground.

Just popping in on baby watch. Me too :wave

No baby...and no more meltdowns either. DP has been saying Dec 4th for weeks now. I'm positive she's wrong! I've always said Dec 13th which is a full moon and the day before his due date. He was conceived on a full moon and since being pregnant, I've felt a real affinity for the moon so it seems like a lovely full circle to come.

My house is clean, I've had a pedicure and a haircut, I just finalised my will and I've paid all my bills. I'd love for him to arrive soon but I have no sense that he will!

Thanks for all the love and support everyone :treehugger:

:eyes

MMM, so excited for you! Very good idea paying your bills. I missed a cc payment after J was born. :eyesroll

We've been very busy over here lately this month. J's two top teeth started coming in, she started crawling and pulling herself up, and now taking steps while holding our hands (!). I'm pretty sure she made the sign for milk a few times, she initiated peek-a-boo for the first time and is adding a whole bunch of new consonant sounds. Wow, things are moving fast. We really have to make the house baby-friendly fast, and figure out how to put up a Christmas tree at the same time. :lol

Sorry I have been absent. I'm reading along and checking in, just haven't had a chance to post. The teething has been pretty rough - please someone tell me that the top front teeth are worse than at least some of the others? :innocent

MMM,

it's so frustrating when parents don't act like grown ups. i say ignore them as best you can, and focus your energy where it should be: your soon-to-be-born new bean! :joy:

it may seem a little woo-woo, but i started talking to the lo about getting ready to be born. i asked her to get ready, and encouraged her to help mama to help her be born. i talked to her a lot during labor, and maybe it just helped me to be more focused, but my labor was awesome. just a thought, and feel free to ignore me. :innocent

Christina,

the top front teeth are worse than at least some of the others. really. after to the 1 yr molars, they were the hardest.

Shanna,

how are you holding up?

No baby...and no more meltdowns either. DP has been saying Dec 4th for weeks now. I'm positive she's wrong! I've always said Dec 13th which is a full moon and the day before his due date. He was conceived on a full moon and since being pregnant, I've felt a real affinity for the moon so it seems like a lovely full circle to come.

My house is clean, I've had a pedicure and a haircut, I just finalised my will and I've paid all my bills. I'd love for him to arrive soon but I have no sense that he will!

Thanks for all the love and support everyone :treehugger:

Ah, a friend of mine is due on the 13th...how cool would it be if your sons arrived on the same day? She had her meltdown the day after you, by the way.

:eyes

Too overwhelmed by life to post, but wanted you all to know that I'm still reading along!

The teething has been pretty rough - please someone tell me that the top front teeth are worse than at least some of the others? :innocentI consider myself an expert :lol The top two were the worst until we got to the molars. I have it from other parents that the top two were the absolute worst for them :hug

Shanna,

how are you holding up?It's still rough going, and I can't see into his mouth to see how we're doing on the last 2. But, he's at least spacing out sleepless nights, so we're getting some rest. Thanks for thinking of me :o I can't wait to come here and report that they're all in!!! Gotta go. Be back soon for baby watch!

MMM,
Christina,

the top front teeth are worse than at least some of the others. really. after to the 1 yr molars, they were the hardest.


I consider myself an expert :lol The top two were the worst until we got to the molars. I have it from other parents that the top two were the absolute worst for them :hug

It's still rough going, and I can't see into his mouth to see how we're doing on the last 2. But, he's at least spacing out sleepless nights, so we're getting some rest. Thanks for thinking of me :o I can't wait to come here and report that they're all in!!! Gotta go. Be back soon for baby watch!
THANK YOU! :loveeyes: That is a huge relief. At this point I don't know how we'll see/feel in her mouth so maybe we just won't know she's working on teeth. teehee don't I wish. She just won't let us stick our fingers in her mouth anymore. Especially if she has a chunk of paper in there that she tore off a magazine. :eyesroll

Shanna, I didn't get to post while you were having the crisis but I hope you are done very soon. :hug I can totally understand the way you were feeling, if this bout of teething we've had is any preview.

Checking in! DP was clearly wrong on Dec 4th but I may also be wrong on Dec 13th. Midwife thinks Squeak will be born within the week - based mostly on his position which is perfect and very secure (ie. deeply engaged, can't even feel his head, just shoulders). I sure hope she's right because I've been put on bedrest for my stupid blood pressure which again isn't high, just a bit higher than usual for me and seems to be strangely fluctuating!

she is happy and that makes him happy -- he is a simple man. he is completely smitten that she identifies her body parts. .


HA!!! I totaly missed this!! Not only should we get our silly moms together, and our ridiclously strong children together, now we need to get our simple, body part identifying hubies together.

Oh, and Kai just realized he can use his ability to climb on things other than playground/church nursury equipment. I found him in the middle of the kitchen table eating a cookie yesterday and he keeps getting up on the computer desk to play with the laptop and my geraniums!! ACK!!!

Checking in! DP was clearly wrong on Dec 4th but I may also be wrong on Dec 13th. Midwife thinks Squeak will be born within the week - based mostly on his position which is perfect and very secure (ie. deeply engaged, can't even feel his head, just shoulders). I sure hope she's right because I've been put on bedrest for my stupid blood pressure which again isn't high, just a bit higher than usual for me and seems to be strangely fluctuating!


Woot!! Very exciting (not the BP part)! EBVs!:goodvibes:

I'll try to post more later, but:
Fenton has slept through the night the last 2 nights. I can't see yet if his teeth popped through, but it could be related to the fact that we have eliminiated wheat. I'm still waiting to see how this shakes out, but so far I feel like I have an entirely different child in the night. I'll try to elaborate more later.

MMM, I'm really here on babywatch! :love

i have a question about mother's helpers.

i have decided to give myself a nice retreat for the holiday season--30 days of yoga classes, but i can only do this if i have a mother's helper. a friend's daughter is going to be home for the holidays, and i'll only need her for mornings for this retreat.

so, what would be a good payment per hr (i'll need her about 2 hrs total)? i'll only need her for 25 days or so, of course, maybe 24...on account of christmas. . .anyway. advice would be nice. :)

let's deal with definitions to make sure we are on the same page. here, mother's helper means someone who is in the home at the same time as you are. they tend to be young -- as young as 9, but usually more like 13. they go for 10-13 an hour, often commensurate with age. older people (out of high sch) and/or people who are home with babe without you are called babysitters and go for 20 an hour. which is related to why we have had a grand total of 2 dates since dd was born. the other huge drawback about babysitters is that they charge for a 4 hour minimum, even if you use them for less. take this tempered with the knowledge that ny is ny, but i have heard the same rates for wdc.

to define it, it's sort of in-between. the person will be with me at the studio where i'm practicing--either in the next room or if she would like, wrapping and walking with him. so it's sort of a combination of both.

i talked with my friend a bit, though, and she said that the average price here for this kind of caregiving would be $7/hr. so, for the class, that would be about $11, but i figured because her round trip would be 2 hrs total, just pay her $15. i would not need her for 5 of the 30 days, which puts the price at $375 plus the cost of the yoga (i would have 4 classes/wk free, 3 would be at another studio due to scheduling needs but would require a 10 class card for $130). so, the whole of my cost would be about $500--which isn't too bad for a whole month.

but, woof! what a lot of money! but, i have some saved up and it's all tax deductable anyway. well, the yoga part is. :)

I'm watching and waiting too!!

I've got a 2 year b-day party to plan over here! ACK!

My gosh...is Teo going to be 2? For real? Where did the time go?

Our first grad has a nearly two year old.:eek


And $20/hr for a babysitter? :eek :eek

Wow - Teo is almost 2! Unbelievable!!!

Still here, no sign of anything. We wait.

Still here, no sign of anything. We wait.

I am just so excited for you!!! :)

You'll come and post when labor starts- right?

And $20/hr for a babysitter? :eek :eek

yeah no kiddin

Still here, no sign of anything. We wait.

thinking of you

MMM,

:joy: Thinking of you...

We just got through the first year molars, and i was thinking, what a relief! Finally we'll get a good night's sleep. Yeah, and then the lower canines (are they still canines on the bottom??) started coming in.

ugh.

For $20 an hour, i couldn't afford to have someone to watch my lo. it'd be way cheaper for me to stay home. although i'm certain that cost of living around here is easily half what PiePie is paying...

Blood pressure is through the roof :( On my way to the birth centre now where I'm sure I'm gonna get risked out. I'm so sad.

Blood pressure is through the roof :( On my way to the birth centre now where I'm sure I'm gonna get risked out. I'm so sad.Oh sweetie :( I'm going to keep checking back, hoping you're wrong. :hug

MMM Hope things have improved. :hug :fingersx: :goodvibes:

MMM, :hug I'm thinking of you and hoping for the best. Just remember that soon, you will hold your sweet baby in your arms!

Babysitters/nannies: Might depend on where you live. Going rate for nannies in my area is $12-18/hr based on experience. We pay $15.

MMM, thinking of you and hoping all is well...

For $20 an hour, i couldn't afford to have someone to watch my lo. it'd be way cheaper for me to stay home. although i'm certain that cost of living around here is easily half what PiePie is paying...

dd is in daycare, since sept. when we had the nanny, $ was very tight.

When I was nannying, I made ~$7/hour before taxes. This was after I turned down a job offering $5/hour. Cost of living here is very low, but high unemployment also drives down wages in the more unregulated fields. There was very much a "you should just be happy you have a job" mentality, even when my wages barely covered gas and wear & tear on my car.

MMM - Thinking of you and sending all the positive vibes I can muster. :goodvibes:

In us news, I was that mom this weekend when we went to a party thinking we were all getting over food poisoning, but it was actually a virus :duh Ended up making at least 7 other people sick :guilty

Oh MMM, I hate to hear that, as I know exactly what you are going through. Please take care of yourself.

Please PM me anytime if you need support or want to know what I experienced or how it went for me.

Tons of positive vibes being sent your way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you all. It's looking alright for now. I managed to get my BP back down while I was at the BC which was quite a feat! For now, the midwife has recommended all the induction acupuncture in the world plus whatever else we want to try. I happened to have an acupuncture appointment and a massage appt (with my doula) for today anyway so I think it's meant to be. I did a little bit of acupressure on myself late last night and it gave me really intense cramps...so I stopped because I realised that I'd like to sleep for the night. But it bodes well for some success today!

If my BP peaks again like it did yesterday, then I prob won't get a second chance with the BC but I'm working on being ok with inducing in the hospital and I certainly more ok about it today than I did yesterday. I think I'll have a session of hypnotherapy or kineseology to help me get used to the idea...if I have to.

Holiztic, thank you for your kind offer and concern. I take very seriously what happened to you and I'm determined to learn from it. I'm sorry that your horrible experience had to happen but I am grateful for the cautionary tale.

MMM :fingersx: !!!

Solid foods: Abby turns 10 months old next week, and we're still just giving her one solid food a day, if that. Is that bad?

MMM :fingersx: !!!

Solid foods: Abby turns 10 months old next week, and we're still just giving her one solid food a day, if that. Is that bad?

Not bad at all. Quinn was there at about 9 months. By 10 he was eating more often, but very little volume. At 10 months he might have been eating a tablespoon a day.

I have also found that at that age they do better with liquids anyway. I really liked the idea of Quinn holding and chowing down on a pear or steamed carrot (self-feeding), but I really think they don't digest it at that age. They can't do much chewing, and then the food comes out the way it went in. So we ended up favoring good quality (homemade or farm-made) yogurt, bone broths, and really finely minced fermented veggies (Rejuvantive Foods Vegi-Delite Zing Salad). This is just our experience/opinion and might not reflect Abby or others' babes.

MMM :fingersx: !!!

Solid foods: Abby turns 10 months old next week, and we're still just giving her one solid food a day, if that. Is that bad?

not at all. we did every other day from 6-9 mos., once a day from 9-12 mos., and then a huge jump to 4 times a day at 12 mos. still not up to the recommended 5 times a day because she nurses all night long and thus is not interested in (other) breakfast.

she's got walking pneumonia, i have a cold (perhaps something worse), and dh is oot.

PiePie, sounds absolutely miserable:(

So one baby I've been waiting for, besides MMM's, has been born. She was scheduled to be born on Monday (via planned c-sec--mom has massive fibro and other issues), but mom went into labor on Saturday. I can't wait to meet her--she's basically my niece:)

Now I'm waiting for the other, the one due the same day as MMM...so far, all has been quiet.

:joy::joy:

MMM, I'm relieved for you that things are better. I hope they stay better. :fingersx:

MMM :fingersx: !!!

Solid foods: Abby turns 10 months old next week, and we're still just giving her one solid food a day, if that. Is that bad?I don't think so. Breastmilk is still her primary food up to a year and a lot of people don't even introduce solids until 12 months.

Not bad at all. Quinn was there at about 9 months. By 10 he was eating more often, but very little volume. At 10 months he might have been eating a tablespoon a day.

I have also found that at that age they do better with liquids anyway. I really liked the idea of Quinn holding and chowing down on a pear or steamed carrot (self-feeding), but I really think they don't digest it at that age. They can't do much chewing, and then the food comes out the way it went in. So we ended up favoring good quality (homemade or farm-made) yogurt, bone broths, and really finely minced fermented veggies (Rejuvantive Foods Vegi-Delite Zing Salad). This is just our experience/opinion and might not reflect Abby or others' babes.On a related note, even though J is only eating a tiny bit of food, her poops are changing. And even though, like you said, they come out whole, it's still changed the rest of it. yuck.

Anyway, I will have to look for some fermented veggies - I like that idea. And I don't really have time to make my own right now. :innocent Holiztic, how to you serve liquids? I've given J some yogurt, and I just hand her the spoon and she goes to town. But for broths - do you give them in a cup? J seems more interested in food, but has an easier time if it's the right texture or shape.


I had a weird couple of days. I need to vent about them to you lovely ladies, who I know will understand.

On Friday Josephine fell off the bed. Crawled right off. I knew it was coming I felt awful, but mostly really stupid. She cried for 5 minutes, then was fine. I was more upset. But of course that meant that something needed to change for naptime. DH was stubborn about changing our bed/crib situation, I was really pissed and for a few days I tried to put her in the packnplay for naps, but she kept waking up, and I was totally fried. Last night we finally talked about it and took our futon apart and put the mattress on the floor. So far it's working well. But I really was freaking out for a few days - it was making me doubt all of my mothering principles. She still nurses to sleep every time, and I really don't want to change that right now.

That's all I have time to type right now- be back later.

:)

:hola: Still here. Still pregnant. I'm not holding my breath about the natural induction attempts working. In fact, I wish I hadn't listened to everyone, including the midwives, who said he'll be early. Fingers crossed I can keep my blood pressure down. I have a sense that if I can manage that, then we're gonna be here for a good while longer.

My mum is here at the moment. She's really very helpful and tries so hard not to interfere (and mostly succeeds) but I'm just not really up for having people around. I'm not sure it's worth the cleanest oven you've ever seen!

Poor Mummy Christina - glad Josephine is ok. These things are always so traumatic for the parent, rarely for the bub!

mujerista, you should send your cleaner, i mean mother, this way!

christina, these things happen. most cosleeping mamas in this tribe have had it happen. dd rolled off the bed at 10 days old! the middle of the king-sized bed! you shoulda heard that head clunk. i thought i was gonna kill dh. then it happened to me. now she gets her hands down in time, so she falls on all 4s. we have a mattress on the floor surrounded by pillows. lots of pillows....

PiePie, that sounds so horrible! I hope you all recover fast and/or your DH comes back soon.

MMM, :D Just remember you will have your whole mothering life ahead of you before you know it. :D

Christina, :hug I'm so glad J is okay.

Maybe you remember this, but Abby fell off the bed around that age too. So I know exactly how you feel. Even after it happened, it took us *too* long to actually make changes to her naptime routine because we couldn't decide what to do. :eyesroll At least she didn't fall off again before we moved her to the floor for her naps... :o

Thanks for the solids advice, everyone! I feel so much better now. Whew!

I'm glad J is okay, too, Christina :hug. Now that Rhea is really starting to roll around more, I've been worrying about this myself.

She's been making friends with our kitty. Serena, who has been a real trooper as Rhea learns how to "pet" her, which currently involves her grabbing fistfuls of fur. No threats of scratches or bites yet...for Serena, this is huge.

MMM: Babywatching and praying things will go well for you!!

The Bed: Kai has fallen off the bed a few of times. As soon as he became mobile we started playing on teh ed. When he would go for the edge I'd turn him aorund and help him slide off the bed and tell him "Go feet first!" After a while I'd just have to say "Go feet first!" and he'd turn himself. Now he's a pro at safely dismounting the bed.

Solids: You know, I think breastmilk is still Kai's main food. He eats 2-4 solid meals a day but not very much in quantity. Not like the kids at daycare did but he's growing fine. Short and skinny but so are we and he's hitting all the milestones ahead of schedule so I'm not worried. Now if I served pancakes, raisins, and milk tea for every meal he'd proably eat more solids but no, I'm a mean Mommy who serves him the same food we're eating.:wink

baby is getting better but i feel worse

Oh, poor PiePie!

What do y'all do about vitamin D? Thinking about getting some drops for Abby after reading that the AAP is recommending 800 a day.

What do y'all do about vitamin D? Thinking about getting some drops for Abby after reading that the AAP is recommending 800 a day.

We did plenty of time outside in warm weather, and I did (and do) high vitamin cod liver oil/butter oil capsules that Quinn got via nursing. Keep in mind I was only getting 500 IU from that last winter when Q was almost exclusively nursing, so he must have been getting much less. I was eating a good bit of raw dairy, but not tons. I doubt he was getting 800 IU last winter! Looking back I should have been taking more than 1 capsule a day. I am now.

We started him on the CLO/BO (squeezed out of the capsule, of course) around 15 months. If it had been winter, we'd have started him at 12 months.

I just looked at the symptoms of rickets in babies/children just out of curiosity and Quinn could quite literally be the poster child for NOT rickets (if that made any sense). I credit a nourishing traditional diet. :wink

Oh, poor PiePie!

What do y'all do about vitamin D? Thinking about getting some drops for Abby after reading that the AAP is recommending 800 a day.We do Cod liver oil as well, per Weston A Price recommendations. We're going to witch to the fermented CLO when my current stash runs out.

Oh, poor PiePie!

What do y'all do about vitamin D? Thinking about getting some drops for Abby after reading that the AAP is recommending 800 a day.


we did drops from 5-6 mos. meant to start in at 4 mos. but went out of town for christmas, etc. ped said not necessary after 6 mos. i also did some hat off time outside, but not daily, and not long enough. i think the rec is an hour a day without hat or 10 minutes a day in the buff.

So we're about to leave Quinn for the first time at night (not all night, just until around 10-10:30). He has never ever gone to sleep without me, or been without me after dark. I have no idea how he'll handle it. He'll be at our house with his favorite Grandma, so it should be okay. I think he might just stay up (he rarely is up past 9). Wish us luck!

THanks for all the support mamas. It's nice to be able to turn to you all since I know family and mainstream friends would probably tsk tsk if we told them. :eyesroll


The Bed: Kai has fallen off the bed a few of times. As soon as he became mobile we started playing on teh ed. When he would go for the edge I'd turn him aorund and help him slide off the bed and tell him "Go feet first!" After a while I'd just have to say "Go feet first!" and he'd turn himself. Now he's a pro at safely dismounting the bed.

I want to do this. I have started doing it for the futon mattress and I think she's catching on - even though it can't be 6" high - but this is one of the things DH and I argue about. Our bed frame is high and we only got it 1.5 years ago, so DH doesn't want to take it down. But it has side rails, so it wouldn't work for her climbing down. :( So we'll do all our playing on the futon for now.

So we're about to leave Quinn for the first time at night (not all night, just until around 10-10:30). He has never ever gone to sleep without me, or been without me after dark. I have no idea how he'll handle it. He'll be at our house with his favorite Grandma, so it should be okay. I think he might just stay up (he rarely is up past 9). Wish us luck!This just happened to us last week. Friends (who have kids!) where having an adults-only party, so we left her with MIL. We only stayed at the party two hours, but she was asleep when we got back! We could have stayed another hour or two. I was nervous because she never goes to sleep without me (except in the car) - not even for DH. Go figure. Good luck!

:joy: It's my due date and I've found some zen...at least for the moment. No more listening to the predictions, dreams and premonitions from people who think they know. No more believing midwives who say 'within the week.'

My BP is fine and there's no immediate threat of hospital transfer or induction so I'm really focusing on giving Squeak the time he needs to join us.

If only the phone calls would stop. Honestly, do you think I wouldn't tell my own mother/father/close friend that the babe had been born?

liz, did you enjoy yourself? and how was q?

What a weekend--we were included in the 1.25 million that lost power from a major ice storm. Seems we were some of the first to get power back. Thankfully we had friends with room to spare, even for the cat!

Now we get to face the fridge and freezer:(

liz, did you enjoy yourself? and how was q?

He was really confused when we got our coats on and started saying goodbye. He started to cry but stopped as soon as MIL engaged him in an activity. They were totally fine playing and reading from 6:15-9:15. At 9:15 he started crying "boobie", so she called us and we left (made it through cocktail hour, and all of dinner, even grabbed a bite or two of dessert!). Turns out he only cried for a couple minutes and then went back to playing. He was still wide awake when we got home at 10 and after excitedly yelling "Mommy, Daddy" he pretty much ignored us and kept on playing with MIL for 10 minutes until I mentioned the B word, then he nursed to sleep at 10:30. That's the latest he's been awake in months.

Then today we took him (sans nap) into DC (45 minutes away) for a holiday show (singing/dancing/pageantry) and he actually sat in my lap quietly watching for over an hour!!!

He fell asleep in the car (5 pm) and that was bedtime, as he is still asleep now (in bed). Going to have to change his diaper at some point!

MMM--what a great mindset to enter labor, if I'd been able to do that I might have avoided the PP Stress/Anxiety. You're doing great and Squeak is lucky to have you!!!

MMM--what a great mindset to enter labor, if I'd been able to do that I might have avoided the PP Stress/Anxiety. You're doing great and Squeak is lucky to have you!!!

MMM: I was thinking something along those lines but Liz said it so much better! Maybe you should put DP on phone duty when she's home. Phone calls really stressed me out too (and Kai came early so I can't even imgine how annoyed you are by now).


And Liz, I'm glad Quinn did so well!

I am SO tired of not knowing when or if Dd is going to take a nap each day. She will start her nap any time between 11-4PM or not even take a nap at all. It wouldn't be so bad if I knew at the beginning of the day what was going to happen. It doesn't matter what time she wakes up. It doesn't matter what time she went to sleep the night before. Today there has been no nap. But just because there is no nap, doesn't mean that she's going to bed early. She likes to make it a surprise every day. She never goes to bed/takes a nap at the same time more than two days in a row. :irked: It's REALLY frustrating. I just need some kind of sleep routine, or I'm going to go crazy!
I know this is a normal part of parenting (when you don't sleep train), but I'm really having a hard time with it today. :( I could have worse problems, I know. But I NEED that break in the middle of the day, and it really helps when I can expect it to be at a certain time. Dh's birthday is on Wed and I was going to wrap his gifts and write him a nice letter today during her nap. Hopefully, I can find time to do this tomorrow.

Usually on a day like this I would give Dd to Dh when he got home from work and take an hour out for myself at the book store or something, but Dh is sick.

Sorry, just needed to vent. :irked:
This too shall pass.

maela, as usual our LOs are in a similar phase. DD delayed her nap yesterday by 2 hours! and then made it an extra long (3 hour) nap, followed by an hour late to bed. i can roll with the naps but was beside myself over the bedtime. today she was down only 10 minutes late at sch. of course, imo, she routinely gets deprived of 30 minutes of sleep at sch :irked: but such is group care. i am :irked: that they didn't take the kids outside today. tomorrow is going to suck so hard: dh is leaving very early, i have to do a super early daycare dropoff and get to a clinic way in the middle of nowhere as the trade for getting someone to cover my clinic when i had parent-teacher conference. i hate mornings.

I know this is a normal part of parenting (when you don't sleep train), but I'm really having a hard time with it today. :(

but was beside myself over the bedtime.
Sending my utmost sympathy and hugs. We're not having this particular problem, but others (the screaching....Oh, the screaching!) that are making me nuts.

I'm here on baby watch! Oh, and to say: I made budget this month!!!!! :joy:

Thanks for the sympathy. It's 8:30PM here and she's still awake! :eyesroll So she has been awake since 7:00AM! 13.5 hours with no nap. I think she would be asleep by now if she wasn't sick. Her nose is stuffed (no matter how much I try to suction the stuff out) and she can't nurse for long. Don't know how she's going to fall asleep w/out nursing. Usually when she's stuffed a good suctioning works just fine, but not this time.

:( Back on the BP/induction train. I can totally see how women are pressured into making choices that aren't right for them or their baby despite their best intentions. I'm really feeling it but until I can see evidence that my stubbornness is hurting me or Squeak, I will not be bullied. Even if the birth centre risks me out, it's going to take a lot for me to let them induce me. Thank the stars for my awesome partner and my amazing doula who are holding me together right now.:love

Good for you MMM! :Hug I'm sorry you're having to go through this though.



So Dd ended up going to bed at 9:20PM last night. She was up for 14 hours! Crazy. I was rocking her in the glider like usual, but she was having a hard time nursing because of her nose. Then she just stopped trying and laid her head on my breast and fell asleep. It was really sweet. She must have been so exhausted.

mujerista, stay strong mama(2b)

maela, dd can blow her nose, works much better than suctioning

MMM, my good friend is feeling the pressure a bit too...she was due the same day as you, but no baby yet! Stay strong!!

Rhea's hard gums make my nipples hurt again! Ugh:(

mmm,

blessings! :goodvibes:

maela,

same boat here. dd just doesn't work with a schedule, even if i try to quiet her down to get her to sleep earlier. only when she's worn herself out thoroughly will she give in...and who knows when that will be :eyesroll

I'll have to try teaching her how to blow her nose. That seems like it would be much less traumatic. :(


So today was totally the opposite. :eyesroll She slept in until 8PM, took a nap from 12:45-2:30, and then went to bed at 8:45PM. I don't understand it; I'll just be happy. :shrug :D

i need to x-post, but any thoughts on discouraging the top-of-the-lungs piercing screaming that my lo has taken to lately?

i've tried ignoring, offering a "safe" place that she can do all her screaming, calmly explaining that it really upsets me, and sternly telling her that she needs to stop it. anyone?? Bueller?

Farmama, sorry no advice. Dd doesn't scream much, unless she's really excited and then it doesn't last long.
Hopefully, someone else has some ideas.


This is a cute thread (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=12818399&posted=1#post12818399)...

:eyes

:blowkiss:

:wave

:tiphat:

:Sheepish:

i need to x-post, but any thoughts on discouraging the top-of-the-lungs piercing screaming that my lo has taken to lately?

i've tried ignoring, offering a "safe" place that she can do all her screaming, calmly explaining that it really upsets me, and sternly telling her that she needs to stop it. anyone?? Bueller?

dd's teachers say "no screaming" and she screams louder!

dh says hoo hoo hoo in a very low but loud voice, hoping she will copy. it has worked once.

i try to figure out what she wants and either give it to her or explain why she can't have it now (usually the thing is that she has to wait, something she is not at all good at).

We fly out tomorrow at 7:30 am to go to MIL for xmas. Eek! Never taken Abby on a plane before. Also never BF in public before, so plane will be a 1st.

Still not packed so gotta run but had to say...

MMM, I'm thinking of you!

We fly out tomorrow at 7:30 am to go to MIL for xmas. Eek! Never taken Abby on a plane before. Also never BF in public before, so plane will be a 1st.

Still not packed so gotta run but had to say...

MMM, I'm thinking of you!

:bigeyes

you've never NIP?!?!?! Wow! How have you managed that? I think our first was when Quinn was a week old, and by 10 months we'd done it hundreds of times. This is not any form of judgment in the least, just amazement!!

Flight will be fine! Quinn's first was at 13 months, he nursed on the way up and slept most of the way, then nursed on the way down. If she's doing any finger foods at all, have those. Raisins helped on the way home when he was awake. We also brought a few "toys" (not official toys per se, just fun things) for him to hold/look at. You'll be fine!

kelly, flying with a baby is easy. all you need is the sling and your boobs. :love :love after they start walking it pretty much sucks. :angry on our latest flight, the bigggest help was lift-the-flap books, e..g, where's spot? or where's maisy?

Still here though with much more patience than previously. I've had a hell of a 24hours -

I was risked out of the birth centre by the consulting obstetrician yesterday morning. Just before I left she decided to do an internal where she discovered I was 6cm dilated and 100% effaced. Her conclusion was that I was in labour. She decided that I could go back to the birth centre straight away and they could break my water. Of course, it's against bc policy to intervene in any way, including breaking water. They, however, were happy to let me labour naturally there..YAY! I was back in.

I still wasn't convinced I was actually in labour but foetal monitoring showed that i was having contractions 2 mins apart, I just wasn't feeling them! Everyone was in awe. I was feeling very fortunate.

I called my doula and explained the situation and she came up to the BC for a few hours. Nothing was happening and I was bouncing around happily, still with minimal pain so we decided it would be fine to let her go off to her daughters Christmas concert. By 9.30 last night, still nothing was happening so we asked to come home. The consulting obstetrician said no - that if we left now, there was no coming back to the BC. So, against better judgement, we stayed the night and had a fairly peaceful nights sleep.

When we woke up this morning, I had still not really progressed so it made sense to come home and wait for my water to break. It all seemed very uncontroversial and one ob agreed to let us home. The most superior ob however, not only said I couldn't come home but that I had to be admitted immediately to the HOSPITAL for induction. This despite perfect blood pressure and endless perfect results from monitoring. I got very scared and very shaky. I felt bruised and blackmailed and bullied.

Anyway, after lots of tears and long conversations with our doula and the BC midwives, we made the decision to 'act against medical advice' and come home. The BC midwives were wonderful and have committed to do all they can to keep me with them when I do go into natural labour. They'll prob have to lie to keep me in there which makes me feel pretty lucky.

I feel completely traumatised but I'm also thrilled to be home and thrilled to have yet another opportunity to birth naturally. Even if I do end up getting thrown out of the BC, I will have more chance to birth naturally in hospital than I was being given today! I cannot believe that despite all my knowledge and preparation, I have been trapped in the web of intervention. Sure, thus far I've avoided it but I had to fight every.step.of.the.way. I can't imagine how it is for women who haven't had the opportunity to learn as much as me.

So, I'm actually hoping this boy stays in for a day or 2 longer because I need the time to recover and find some strength. And next time, I am having a homebirth, NO QUESTION!!!

Must go and have a nap. I'm completely drained and it'd be awful to actually go into real labour feeling like this.

MMM, :hug :Hug :hug And WOW 6cm 100% effaced?! Did I read that correctly?? I'm glad everything is going well for you, but I'm sorry you had to fight so much. I'll be thinking about you!!!

Oh, and another NO NAP day here. I was in a great, patient mood today though (I think it was the LLL meeting that helped), so it was fine. She conked out at 8PM exactly. :love

ETA: I'm very afraid that I am going to be pregnant with a 2yo that does not nap at all.

MMM: I have to say, your BC midwives sound awsome!! And I really admire how well you seem to have handled all that. I would be in too much of a state to type about it! You are going to do wonderfully!!

i need to x-post, but any thoughts on discouraging the top-of-the-lungs piercing screaming that my lo has taken to lately?

i've tried ignoring, offering a "safe" place that she can do all her screaming, calmly explaining that it really upsets me, and sternly telling her that she needs to stop it. anyone?? Bueller?

Kai only did that scream when he needed help with something. Even something ridiculously silly, like I threw the ball and want you to throw it back, or the pages in this book are sticking together. I taught him the "help" sign, not really expecting much (it seems like such an abstract concept for a littel guy) and was shocked when he picked it up super fast and now only screams if I'm not looking at him and don't see his frantic signing. But screaming because she likes the sound. That's a whole different kettle of fish! I remember kids at daycare that did that but I don't remember how I dealt with it.

MMM -:hug Stay Strong! :goodvibes:


Kelly, I think you'll do fine. J usually refuses to NIP, but she did alright on the plane. I think she was a little startled by the engine noise during takeoff, so she didn't really hesitate to nurse. Have a good trip!

MMM, you are one. tough. lady. I'm thinking of you constantly, wondering how things are going. Your BC sounds amazing, I have images of your MW chaining themselves to the door of the BC :lol

Your faith in humanity will be in my prayers. The doctors don't know better, so they can't do better. I'm inspired by your strength, and exuberant over all you've managed so far :joy:.

We fly out tomorrow at 7:30 am to go to MIL for xmas. Eek! Never taken Abby on a plane before. Also never BF in public before, so plane will be a 1st.Good luck Kelly! It should be no problem - you probably don't have to see what you're doing as much as you did in the early days. And you'll be surprised how much privacy you have, if you want it, especially if you don't take an aisle seat. Have a wonderful trip - Fenton did great on a plane a year ago. As Pie Pie said, you couldn't pay me to try it with him now!

MMM, what a long strange trip you are having. Kudos for sticking to your proverbial guns, and thank goddess for the BC and midwives you have.

I'm keeping my :fingersx: for you.

Mujerista, Yes it is a fight, but you have proven that you are a fighter!

Oh, re: screaming, I think Arelyn is right on with teaching the sign for "help." That may be why Dd doesn't scream much. She signs help and uses it a lot.

Hello Mamas!

I want you all to know that I have lurked this thread from the beginning. You all moved on from the NMY thread, and I ended up mostly lurking that one too while DP and I put TTC out of our heads pretty much, to be reevaluated in January 2011. I never even bothered to update my info in the NMY threads to reflect this. For various financial and professional reasons, I was resigned to not starting a family for a few more years. It is because I have lurked so much that I feel like I "know" you all so well, although I'm sure you don't feel the same. But I hope you don't mind that I share with you a little about my life lately. I need the support of mama-friends now more than ever.

On December 1st, my mom died. :gloomy: Her long journey with early stage Alzheimer's Disease was finally at an end. Even though my mother had been sick for so long, her death still came as a shock. None of my family was expecting it; we all honestly thought -- based on what we knew of the typical progression of Alzheimer's -- that we would have her for at least another couple of years. I can't detail right now about the last months, and how things ended, because it is just too horrific. I am glad she is no longer suffering, but I am left without my mother. :loss Needless to say, I still feel as though I will never stop crying. :crying

Yesterday, December 19th, I got a BFP. :+:jaw This, from a single, sleepless, uncharted, unplanned, low-odds, grief-stricken, emotion-led, reason-absent night during the time of the wake and funeral. Needless to say, I still feel as though I will never stop crying. :happyt:

I hope you don't mind if I join you. :joy: Like I said, I need the support of mama-friends now more than ever. :love

AsYouWish, Yes I remember you! :wave

Wow, what a rollercoaster you've been on this month. :hug I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. We are going through something similar with Dh's grandfather (Alzheimers - it's getting really bad and now his health is deteriorating too). It's really sad, but I can't imagine how much harder it would be if it was my mother. :hug :hug
Congratulations on your BFP! :heartbeat :joy: I don't know your exact situation, but I bet you can make this work in your life. I'm so excited for you!


:w , Congratulations! and We're here for you!!

AsYouWish - :hug and Congratulations! I was wondering who would show up pg next. We can't very well not have any pg NMYs! :wink Now I'm just wondering who will get pg in March to give us our fourth December baby - it's a tradition, after all :lol

MMM - Thinking of you :goodvibes:

AsYouWish, I remember you too. Losing a mom is a tough thing, no matter when and how it happens. I know that pain very well, so a big :hug from me. But as my ILs say (and I'm inclined to agree) that no matter how ill-timed they may seem, babies ARE a blessing. Congratulations!

AsYouWish: I was trying to think of something so say but I'm at a total loss for words. Just know that were here for you!! :hug

AsYouWish - :hug Ditto to what others have said. Please do join us - this is a great group of ladies who are very supportive. :)

AsYouWish - It is very good to see you back. I mostly lurk, but rest assured you are in my thoughts.

lurking and on babywatch.

my friends had their baby girl a week ago. . .a week late and with an induction, back labor, but vaginal and they're happy with the birth. the little girl is adorable. they had some trouble with nursing (similar to us), and so iw as hanging out and encouraging, gave them our whole milk bank (because they were going to sup with formula and were too afraid to ask for milk) but now she's pumping and feeding and when her nipples feel better, wants to try bfing again. she's also supplementing with formula because hawk will not allow me to pump. he feraks! and freaked a bit when he saw the milk go from my breast to bottle to jamie's mouth while i was hanging out there! he was like "what? that's mine! where are you taking that?" so now, when i try to pump while he eats, he wiggles so much i can't hold him and pump. so, the milk bank will have to wait, i guess.

and, thank goodness, both my mohter and mil have figured out to ask about christmas stuff. my MIL wants to get him things that her friends are getting their grandchildren, but it's not stuff that we want or would use. she's disappointed, but she asked first, thank goodness. :)

z.b., i had great difficulty buidling up my stash when dd was h's age because of what you are describing. the only time that worked was when she napped. of course half the time i would get all hooked up and she would wake. :angry

what's up with me is that i am going to try to make tomorrow my last day of pumping at work. very sad about it. love devoting time in my work day to her. not sure if i should replace that with family organizing time (needs to happen more than it has been) or getting work done so i don't stress at home time. maybe half an hour of family organizing time each day would be good. ah, exercise, there's a possibility. i am such a stress cadet these days it would be good to exercise.

also, not going to try nightweaning. i had always expected to move baby from the family bed when baby became a toddler but the truth is i love her there. know that my supply can't take the hit of quitting pumping and night-nursing.

PiePie we are not nightweaning either right now. My plan was to do it in the summer after she turned one. Then my plan was to do it over Christmas break (when dh doesn't need sleep for teaching), and now I still feel like it's not the right time. I hope I don't regret this decision in the next couple of months. Especially if I get pg soon. But I have a feeling that it's going to be at least April before I am pg again. Actually April would be perfect. :)

Maybe we'll nightwean over spring break... or this coming summer...

because of dh's work schedule, it was either now or may. guess it will be may. i don't have af yet so pregnancy is not a real possibility at the moment.

which was actually a motivation in dh's mind for nightweaning. still, i think if we nightwean in may then i just be back by july, right? who knows, really, i just like to obsess about that unknowable future

:joy: Sebastian Felix was welcomed into the world, without intervention, at 12.05am on Sunday 21st December. :joy:

Just under 8 hours of labour with 3 and a bit hours of pushing. My contractions started at 2mins apart, 1minute long so it was a pretty huge shock but with the amazing support of DP and our doula, I did it.

He's huge. 4.3kg (about 9pounds 5ounces) and 56cm long (22inches). He doesn't even fit his newborn clothes or nappies.

We stayed at the BC until this morning and are now just settling in at home.

More later. Must sleep while babe sleeps!

WELCOME SEBASTIAN FELIX!!!!!!!!!!:joy::joy::joy::joy:

Fenton and DH throwing up, so I can't stay and bask. But: MMM CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:bgbounce:joy::clap:jumpers::sunshine
CONGRATULATIONS MMM!!!!
WELCOME TO THE WORLD SEBASTIAN FELIX!!!!
:sunshine:jumpers::clap:joy::bgbounce

:joy:Congratulations to MMM and her DP!
Welcome Sebastian Felix!!!!!!!!!!!:joy:

A solstice baby, too--very cool:)

:balloons:jumpers::jumpers::balloons

:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy: HIP HIP HOORAY!! :joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

:love :love :love SEBASTIAN FELIX :love :love :love

DH has been super sick for 6 days now.

Mujerista, You and I have the same taste in names. Love Sebastianm, the name and the little person! He's got a place to visit in Manhattan as soon as he's ready for the Big Apple!! :D

although DD has only 4 teeth fully in, and a 5th cut, we seem to be having some molar action -- it's swollen, she's rubbing it, and actually cried last night quite a bit. can folks talk to me about the order in which their kids teethed??

:joy::joy:Welcome Sebastian!!!:joy::joy:

:love Congratulations on getting the birth you worked so hard for!!! :love

:joy:Congrats MMM & DP!!!:joy:

:jumpers:Welcome Sebastian Felix!:jumpers:

Both of those names were on our boy's name list. :thumb Sounds like a fantastic birth - I'm so glad it turned out well. :D

PiePie, re:teething order - Calvin got bottom middle two, top middle two, next two on bottom, next two on top, and has recently seemed to be working on bottom molars and bottom eye teeth, but nothing's broken through yet AFAIK.

ETA: Calvin's first birthday is today. We aren't doing much for it, besides two things I stole from Shanna - blowing up the birth pool to take a family picture in it and having a candlelit solstice. We do a party on his half-birthday and we don't really do gifts, which we'll reevaluate as he gets older.

:joy:Welcome Sebastian Felix!!!!:joy:
:jumpers: Congratulations MMM & DP! :jumpers:

Oh, I'm so excited for you. So glad you got to birth without intervention. :love

:birthday: Calvin! :birthday:

It sounds like you have a nice, quiet celebration planned. :D

Congratulations MMM & DP!!!

:joy: Welcome Sebastian!!! :joy:

i've been checking in frequently and am soooo happy that you got your BC wishes!

Rest well.
:love

As You Wish,

what a ride you are on. My condolences and congratulations. How overwhelming it must be--both at the end and beginning of the circle of life. Remember to give yourself the space you need to deal with all your emotions, and know that it's okay to be happy and sad at the same time.

blessings.

CONGRATULATIONS MMM!!


WELCOME SEBASTIAN!!!



:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALVIN!!!

:jumpers::balloons:birthday:

I am sorry to hear about the loss of your mother AsYouWish. :hug


Congrats on the BFP. :jumpers:

Congratulations MMM!

I've been lurking lately, but I have been checking here for any news. So glad you got the birth you wanted. So exciting!

AsYouWish, Yes I remember you! :wave

Wow, what a rollercoaster you've been on this month. :hug I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. We are going through something similar with Dh's grandfather (Alzheimers - it's getting really bad and now his health is deteriorating too). It's really sad, but I can't imagine how much harder it would be if it was my mother. :hug :hug
Congratulations on your BFP! :heartbeat :joy: I don't know your exact situation, but I bet you can make this work in your life. I'm so excited for you!


:w , Congratulations! and We're here for you!!Thank you so much! We are excited too. And a little scared, but fairly confident (well, most of the time) we can work things out. :fingersx: Thank you for the welcome! :blowkiss:

I'm so sorry to hear about your DH's grandfather. :hug It's hard.

AsYouWish - :hug and Congratulations! I was wondering who would show up pg next. We can't very well not have any pg NMYs! :wink Now I'm just wondering who will get pg in March to give us our fourth December baby - it's a tradition, after all :lolThank you very much! I am happy to be here. :joy:

AsYouWish, I remember you too. Losing a mom is a tough thing, no matter when and how it happens. I know that pain very well, so a big :hug from me. But as my ILs say (and I'm inclined to agree) that no matter how ill-timed they may seem, babies ARE a blessing. Congratulations!Thank you!! I feel more than blessed right now. I already know I wouldn't change a thing, despite the fact that it didn't go according to The Plan and I'm an emotional wreck right now. :flipped In a woo-new age-spiritual way (that is very foreign to me because I'm an atheist!), I feel with this pregnancy and the person that will be born that I still have a little bit of my mom with me. :happyt:

I'm so sorry that you know what it feels like to lose your mom, too. :gloomy: :hug I hope your little one makes you feel more connected to her.

AsYouWish: I was trying to think of something so say but I'm at a total loss for words. Just know that were here for you!! :hugThank you. Thank you so much! :D

AsYouWish - :hug Ditto to what others have said. Please do join us - this is a great group of ladies who are very supportive. :)Thanks so much! I really appreciate it. :)

AsYouWish - It is very good to see you back. I mostly lurk, but rest assured you are in my thoughts.Thank you so much, katt! :love

As You Wish,

what a ride you are on. My condolences and congratulations. How overwhelming it must be--both at the end and beginning of the circle of life. Remember to give yourself the space you need to deal with all your emotions, and know that it's okay to be happy and sad at the same time.

blessings.Thank you so very much! Yeah, happy and sad in the same moment, that is where I am. :)/:( I'm going to be making an appointment with my counselor after the new year. I need a little guidance through both of these processes. *sigh* In the meantime, the warm welcome here really helps! :grouphug

I am sorry to hear about the loss of your mother AsYouWish. :hug


Congrats on the BFP. :jumpers:Thank you for the sympathies and the well wishes. I appreciate it! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
CALVIN!!!

:birthday: :drum: :drum: :birthday:

:earth: Welcome to the world, Sebastian!!!! :earth:
:w

Congratulations MMM & DP!!!!
:joy: :joy: :joy:

Happy Birthday Calvin!


My friend had her baby yesterday, too! Babies all around!

:balloonsHAPPY BIRTHDAY CALVIN!!!!:balloons

All these birthdays!!

Welcome Sebastian, great name!
Happy 1st Calvin.

my friend had her baby last week too!

merry christmas to one and all!! :joy: i am staring at dd's first tree (last year we were away) and feeling all mushy.

saw billy elliot last night and bawled throughout -- i am a big mush -- was pre-baby but now anything to do with children and parents :o hope i can give dd unconditional love. i love her so much and i hope she always knows that.

her big present (a slide) is arriving late -- never order from big toy express!! -- but i think it will be good to have new toys introduced slowly.

p.s. i too had another friend give birth last weekend!! what was it with the solstice? she went early.

Merry Christmas All!


we spent x-mas eve with the ils. Teo got to open a few gifts. He stopped after 3 and was done opening, even though he had more. Not to seem ungrateful, and I did LOTS of smiling 'cause well, Teo was having a good time, but the gifts he's gotten from is grandparents so far are a bit too young for him. I'm sure I'll be back to post more later, but so far he's having fun. :)

Merry Christmas!


Dd is having so much fun playing with all of her cousins (most of them are Dh's cousins' kids - does that make them second cousins? :shrug)! Dh's family are mostly teachers and so do not have to work for a week before x-mas and therefore they all come up early and we have dinner with them almost every night for like 5 days before x-mas. It's fun and dd's loving it!


This sounds so materialistic of me, but I'm really excited about the new clothes that Dd is going to get from the relatives today. She doesn't have a lot right now in her current size. She could use more than the three pairs of pants she has now.

hope everyone's holidays are going well!!

Merry Christmas!!!

We were at MIL's house until after 9:30 last night. Q skipped his nap and was happy and very well-mannered (with lots of people and noise!) until 9 when he just asked for boobie and went right to sleep in MIL's bedroom. We left at 10 when he woke up, he slept in the car and went right back to sleep (nursing) when we got home.

We were up until 1 putting together his play kitchen, wrapping, listening to music, etc.

At 7:30 Quinn woke up and had Daddy carry him out to the living room (usual weekend routine) and he didn't notice the kitchen at first. When he did he went to it, touched it, then walked away :( But 2 minutes later he was cooking and having a blast.

We totally succeeded so far in keeping things low-key in terms of gift receiving/opening. Over an hour, he saw/played with his kitchen (with existing toys, nothing new yet), pulled out the (unwrapped) food items and 1 board book in his stocking, then at the end of the hour (after much eating of dried cranberries and bananas!) he opened his little sigg water bottle.

Super low key, but lots of fun and smiles!

Grandma comes around 11, low-key will be blown out of the water (but at least super natural/waldorf stuff, just way too much!)

Enjoy everyone!!!!!!

we had an awesome christmas. like you, liz, dh and i were up late decorating the tree. the tree was a hit but the real star of the day was http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014I90UI/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2537038735&ref=pd_sl_159jfu2fvt_b. :joy: there is a an optional key to the ball runs and dd actually can do it! she was so excited yesterday she was up past midnight. today we went to a dan zanes concert.

HI folks. Thanks for all the love and congrats. This parenting thing is a trip. I cannot believe that we've been entrusted with the life of this amazing little creature. I feel so privileged.

It's going really well so far. The fog has started to lift and I'm finally able to leave the couch for small periods of time. Those first few days, you do well to just tread water, don't you? I can't believe that some of you were able to be giving updates online.

So far, Sebastian is a very chilled baby. He rarely cries and is really happy to be loved and cuddled by rooms full of strangers. Unless he's hungry, DP is just as able to comfort him as I and he hasn't thrown any serious challenges at us yet. Last night I even managed 8 hours sleep (plus 2 hours awake time to feed, of course). I feel like a new person today - I was even contemplating going to the post xmas sales to pick up some baby stuff that I thought we'd be given but weren't. Seb however, had other ideas!!

How cool is breastfeeding??!!! I'm really lucky, I know - Seb is an awesome feeder and so far, all is good. I've got a great supply and I'm starting to work out his patterns and cues...although today, he's trying to prove me wrong of course! Why though, did no-one tell me how horrible your boobs get the day your milk comes in? I thought I wouldn't make it through that 24hrs.

Xmas was pretty cool. It was just supposed to be my Mum and her partner coming here for really low-key xmas (remember the drama about DP's sister stealing xmas?) but in the end DP's whole family arrived here with an entire xmas spread. At first I was overwhelmed and hormonal and really annoyed but it turned out beautifully and everyone was sooooooooo happy to be spending the day with Sebastian that both families got on famously. I don't think I truly realised the significance of the first grandchild thing until then. It's extra special that he's the first on both sides.

Better go - he wants boobs and DP wants her neck back (he sucks it when he's hungry and she's holding him.)

There's a few pics up on my blog for anyone interested. Link in sig.

mmm,

he's gorgeous! thank you so much for sharing! :joy:

Man, I leave for a few days and look what happens!!!

MMM, congratu-frickin-lations!!!!! Sebastian is awfully, awfully cute!
:joy::joy::joy:

Seriously, so dang cute!

I am so happy that breastfeeding is going well for you and that you got great sleep so soon!

I'm just so happy for you and I wish I were there in person to give you a :hug :)

I feel more than blessed right now. I already know I wouldn't change a thing, despite the fact that it didn't go according to The Plan and I'm an emotional wreck right now. :flipped In a woo-new age-spiritual way (that is very foreign to me because I'm an atheist!), I feel with this pregnancy and the person that will be born that I still have a little bit of my mom with me. :happyt:I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. :hug

But what an exciting time in your life with the BFP! I know exactly what you mean about this feeling. I lost my sister in February almost 2 years ago, then ended up with our BFP in June that year. Not even sure if I believe in God, but wow...I totally felt that my sister's spirit was part of that BFP and now my first daughter.

:bigeyes

you've never NIP?!?!?! Wow! How have you managed that? I think our first was when Quinn was a week old, and by 10 months we'd done it hundreds of times. This is not any form of judgment in the least, just amazement!!Haha, it helps that I'm a homebody and don't really go out much. :o

The flight was AWESOME, like you all said it would be. :) Abby did great and didn't even need to nurse during takeoff/landing every time. Didn't seem to be bothered by her ears--maybe that comes later?

Used gdiapers for the trip and worked fine except for poop, which they did NOT contain. Luckily Abby had some vacation-induced constipation and only pooped 3 times in 10 days. :shy

And happy bday, Calvin!

Oh yeah, PiePie are you the one who got the Yookidoo Discovery Dome (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014I90UI/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2537038735&ref=pd_sl_159jfu2fvt_b)? If so, how is DD liking it? Or if it wasn't you, who was it? :)

I need to go back and search the NMY Grad archives but...

What's your favorite toy for encouraging/helping/supporting walking?

Oh yeah, PiePie are you the one who got the Yookidoo Discovery Dome (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014I90UI/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2537038735&ref=pd_sl_159jfu2fvt_b)? If so, how is DD liking it? Or if it wasn't you, who was it? :)

it was me and she totally loves it. as does dh. gotta say, i like it too.

dd used the mega bloks wagon (25) for walking. i liked that it had two uses -- wagon and construction. imho, the best walking toys are those haba wagons, but they are crazy expensive (200-300), and the next best are the radio flyer first walker wagons (100). both of them are weighted so if the kid has no balance and leans into them they don't go flying. prices in parentheses explain our choice, plus she was pretty steady -- the wagon was more for her emotional security. the mega bloks are also good for building. first there was lots of pulling apart, and that is still dominant -- we build, she destructs. :joy:

i really should go to bed.

mujerista, so glad BFing is going well. i have observed that bigger babies generally nurse better. is it that their mouths are bigger?? anyway, you

I wish we could have afforded the radio flyer walker wagon. We didn't really have anything.


MMM, I'm so glad to hear that bfing is going well for you! I hated that first day of my milk coming in too. It was not fun. Dh looked at my hard swollen breasts and said, "This isn't sexy at all. It just looks painful!" :lol Once my mw told me to pump in the hot shower, I felt much better.
And boy is he handsome! I love that bottom picture!

I need to go back and search the NMY Grad archives but...

What's your favorite toy for encouraging/helping/supporting walking?

None! We really believe they should do it in their own time and when their muscles/coordination are totally ready. So we just let him do it. He did start holding by holding one of our hands, and of course we let that happen, but nothing for him to lean on or push or what not.

Just our opinion, of course!!! I'm sure you'll get some good recommendations for things should you really want to have something!