NMY Graduates Love Thread, Part 4

[snozzberry]

:love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love

:w to the NMY Graduates (+ babies) love thread!

:love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love :love

Previous Threads
Part 1 (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=584411)
Part 2 (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=718199)
Part 3 (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=816643)

Here's the latest Not Mamas...Yet tribe thread (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=929291).

Book Recommendations
We decided to start a book recommendation list halfway thru this thread, so we're parking it here for now, but it will be one of the standard first posts in our subsequent threads. Names following book titles are the NMY grads who recommended the title.

Becoming the Parent You Want to Be
Sihaya

Bright from the Start
PiePie

The Continuum Concept
zoebird

Diaper-Free Baby
snozzberry, zoebird

Einstein Never Used Flashcards
PiePie

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Maela

Nursing Mother, Working Mother
PiePie, snozzberry

Odd Girl Out
PiePie

Our Babies, Ourselves
PiePie, snozzberry

Parenting from the Inside Out
zoebird

Playful Parenting
PiePie, snozzberry

The Second Shift
PiePie

Taking Back Childhood
Maela

Tender Hooks
PiePie

Toilet Learning (though won't be popular with ec'ers)
PiePie

Unconditional Parenting
PiePie, snozzberry

[snozzberry]

:love Our Current Lovees :love
:girlbaby: 7
:boybaby: 11

Katt & Teotimo (Teo) :boybaby: (12/27/06)
Shanna & Fenton Edward :boybaby: (3/26/07)
Holiztic/Elizabeth & Quinn Herrick :boybaby: (4/13/07)
BeccaBear & Alexander Lewis :boybaby: (5/6/07)
Alice & Johannes Edward :boybaby: (5/20/07)
Sherrie (Turtle81) & Phillip Benjamin :boybaby: (6/2/07)
Farmama & Natalina :girlbaby: (7/17/07)
Maela & Maev :girlbaby: (7/17/07)
Jodi & Rosalie Jayne :girlbaby: (7/23/07)
PiePie & :girlbaby: (8/16/07)
Arelyn & Micaiah :boybaby: (8/16/07)
Sihaya & Calvin Elliot :boybaby: (12/22/07)
Kelly (snozzberry) & Abigail Ann :girlbaby: (2/16/08)
Christina (cking) & Josephine Angela :girlbaby: (4/1/08)
blizzard_babe & Isaac Vincent :boybaby: (5/6/08)
Heather (witchygrrl) & Rhea Ann :girlbaby: (8/1/08)
zoebird & Hawk Octavian :boybaby: (8/30/08)
MujerMamaMismo & Sebastian Felix :boybaby: (12/21/08)

[snozzberry]

Katt

labor (http://mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=582731)
birthstory (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=588829)


Shanna

first contractions (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=7652512#post7652512)
Roo's here! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=7662658#post7662658)
birth story (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=7682746#post7682746)


Elizabeth (Holiztic)

Quinn has arrived! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=7845474&postcount=243) (by Daddymoe)
first post as a mama (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=7867853&postcount=286)
Quinn's first pictures (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=7895565&postcount=308)


BeccaBear

info post (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8207209#post8207209) by Sihaya
first post-baby post (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8673268#post8673268) in the Love Thread, and pics.
birth story! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8673394#post8673394)


Alice

labor! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8156254#post8156254)
Charlie's announcement (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8175476#post8175476)
pictures (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8209923#post8209923)


Sherrie (Turtle81)

Another little boy joins us! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8307205#post8307205) (post by Wateraddict)
Sherrie's update (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8335416&postcount=221)


Farmama

contractions! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8653619#post8653619)
Natalina arrived! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8664625#post8664625)
about the birth (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8671328#post8671328)
first pics! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8671474#post8671474)
birth story part 1 (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8795186&postcount=131)


Maela
BH contractions! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8640982#post8640982), getting closer - real contractions (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8652368#post8652368)
midwife on the way! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8658003#post8658003)
Maev arrived! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8666816#post8666816)


Jodi

Water broke! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8703322&postcount=952)
Rosalie has arrived! (with pictures) (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8730045&postcount=14)
Birth story (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8758500&postcount=84)


PiePie

In Labor! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8905720&postcount=152)
Baby girl is here! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8916961&postcount=285)


Arelyn

In Labor! 1 (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8909284&postcount=261) 2 (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8910781&postcount=263) 3 (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8912610&postcount=269) 4 (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8915463&postcount=282)
Water Broke! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8916034&postcount=34)
Micaiah has arrived! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=8920752&postcount=303)
Birth story (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=808911)


Sihaya

Calvin is here! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=10082044&postcount=1953)
Birth story (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=10097107)


snozzberry

Abby is here! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=10620293&postcount=599)


cking

The royal baby has arrived! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=10910309&postcount=942)
Josephine Angela (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=10917512&postcount=964)


blizzard_babe

Isaac Vincent is here (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=11158937&postcount=1211)


witchygrrl

Rhea Ann is here (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=11840638&postcount=1859)


zoebird

Hawk Octavian is here (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=12097232&postcount=98)


MujerMamaMismo

Sebastian Felix is here (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=12843326&postcount=712)


If you have other important links to add, please PM me.

[snozzberry]

Heather, such good news about Rhea's weight! :joy: And sounds good about the job! :fingersx:

zoebird, :eyes :D

Shanna, still just :hug from me. I wish I had more to offer. :hug :hug :hug

arelyn, I'd love that GF carrot cake recipe if you don't mind sharing it!

Me update: Abby fell out of bed for the first time last night...onto our hardwood floors. She has a quarter-sized bruise on her forehead, a bigger bruise on her cheek, and a huge bruise on her side. :( :( :( We've been watching for fever, vomiting, and pupil issues ever since, and she seems fine. But just. :( :( :( I feel horrible. Been depressed all day, if that's the right word. If I get into work and forget for a few minutes, it will hit me like a mack truck and then I get this sick feeling in the deepest part of my stomach. Ugh.

It was a dumb mistake that shouldn't have happened. We knew she was getting too mobile for our pillow-fortress nap solution. I even posted on this thread a couple weeks ago about how it wasn't going to last!!! So I feel guilty for not doing something sooner. And *then* I heard her tossing and turning while DH was brushing his teeth, but I was in the next room from her doing the bills, and I was trying to finish them up before I went to check on her. So double the guilt there.

So I think we're going to get a pack-n-play or something because I'm uncomfortable with the idea of bed rails (i.e. her getting caught in them), we can't put our bed on the floor (we've got a bedframe with drawers in as our dresser--small house), and we don't really have room for a full-on crib.

I know it happens to a lot of babies, but I'm still just unbearably :( :( :(

[PiePie]

kelly, hugs. babies are really resilient. i know you know that my dd has fallen more than once and is a :joy: child.

shanna, confess i haven't read those pieces myself, they are just the most recommended on mdc and hence on my to read list. wonder if you could apply gordon's method for nights to naps? anyway it sounds like he's a capital napper!! so you must be doing something right :wink

[TwilightJoy]

I can't believe we have 16 babies now! That's just so many! Considering when I joined here we only had pregnant NMY. :happyt:

Thanks for the new thread, Snozz.

Okay, back to my lurking. :eyes

[Sihaya]

My baby is the next to turn one. *faint*

In us news, we had our first overnight without Calvin last Friday. We went to a B&B for our 3rd anniversary fully expecting my mom to bring Calvin to us around bedtime (10pm here), but he went down for her (despite not taking a bottle) and did fine overnight. I, on the other hand, nearly died of engorgement and pledged not to do another overnight without Calvin until he's night-weaned :lol

Moving is going very slowly. Things have been crazier than usual around here and now DH's work is demanding he work overtime for the next 1-2 months. I have no clue when/how we're going to clean/fix up the new place and pack up the old place when I have no car and no help.

[witchygrrl]

Thanks for the new thread, snozz! That reminds me...I should really write up my birth story. I guess I'm still processing it all.

a :hug to you also. I'm sure all will be well, but I totally understand the guilty feelings. I've already banged Rhea's head on a door while carrying her (I totally misjudged where it was), and I couldn't help but think I wrecked her head forever. But she's fine.

And for the big update....DH got the job!:D:D:D:D It means we'll be moving, but we wanted to do that anyway. It was just a matter of where! I am so relieved.

[PiePie]

heather so happy for you

back to my deposition :eyesroll, gotta get of fthe pump :angry sometimes woh sucks

[Charliemae]

I can't believe we have 16 babies now! That's just so many! Considering when I joined here we only had pregnant NMY. :happyt:

Thanks for the new thread, Snozz.

Okay, back to my lurking. :eyes



:yeah:

:joy:

:eyes

[cking]

subbing to the new thread - thanks snozz

and :hug to you. That's my new concern - Josephine will be rolling soon and I'm not sure what to do. But I understand how you feel.

I'm having trouble keeping up, or at least responding, so I just want to send out lots of :hugs to everyone. :innocent

In our news, we have a tooth! It is just barely cutting through the gums, but it's there. (and I'm not crazy. :)) But J is cranky and I'm tired. I can't wait to show the tooth to DH when he gets home.

And J took her first bottle yesterday. Nothing bad happened. :lol But I still feel a little :guilty

Kelly, good luck with the solids! I've been giving that a lot of thought too, since Josephine will be 6 months in only 6 weeks! I'm not in any rush to give her food, and I feel like whether or not she's ready for it, I'm not ready. Did anyone else feel like this?

[Maela]

Heather yay for the job!!! :balloons


Cking yay for the tooth!!! :balloons



Dd and I took a bike ride to the store today and she fell alseep 5 minutes before we got home. She woke up when I took her out of the trailer and apparently that was her nap for the day. :irked: I really NEED her to take a nap today. I just don't know if it's going to happen. :eyesroll

Her new favorite past time is pulling the books down from the bookshelves.

[Maela]

steph, that's so great that you got a night alone. We have yet to try that. So did Calvin get a bottle when he woke up at night? Did he sleep with your mom? Dd would never take a bottle, but maybe she would take a sippy cup for night wakings? We're thinking about leaving her overnight for our 5 year anniversary. She would be almost 1 1/2. not sure if she'll be nightweaned by then or not.



Oh and Happy Anniversary!!

[Sihaya]

steph, that's so great that you got a night alone. We have yet to try that. So did Calvin get a bottle when he woke up at night? Did he sleep with your mom? Dd would never take a bottle, but maybe she would take a sippy cup for night wakings? We're thinking about leaving her overnight for our 5 year anniversary. She would be almost 1 1/2. not sure if she'll be nightweaned by then or not.



Oh and Happy Anniversary!!Thanks! He took a sippy cup when he woke up at night. He did sleep with my mom and, despite teething, only woke up to eat three times through the night (for me it's every 45-60 min while he's teething). I was in total shock that we got a night alone - that was not the plan at all and the engorgement made it way too painful to do anything fun :wink

[cking]

we have a tooth!

WTH - the tooth disappeared. ???? Does that happen? DH thinks I'm :nut

at least she's in a better mood now. :eyesroll

[snozzberry]

Heather, yay! :joy:

Kelly, good luck with the solids! I've been giving that a lot of thought too, since Josephine will be 6 months in only 6 weeks! I'm not in any rush to give her food, and I feel like whether or not she's ready for it, I'm not ready. Did anyone else feel like this?I totally felt like that! But I came around to the idea, and we went ahead and gave her avocado this morning. It was fun. :D

I bet that tooth will show up again soon! Maybe the gums are just swollen & covering up the bit you saw earlier?

Maela, I'm sorry about the lack of napping! :hug

Her new favorite past time is pulling the books down from the bookshelves.Hmm, I've wondered about that with Abby and whether we should get doors put on the bookshelves...

Now I'm off to search for not-so-plastic-y pack-n-plays...

[Maela]

WTH - the tooth disappeared. ???? Does that happen? DH thinks I'm :nut

at least she's in a better mood now. :eyesroll

I don't know if this is true, but my mom said that they can go up and down. But maybe the gums are swollen like Kelly said. Also, Dd had what I thought was a tooth (it was hard and white) early on and the dr said it was some type of cyst (harmless). It goes away. Could that be it?


Kelly, sorry about your baby falling off the bed. The first (out of two :o) time Dd fell of the bed I felt horrible for days. The second time I felt worse, of course. :eyesroll:( We do have carpet so that helped, but still it's so sad. :Hug



ETA: Dd finally went down for a nap. I was going to try to get her to stay up and just go down for the night early, but she was crying and obviously very tired, so I nursed her sleep. So now she's going to be up late late late tonight. Yay! *sarcasm*

[MujerMamaMismo]

Maela: I hope there's some good sleep for you coming soon!

Snozz: Poor you. I'm sure Abby will be fine. Think of it as resilience training or something... I know I'll feel terrible for days when Squeak falls out of bed too!

I'm tired and achy and sick of reflux today. I'm also at work and haven't done a single work related task because my back is so sore that I can't sit still for more than 3 minutes. Methinks I need some acupuncture and an osteopath appointment. Gawd pregnancy is expensive!

[PiePie]

WTH - the tooth disappeared. ???? Does that happen? DH thinks I'm :nut

at least she's in a better mood now. :eyesroll


well dh and my mom claimed they saw a tooth 2 mos ago that i still haven't seen. of course my mom is certifiable. :wink

[PiePie]

Gawd pregnancy is expensive!


oh yes. and at least you get a mw-assisted birth covered! :thumb

[snozzberry]

MMM, I hope you get some relief from your aches and pains. I can't remember if it's here that I heard this, but just remember that it's HARD work splitting cells all day, so your body deserves all the pampering and rest you can give it!

Maela, how did last night go?


Thrush: What do y'all know about it? I'm nervous I have it. My right nipple is sore to touch and hurts pretty bad during nursing/pumping, although it does start to feel a little better by the middle of the feeding/pumping. Abby bit me on that side a couple days ago, so I assumed it was just soreness from that.

[zoebird]

39 weeks today and feeling good. should get the computer back today or tomorrow. :)

everything in the house is ready. i just finished washing and organizing all of the baby clothing, my clothing, and my husband's clothing.

the bed was supposed to come yesterday, but the delivery guy had something come up, and so he'll come on friday. also, the cleaning service comes on friday. so, that will be interesting.

it always gets piled up like that. :)

also, the local obama campaign called to ask me to canvas again--which wuold be awesome except it's from 2-6 on sunday afternoon. that's 4 hours of waddling around. that might be too much.

but it might also make for great press: ":Obama supporter gives birth while canvassing."

ah, 10 seconds of fame. :D LOL

[cking]

The tooth is back! I'm not nuts after all. I guess the gums just cover it sometimes. I googled disappearing tooth and some MDC threads came up. :lol

now I just have to decide whether to put yesterday as the date for her first tooth in the record books, or to wait until a tooth actually pops up.:o

Zoebird, :Peace:goodvibes:to you.

[farmama]

ETA: Dd finally went down for a nap. I was going to try to get her to stay up and just go down for the night early, but she was crying and obviously very tired, so I nursed her sleep. So now she's going to be up late late late tonight. Yay! *sarcasm*

funny, that happened with us yesterday too. how did you make out? natty didn't go to bed until 11:30, and she was WIRED. she played with her papa, and i fell asleep on the living room floor (waking every once in a while when she whacked me with her stuffed kitty). doh.

[snozzberry]

zoebird, it's great to hear everything's falling into place!

now I just have to decide whether to put yesterday as the date for her first tooth in the record books, or to wait until a tooth actually pops up.:o:o I am so bad about writing in Abby's baby book. I did it once when she was a couple weeks old, but I haven't since. I also haven't been journaling as often as I was while on maternity leave...maybe once a month. :o And I had such grand plans for documenting her babyhood so it was there for when she got older and would appreciate it...

[Maela]

funny, that happened with us yesterday too. how did you make out? natty didn't go to bed until 11:30, and she was WIRED. she played with her papa, and i fell asleep on the living room floor (waking every once in a while when she whacked me with her stuffed kitty). doh.

It wasn't too bad. She went to bed at 9:30PM. I'm sorry your night was longer. :lol about the kitty though Sounds just like Dd.



Today made up for the last three days. She woke up at 6:45AM (not bad), took a nap from 11:15AM - 1:15PM without waking up (woo-hoo!), and went to sleep at 8:50PM (pretty good). I got so much done during her nap, and I had time to relax. We had Dh's parents over for dinner, and I was able to make a nice dinner while Dh watched Dd.



A question: The dropping things over and over and over. I know she's learning about gravity and how she can control how some things happen. I think that's great, and I usually try to humor her by picking the thing up over and over. However, there are times when this is kind of unreasonable. Like today we were in the grocery store. She likes to sit in the cart and I always bring toys for her to play with. She dropped a few out of the cart over and over. Finally I took them away because I wasn't able to go five feet without having to pick something up. She cried and screamed for about 10 seconds, but then she was fine. Was that mean of me? What do you all do?

[snozzberry]

:notes2: on answers to Maela's question...

[~Shanna~]

Sorry this is going to be so short:
A question: The dropping things over and over and over. I know she's learning about gravity and how she can control how some things happen. I think that's great, and I usually try to humor her by picking the thing up over and over. However, there are times when this is kind of unreasonable. Like today we were in the grocery store. She likes to sit in the cart and I always bring toys for her to play with. She dropped a few out of the cart over and over. Finally I took them away because I wasn't able to go five feet without having to pick something up. She cried and screamed for about 10 seconds, but then she was fine. Was that mean of me? What do you all do?I usually say to Fenton "If you drop it again, I'm taking that as a sign that you're done with it". It gives him another chance, and takes in the possibility that he really is done with it (which he usually isn't. I get that it's a developmental stage, but, like you said, we can't just stand there and pick things up all day......

So much more to say and hear, but Fenton is trying to carry his popper up the stairs :lol

[Maela]

Sorry this is going to be so short:
I usually say to Fenton "If you drop it again, I'm taking that as a sign that you're done with it". It gives him another chance, and takes in the possibility that he really is done with it (which he usually isn't. I get that it's a developmental stage, but, like you said, we can't just stand there and pick things up all day......

So much more to say and hear, but Fenton is trying to carry his popper up the stairs :lol

Oh good, so I'm not mean. :innocent That's what I do too. I try to warn her before I do it, but I don't know how much she understands my warnings just yet.

[snozzberry]

Howdy mamas! I should sleep but I don't want to. Humph.

PiePie, how goes the world of working and pumping?

zoebird, how are you feeling?

How is everyone's sleep situation?

Shanna, what's a "popper" and why does Fenton have one? :lol

Christina, how's that tooth looking?

MMM, did your appts help?

[farmama]

yep, i do the same thing.

[~Shanna~]

nak
Shanna, what's a "popper" and why does Fenton have one? :lolIt's one of these (http://www.amazon.com/Toddlerz-Push-Toy-Corn-Popper/dp/B00000IZOU). Fenton loves it - he has one at home, and still runs towards them at church, friends' houses and any other place he runs into one.He especially loves carrying it up and then throwing it down the stairs :lol

Can we talk frankly about television? And i mean really frankly, not one of those discussions where everyone lies about what they wish they didn't do? Fenton has fallen in love with the muppets (or "mut!", as he calls them :love). Thank you DH :irked:. Audio, visual, still, you name it. When he requests them, we're offering up the CD first, but we're still allowing him to watch it on dvd a couple of times a day when he requests it, despite my feeling that we should limit it to 1 episode a day. I don't feel comfortable not ever letting him watch tv when we have one in the house and dh and I have a healthy relationship with watching a movie once a week or so. But what concerns me is that the tv is on more than it used to be, not less. So I'm redirecting to audio, and have plans to get some pictures of kermit and dogs (another favorite) to have on the fridge to also redirect to. I'm in that weird place where I don't think him looking at tv once in a while is going to turn his brain to mush, but I'm not comfortable with the slope we're on, and especially that he's watching it more than DH and I even watch ourselves. What are the trends at your place?

[Maela]

TV: Lately the tv has been on a lot in our house due to the fact that I love watching the olympics. Dd is also loving watching the olympics. So everyday between 10am-1pm (although 1-2 of those hours she's napping) and at night from 8-bedtime the tv has been on. But next week, we're going to be back to normal. Hopefully Dd doesn't mind. I do let her watch the occasional pbs kids show (like an episode a week) Sometimes she's really into tv and sometimes she watches for a minute or two and then is off to play. At the grandparents (especially my parents) the TV is always on. So she's exposed to it a lot there. I think that Dh and especially me have a pretty healthy relationship with the tv so i'm not freaking out about the amount Dd watches. I'm hoping that we set a good example for her. :shrug



Maev also has one of those poppers. She hasn't yet realized that she can walk with it even though she's walking well now.

[PiePie]

we got dd the popper for her first birthday.

we have been tv free since moving to the new house due to the cost of cable. however we are getting the big screeen today allegedly just for moving watching but well see... so dd hasn't seen tv since march or so. saw a bit on primary nights but that's it.

[katt]

Quick news here...
We spent the last week up at my parents and the farm only has dial-up, so I kept it short and didn't visit any boards.

TV: we watch a lot so, Teo is exposed to a lot. I do my best to keep cartoon exposure to a minimum, that entrances him the most. if he's going to watch tv, i'd rather the subject matter/concepts didn't change every 2 minutes. He watches sports with DH though, he'll kick back and snuggle.

okay, i got lots more to share, but i gotta get on w/ my day

[Maela]

We bought a digital antennae. I think it was about $40-50. Just a one time fee. It works pretty well and it's nice because we're not paying monthly. We get the basics.

[zoebird]

i'm feeling good. gassy, mostly, but that can be controlled by eating good food. :) and drinking my RRL tea and such.

the mattress still hasnt' come and i cant' get ahold of the delivery guy. that's blech. the baby's stuff is finished (cleaned, organized, etc), and there's a bit of debris around (old gift bags and what not) that are going to be recycled/trashed.

my parents come tomorrow to put upt hte towel rack.

they're desparate to buy a bassinette for me. like my ILs, they're *not listening*. i explained the continuum concept, which they think is realy crazy because "of course you'll want to put the baby down." which may or may not be true, btu that doesn't require a bassinette either.

they say that my sister can store it, which is fine, except when "in use" there's no real space. i think they're just freaked about co-sleeping, and dad asserts that no organization that is "real" or "withotu dubious or unknown backing" thinks that cosleeping is a good idea.

so, there you go. Mohtering and all-ya'll are "dubious with unknown backing."

well i already knew that, but cnosidering it's the way that people sleep all over the world and have for centuries, i figure that has a bit more longevit and clout than say, the APA or whatever. LOL

so, they're going to try and coerse me to take one; i m ight be able to distract them with something else, but what i haevn't figured out yet.

i figure if they read TCC, they might "get" it, but ryan wants to read it before handing it off to my parents.

and, i have to cleant he car. it needs to be vaccummed and also there is a weird spot in the back on the upholstry. should get that out before putting the car seat in.

that's all here. oh, and my computer is still at the shop and they won't return my calls, so i'm going by in a few. :)

[witchygrrl]

glad to know you're still feeling well, zoe. :)

re: cosleeping. We had gotten a cosleeper, but mostly Rhea sleeps with me anyway. I couldn't stand not being able to react immediately to her needs, even though she was about 9 inches away.

but we're headed to vt next weekend, and the beds aren't exactly what I would consider ideal for cosleeping, so we're bringing her moses basket. I hope the two of us can deal. plus the ILs will be there (seeing as it's a long weekend and their house), but it's not going to be restful. at all. Bf'ing will be an adventure also. I swear, no one ever bf'd in DH's family.

also, did your newborns have nightmares at all? she'll be sleeping peacefully, and then all of sudden cry out for a few seconds in her sleep. it's always heartbreaking when she does this, and we think it's because of nightmares.

[PiePie]

also, did your newborns have nightmares at all? she'll be sleeping peacefully, and then all of sudden cry out for a few seconds in her sleep. it's always heartbreaking when she does this, and we think it's because of nightmares.

? the research indicates that they don't really dream until 4 mos.

[PiePie]

zoe, i still get ua violations from my parents (well, just my mom) for cosleeping. :angry :angry when she was a newborn, i used the tiny love gymini http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Love-Gymini-Black-White/dp/B00000J4SP when i wanted to put her down. i thought it was a good toy too. :love i was having trouble getting a shower in so i also got a bouncy seat http://www.target.com/Fisher-Price-Rainforest-Bouncer/dp/B000I2WB6G, about which i had mixed feelings... we have a crib now (acquired at 10 mos., assembled at least a mo. thereafter) that we rarely use.

[~Shanna~]

also, did your newborns have nightmares at all? she'll be sleeping peacefully, and then all of sudden cry out for a few seconds in her sleep. it's always heartbreaking when she does this, and we think it's because of nightmares.Fenton did this too.

Will try to post more later, must get sleep. Now.

[PiePie]

stalking zoe.

[witchygrrl]

shanna, I'll be interested in what you have to say re:the baby nightmares. ven if research says they don't really dream, she falls into what looks like REM state really quickly. I always wonder what's going on in there.

I was also thinking about your tv post, shanna. we bought muppets stuff because we specifically loved the muppets from our childhood, and if Rhea should watch anything, she could watch that. But we also watch way too much tv ourselves, so honestly trying to have her not watch is going to be interesting.

so long as I don't stick her in a crib with some toys parked in front of the tv all day...oh wait, that was my babyhood:irked:

[Maela]

Heather, Dd would also do that.


they're desparate to buy a bassinette for me. like my ILs, they're *not listening*. i explained the continuum concept, which they think is realy crazy because "of course you'll want to put the baby down." which may or may not be true, btu that doesn't require a bassinette either.

they say that my sister can store it, which is fine, except when "in use" there's no real space. i think they're just freaked about co-sleeping, and dad asserts that no organization that is "real" or "withotu dubious or unknown backing" thinks that cosleeping is a good idea.

so, there you go. Mohtering and all-ya'll are "dubious with unknown backing."

well i already knew that, but cnosidering it's the way that people sleep all over the world and have for centuries, i figure that has a bit more longevit and clout than say, the APA or whatever. LOL

so, they're going to try and coerse me to take one; i m ight be able to distract them with something else, but what i haevn't figured out yet.

i figure if they read TCC, they might "get" it, but ryan wants to read it before handing it off to my parents.

and, i have to cleant he car. it needs to be vaccummed and also there is a weird spot in the back on the upholstry. should get that out before putting the car seat in.

that's all here. oh, and my computer is still at the shop and they won't return my calls, so i'm going by in a few. :)
ZB, there is a new book out that I saw at my LLL meeting. I can't remember what it was called. I'll try to figure it out. Here is a website (http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/index.html) that gives information on the safety of cosleeping.

[Maela]

Sleeping With Your Baby: A Parent's Guide to Cosleeping (http://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Your-Baby-Parents-Cosleeping/dp/1930775342/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219519930&sr=1-1) by James J. McKenna

I thought he was an MD, but I guess not. I don't even know if the book is new or not; thought it was. But maybe this would help your parents with the bassinet issue?

We have a crib that's not set up anymore. Someone gave it to us for free before Dd was born. I don't know if I even want to set it up for the next baby.

[~Shanna~]

Developing a sleep plan on Pantley's advice in NCSS for Toddlers. Will report back, it has been wonderfully helpful in clarifying what to work on.

[snozzberry]

Shanna, great to hear you're feeling hopeful about the advice you're getting on sleeping.

zoebird, maybe you can distract them with your beautiful new baby so they forget about the bassinet crap? :D

TV: It's so refreshing to hear such honest accounts of what everyone is trying to do with TV. I just love you ladies. :love So for us: We are currently trying not to let Abby look at the TV while we're watching, so she just gets glimpses every once in a while. But it's hard, and we feel guilty for watching the TV and not paying attention to her, so we're trying to cut back. We were watching about 45 min-1 hr of TV every night while we ate dinner, and she would sit in a baby chair facing us. So now we're going to try eating dinner at the table w/no TV. It helps that she can sit in her high chair while we eat, now.

But I had planned on not letting her watch TV (in our house at least) before the age of 2, maybe longer. Maybe that's not reasonable--we'll see. I mean she's 6 months old now, and we're just now starting to adjust our TV watching habits to what we had planned to before she arrived. :o We just really don't like the idea of her seeing ads before she can start to understand on some level that their purpose is to manipulate her. Also, I got that book Elizabeth recommended called Endangered Minds--it had some interesting things to say about TV, and even recommended delaying/decreasing TV until the child learns how to read, as TV watching can decrease comprehension skills. The book's point was that TV is a passive learning experience (if it's a learning experience at all), whereas reading requires active translation of words to concepts. So if a kid watches too much TV, they can develop passive learning habits and don't have great reading/learning skills in general.

Napping changes: Abby has always been a frequent napper and has always had decently long naps. She stays awake for 1-2 hours before being ready for a nap, then she sleeps 45 min-1.5 hrs. But in the last week, she's been pushing it to 2-3 hrs between naps and only sleeping for 30 min at a time!!! And getting her down for the nap has never been harder--we have to bounce her on the exercise ball for a looooong time. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 times before we can put her down & she'll stay asleep. Also, she was never a "colicky" baby but in the last week, she's been fussy from early evening to 11 pm, and it's super hard to get her down to a nap during that time and also very hard to get her to go to sleep for the night.

What could be causing this?!? Possibilities I can think of: Teeth? She has 2 bottom teeth already, so maybe more are on the way? I can't feel anything poking thru yet, and I don't see any bulges like I did with the 2 bottom.
Solid foods? We started giving her a little avocado every morning starting Tuesday, along with some water. The napping/fussiness issues started Tuesday night. (btw, we're not boiling the water...is that bad?)
Fighting illness? DH was sick with a bad cold on Wednesday and Thursday, then I've been sick Friday and today. She was a little snotty/sneezy last night and tossing/turning all night, but no more snotty/sneezy today. So maybe she's going to be in the clear? :fingersx:
She fell on her head Sunday night. I know it's unlikely to be related, but it's hard not to let my mind wander in that direction...Do you guys have any other ideas on what could be causing a napping/fussiness change like this? I'm at a loss. :(

And I'm sure I don't have to tell you ladies this as a lot of us have been thru times like this, but I really feel like I'm about to reach a breaking point. I'll bounce her for 10-15 min (my back muscles are constantly sore as a result), lay her down, then her eyes will pop open and if I don't pick her up right away, she'll arch her back (new skill) and CRY CRY CRY hard.

Last night, when I was feeling achy and snotty and she was NOT sleeping, I was really not feeling very nice feelings towards her. :( I know she's not doing anything on purpose, but it certainly starts to feel like that sometimes.

Okay, sorry for the novel...

[~Shanna~]

hear such honest accounts of what everyone is trying to do with TV. I just love you ladies. :love So for us: We are currently trying not to let Abby look at the TV while we're watching, so she just gets glimpses every once in a while. But it's hard, and we feel guilty for watching the TV and not paying attention to her, so we're trying to cut back. We were watching about 45 min-1 hr of TV every night while we ate dinner, and she would sit in a baby chair facing us. So now we're going to try eating dinner at the table w/no TV. It helps that she can sit in her high chair while we eat, now.

But I had planned on not letting her watch TV (in our house at least) before the age of 2, maybe longer. Maybe that's not reasonable--we'll see. I mean she's 6 months old now, and we're just now starting to adjust our TV watching habits to what we had planned to before she arrived. :o We just really don't like the idea of her seeing ads before she can start to understand on some level that their purpose is to manipulate her. Also, I got that book Elizabeth recommended called Endangered Minds--it had some interesting things to say about TV, and even recommended delaying/decreasing TV until the child learns how to read, as TV watching can decrease comprehension skills. The book's point was that TV is a passive learning experience (if it's a learning experience at all), whereas reading requires active translation of words to concepts. So if a kid watches too much TV, they can develop passive learning habits and don't have great reading/learning skills in general. I find that it's so hard to have different expectations for baby than is the personality of our home. Brandon and I don't watch much tv, but we do some. And sometimes I look at my expectations for Fenton, and they're more in line as if we didn't have a tv at all. Same with food. We have a pretty good food repertoire here - my nephew recently told me that we have nothing "fun to eat" :lol. But we do have a bag of kettle chips always in the house, and I start getting stressed when Fenton requests them. But it seems wacky to not want him to eat something that I keep in the house. So I'm having to approach it backwards, of what is reasonable to have in our family life, and then go from there on helping Fenton to regulate. I guess that's a long way of saying: I dunno :shrug

Napping changes: Abby has always been a frequent napper and has always had decently long naps. She stays awake for 1-2 hours before being ready for a nap, then she sleeps 45 min-1.5 hrs. But in the last week, she's been pushing it to 2-3 hrs between naps and only sleeping for 30 min at a time!!! And getting her down for the nap has never been harder--we have to bounce her on the exercise ball for a looooong time. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 times before we can put her down & she'll stay asleep. Also, she was never a "colicky" baby but in the last week, she's been fussy from early evening to 11 pm, and it's super hard to get her down to a nap during that time and also very hard to get her to go to sleep for the night.

What could be causing this?!? Possibilities I can think of: Teeth? She has 2 bottom teeth already, so maybe more are on the way? I can't feel anything poking thru yet, and I don't see any bulges like I did with the 2 bottom.
Solid foods? We started giving her a little avocado every morning starting Tuesday, along with some water. The napping/fussiness issues started Tuesday night. (btw, we're not boiling the water...is that bad?)
Fighting illness? DH was sick with a bad cold on Wednesday and Thursday, then I've been sick Friday and today. She was a little snotty/sneezy last night and tossing/turning all night, but no more snotty/sneezy today. So maybe she's going to be in the clear? :fingersx:
She fell on her head Sunday night. I know it's unlikely to be related, but it's hard not to let my mind wander in that direction...Do you guys have any other ideas on what could be causing a napping/fussiness change like this? I'm at a loss. :(

And I'm sure I don't have to tell you ladies this as a lot of us have been thru times like this, but I really feel like I'm about to reach a breaking point. I'll bounce her for 10-15 min (my back muscles are constantly sore as a result), lay her down, then her eyes will pop open and if I don't pick her up right away, she'll arch her back (new skill) and CRY CRY CRY hard.

Last night, when I was feeling achy and snotty and she was NOT sleeping, I was really not feeling very nice feelings towards her. :( I know she's not doing anything on purpose, but it certainly starts to feel like that sometimes.

Okay, sorry for the novel...I'm thinking teeth, and that wild card of it just might hurt to grow that fast. I wish I didn't understand so incredibly thoroughly what you mean about the breaking point. This is a hard hard job. I forget that a lot, because it seems like anything that so many people do can't be that hard. I had a little connipiton fit last night because I was so sick of nursing Fenton to sleep for the umpteenth time. Brandon's trick is that he keeps near the changing table a picture of him holding Fenton when he was just 30 seconds old. He also says that when he's about to lose it, he stops and looks into Fenton's face. It helps to remind him that he's a person, worthy of empathy. I wish I had a trick. Usually I can empathize with what he's feeling, but often I can't get past my own selfishness, which is understandable. I haven't had a full nights sleep in 17 months. So all that to say...... Come sit in my treehouse :hug. But I really do believe that if you do the best you can (really the best you can) in any moment, you can forgive yourself a lot because you feel confident that you have always done your absolute best. All of these rules we come up with for what is best for kids are pretty irrelevent when your child sees that you were a constantly-striving parent.

[PiePie]

Developing a sleep plan on Pantley's advice in NCSS for Toddlers. Will report back, it has been wonderfully helpful in clarifying what to work on.

wow i am so glad! i had been feeling much guilt for recommending it without reading it first but i went out on a limb because my LC recommended it and I really like her, I know she coslept, etc.

[PiePie]

even recommended delaying/decreasing TV until the child learns how to read, as TV watching can decrease comprehension skills. The book's point was that TV is a passive learning experience (if it's a learning experience at all), whereas reading requires active translation of words to concepts. So if a kid watches too much TV, they can develop passive learning habits and don't have great reading/learning skills in general.


there is a middle ground here. when dd starts watching tv (age 3?) (more likely onlyl dvds) we intend to use closed captioning. finland has the best literacy rates in the world, and they don't start sch until age 7. but all their tv has cc. i think there might be a relationship. at any rate that's the plan.

also i really like common sense media's website re which specific tv programs, dvds, etc.

[PiePie]

kelly, from what i have read she may be having a developmental milestone and that can interfere with sleep. i can't say i noticed that much on this end. however, i have noticed that if something is bothering babe it is likely to bother them worst at night, if that makes sense. you are doing great, keep up the good work.

[PiePie]

I am a bit sad tonight. I went to a party held by an old friend of mine. we have been friends since age 5, although not v. good friends for quite a while. certainly not since i've known dh. but like many relationships it has ebbed and flowed. so i left feeling not only neglected and not understood but a huge gulf between me and her on parenting style. the worst was when dd pinched her dog she said to dd, you wouldn't want to be pinched and pinched dd! when dh said to me, "They are just vacuous people" I had to agree that we won't be schlepping out to the suburbs again to see them. i am feeling keenly my lack of girlfriends (esp mama friends) with whom I have contact IRL.

[MujerMamaMismo]

I am a bit sad tonight. I went to a party held by an old friend of mine. we have been friends since age 5, although not v. good friends for quite a while. certainly not since i've known dh. but like many relationships it has ebbed and flowed. so i left feeling not only neglected and not understood but a huge gulf between me and her on parenting style. the worst was when dd pinched her dog she said to dd, you wouldn't want to be pinched and pinched dd! when dh said to me, "They are just vacuous people" I had to agree that we won't be schlepping out to the suburbs again to see them. i am feeling keenly my lack of girlfriends (esp mama friends) with whom I have contact IRL.

PiePie :hug
I know that I'll be in the same boat as you. We are the first of our friends to have a baby. Some friends are trying or planning for later and others are vehemently (and sometimes offensively) childless by choice. Our best friends, who live one minute away, and we used to see multiple times per week, have completely disappeared on us since I've been pregnant and it makes me very sad. We have not changed, nor have we gone baby ga-ga. We still have adult conversations and do adult things but apparently all they see us as now are parents with screaming kids who impinge on their nice little middle class lifestyle. The sad thing is that we feared this would happen and approached them about it but they assured us that they'd be thrilled to be 'favourite aunts' and super involved. It makes me sad, but it also makes me really angry.:angry:(

I'm excited that we're going to see David Sedaris tonight...with our donor and his girlie. Now they are deeply loyal and committed friends who will never abandon us but with whom we have little in common...except for an eternal biological tie who is currently doing aerobics in my belly!

[TwilightJoy]

Shanna (or anyone else)- I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on Biden.

[~Shanna~]

Shanna (or anyone else)- I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on Biden.Big disappointment for me. But Wellstone is dead, Kucinich is "unelectable" and my love for Edwards has been taken down a notch by, well, his penis. I'm thrilled it wasn't Hillary, but I never really thought that would happen.

I think my disappointment is pretty irrational - I didn't expect someone so "establishment", but I have to say that despite being a loose canon (and sometimes I heart that), he thinks fast on his feet and manages to make the moral dubiousness of opponent candidates look as ridiculous as it really is. So I'm fully prepared to eat my words.

Still stalking Zoe....

[~Shanna~]

Anyone else feeling like they're suddenly featured in the media a lot as an idiot who doesn't vaccinate? They're sure a Johnny-come-lately on what an irresponsible moron I am.......

Pie Pie, I'm so sorry about the incident with your friend. To everything, a season..... How did you handle the pinching thing with your friend? That must have sent you into orbit.......

[PiePie]

pete seeger says dd has a good voice! i took her to hear him this morning at lincoln center -- she went crazy for "this land is your land" and "this little light of mine" (one of "my" songs with her). but she started screaming "gah," which i thought meant, "give me your coke can" (a frequent request) but no, it turned into "guantanamera!" everybody laughed -- she was really loud -- and pete seeger said, "good voice!" :)

on the pinching thing, i didn't say anything because dd wasn't bothered -- she is a really tough kid with a high pain threshold.

[AislinCarys]

there is a middle ground here. when dd starts watching tv (age 3?) (more likely onlyl dvds) we intend to use closed captioning. finland has the best literacy rates in the world, and they don't start sch until age 7. but all their tv has cc. i think there might be a relationship. at any rate that's the plan.

also i really like common sense media's website re which specific tv programs, dvds, etc.

I grew up in Sweden, where most of the TV programmes has cc (a lot of English/American TV, reruns, and for the hearing impaired), and also where children started school at 7 (now they either start at 6 or 7). Anyway, when I started school at 7, within a year all but 2 of the children in the class were reading fluently (and those 2 had learning difficulties). Why? Well, not because the teaching is great(it isn't), and I think we learned more English from TV than reading (although all text is good!). I think the main reason is that the majority of children are "ready" for reading by 7-8, brain research indicates that most girls are ready between ages of 5-7, most boys between 7-9. I've taught Y1 in Sweden and New Zealand (age 5 in Y1). Teachers and parents work really hard here in NZ to teach reading, and still a lot of the students struggle in Reading Recovery, an intervention programme and are considered to have reading problems by that young age.

DD slept really well at night already from the beginning (3-4 hour stretches), and a long stretch of 6-8 hours from 2-4 months. Then she started waking at least one more time most nights. By 5 months it was becoming twice more. In the last 10 nights we've had 2 good nights, luckily last night was one of them! The 2 before where terrible. First she won't go to sleep when I try to feed her to sleep (very tired, so it takes 1 1/2 hour. Then she wakes up about 2 hours later, has a feed, but won't go to sleep, and DH walks around with her crying for an hour, then I manage to feed her to sleep. Then she wakes up, early, those 2 nights at 4 or 5 , and will not go back to sleep (until 11.30am on Saturday!). Oh, and she usually only has one daytime sleep, up to 2 1/2 hour, although if she wakes up earlier she won't go back to sleep (sometimes only 1/2 h)

We have started giving her some solids (porridge with banana out of my breakfast bowl). She has no teeth. She is a very happy little girl, except when she gets tired.

[~Shanna~]

Horrible night last night, one of the worst. Finally got to sleep between 5 and 6, after working out a mean plan to nightwean cold-turkey :( Feeling more loving, with a plan to get a very dim nightlight so that I can see DSs face in the night if we're having trouble like this. I think it will help me. Went to church this morning and had 2 moms look at me in alarm when they heard about the night we had, saying "Well, my kids slept through the night at 3 months old!" Thanks, that's helpful. One of the moms laughed and said that I needed to "shut the baby monitor off, close the door, and have him sleep in the basement if needed" :irked: I'm trying to forget that her baby was diagnosed with failure to thrive, because I know that happens for all kinds of reasons. Then, a dearly-loved gentleman at my church was telling me all about his naive DIL who "didn't believe in spanking", and he kept telling her "just you wait". Well, apparently she eventually spanked out of anger and was so happy to see that "it worked! :joy:" WHAT??!!! YOu mean violence and coercion work?! Well, what the hell am I doing over here?????

Wishing I could drown my culture in a bathtub......

[witchygrrl]

Shanna (or anyone else)- I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on Biden.

What Shanna said...DH and I also felt that Biden would have made a great Secretary of State rather than VP, but honestly...this isn't bad. Obama isn't my first choice (that would be Kucinich, but I know that the country won't go in that direction, sadly). But the ticket overall seems decent enough.

[PiePie]

shanna, interested to hear your new sleep plan.

BIDEN: not disappointed. not thrilled. would have preferred tim kaine but grateful it isn't evan bayh. like shanna, i really didn't expend a lot of energy on the possibility that it would be hillary. now once upon a time they would have been my dream ticket, in either order, but there is too much water under the bridge. i am mixed on biden. otoh, i am pissed that the didn't take anita hill seriously at first and then, once he realized clarence thomas wasn't going down on ideology, he blew off her confidentiality requests. otoh, he was a star (along with wellstone, but he's dead) shooting the violence against women act into being. i think for most people there is something to dislike about him along with something to like. a safe choice, i think.

having a freakin' panic attack about work.

[~Shanna~]

having a freakin' panic attack about work.What's going on? :hug

[Maela]

Kelly, :hugs. I definitely have days (or rather moments) where I am SO frustrated and near my breaking point and am not feeling nice. I think it's totally normal. But it does suck. I feel so mean sometimes. I think it does help to look at her face and think of something really cute/funny that she does.


Shanna, sorry about the rough night. :Hug I have heard those comments from people too. So many people saying, "you'll change your mind about spanking once in a while." And TONS of the STTN at a young young age comments. I don't let myself complain about Dd's sleeping anymore to people who I know will say things like that or who just won't understand. GMIL is the worst, but we get a lot of comments from strangers/aquaintances too.


Dh and I have been having a rough time dealing with my mom lately. She is just always telling us what to do or what we're doing wrong with Dd. She doesn't even realize it. I know if I confronted her on it, she would be really hurt. :eyesroll:( And I'm not good at confrontations. I'm just working on being very firm and short with my answers. "No, we've decided this." Dh and I decided we're going to work at letting her comments roll off our backs, and we'll have a laugh at the outrageousness of them later when we're alone. I think having a sense of humor about it might work.


I'm going to take a 5 day break from the internet and tv. I just feel like I need it. So I'll be gone for a few days, but thinking about you all. Have a great week everyone!

[zoebird]

still pregnant here and no problem. i am getting some heavy contractions now and again. by heavy, i mean that they're sustained. the belly gets hard and stays hard for quite a while. then, relaxes and the baby wiggles and wiggles. it all feels so wonderful. i'm really excited about what the birth will bring.

still using the library's computers. the computer fix-it group are a PITA. we took it to them last sunday, they said it wuold be done by thursday "at the latest." didn't hear a peep from them, even though i called on Wed for an update adn 2 times on Thurs. I tried to call again on fri, got nothing (no answer). So, i stop by.

i find out that they hadnt' even started working on it. they said it would be finished Sat afternoon/evening. I thought, great! said they'd call. they didn't.

Sunday, i call, and i find out that they've only started the project and that they can't finish it until "monday at the earliest" and that it should be done "monday night." called today to find out that it "might be done tomorrow."

but what realyl gets me is not the time it's taking, but the lack of customer service at two levels: 1. no communuication in general, and 2. when i call, they give me attitude about having to fix my computer. HELLO! it's your JOB and i PAID UP FRONT. duh.

so, i talked to the manager (again) about it, and while he apologized, i recommended that he actualyl train his people in some people/phone skills.

with any luck, we'll have it back tomorrow and ryan will be able to write again and i'll be able to be online.

also, still waiting on the mattress. was supposed to come last tuesday, right? yeah, it's coming tomorrow (supposedly). they called on tuesday tos ay that they had "more local deliveries" than expected, so i got bumped, but they didn't set a new appt because they'd left a message.

i called twice on wed, thurs, and fri. sat am while teaching yoga, i get a phone message (which i checked at 11) which came in around 9;30. it said "we'll deliver between 12 and 2 TODAY." are you kidding? that's the advance notice that i get?

so, then, they call at abuot 11:30 and apparently their driver was injuired during the morning and they couldnt' deliver. i ask the guy if they can bring it Sun, Mon, but he says he doesn't know what's ont he schedule.

did i mention that i also paid up front for delivery too? bah!

so, the guy says that he'll call back on sunday before "starting otu" and let me know when he can come on mon or tues. well, no call by 11 and so i call him. he says he can come on tuesday, but doesn't know when because he's already "out" and not looking at the schedule.

fine, but i better get my bed on tuesday! LOL

my parents did come for the day on saturday and it was a good time. we hung new curtains in the house and also took care of little fix-it projects that ryan and i couldn't do (no tools). that was helpful.

ryan asked his dad to come and help, but he refused because he was 'too busy' again, and ryan pointed out that this is another example of how they claim to want to help, but then never actuall do help when we need it, and then complain that we never allow or ask them forh elp, and then discove4r that my parents come toh elp. . .and well, the circle.

they said that we have to plan these things better. i figure that asking about a month in advance is enough, byut apparently not.

oh, and everyone is freaked about UCing now. well, not ryan and i. my mom/dad were under some illusion that i have a midwife. i told my mom that i know a midwife, and she's willing to come over if i want her and then charge later. i did NOT tell them that i was calling her, but that i could. mom took this to mean that iw as calling her, this made everyone feel better.

and i never corrected her of that notion, because i knew the illusion made her feelb etter and it didnt' hurt me either way anyway. then, ryan told my dad what ther eality was, and dad got very upset.

now, i told everyone about UC, but seriously. . ..

any other dramas? no, not really.

we have TV issues too--funny.

and i love Pete Seeger and we're looking to start a 'family singing gruop' based around his music and other folk music. it's jsut finding the folks for it. :)

oh, and finally, i decided that this would be my last week of work. if the baby doesn't come this week (i think it will be next week), then i'll work this week and start by taking next week off. makes sense to me anyway. :)

i thinkt hat i could use the rest, and my friend patti is going to help me laze arond and do some cooking and what not next week.

all in all, it's going well. but i do look forward to having my nternet at home, because at the library, you have tos tand. STAND.

i asked for a stool, and they said no. NO! can you believe it? it old them i was due any minute and it didnt' matter at all. LOL!

[witchygrrl]

still pregnant here and no problem. i am getting some heavy contractions now and again. by heavy, i mean that they're sustained. the belly gets hard and stays hard for quite a while. then, relaxes and the baby wiggles and wiggles. it all feels so wonderful. i'm really excited about what the birth will bring.



I was wondering about you:) I remember those kind of contractions--they were definitely fascinating and exciting.

The first few hours of pre-labor (I'm not sure what to call it--we refer to that day as when Rhea basically said "fooled you!") were very regular, made me pay attention, and were vaguely sexual in sensation. But yeah, they were also sustained in a good way. I'm excited to see what your experience will bring!

And it seems some people need to be smacked...a 9 month pregnant lady standing at a computer...are they whacked?

[~Shanna~]

are they whacked?yes. the whole world is. :lol

[MujerMamaMismo]

Sleepless Moms: I'm thinking of you. I'm feeling pretty sleep deprived myself and am really freaking out at the thought that this is nothing compared to what I'm about to embark upon... :hug

Zoebird: Sounds like you're doing really well. And it's gonna be a Virgo baby for you!

PiePie: How's work? Just really busy or something else more sinister?

I know everyone does this to this group ... but now it's my turn ...
What great regime have you all come up with for nappies (diapers)? We're thinking prefolds with wool covers for newborn nights and just regular prefolds and PUL covers for days. And once Squeak is big enough we will probably switch to one-sized bamboo fitteds with wool covers for nights and continue with regular prefolds for days. I'd also like to have a few AIO's for going out but they're not in our current budget.

What do you all think? I think we're getting a 36 pack of prefolds. How many fitteds and wool covers do you think is a realistic minimum for what we want to do? Have I got the equation generally right? He's a summer babe.

[PiePie]

I'm feeling pretty sleep deprived myself and am really freaking out at the thought that this is nothing compared to what I'm about to embark upon... :hug
PiePie: How's work? Just really busy or something else more sinister?


on the cloth diapers, my view is that you can never have too many COVERS. the actual prefolds never/rarely ran out, but woe unto you if you don't have a clean cover on hand.

i honestly feel that pregnancy/birth/babyhood brings you what you can take. i had an abominable pregnancy, a challenging but ultimately empowering birth, and a blissful newborn period. so on my theory at least mujer you are working out all your kinks now and then everything will be easy peasy.

i have like the hugest trial of my life next week, i am woefully underprepared -- as in it is physically impossible for me to get prepared -- and in truth i am massively distracted by all the transitions in dd's life. the walking, first birthday, and impending transition to daycare (from nanny) all feel like huge milestones in MY life. this afternoon/tonight was sch orientation and she did grand -- shrieked in ecstasy whenever a new kid came in and toddled over ot hug (and in one case tackle) him, kissed tghe teachers goodbye, etc. they (the 3 teachers) were fighting over whose she was (hello, she's MINE :wink)-- she is clearly all 3 teachers' favorite. i am somewhat optimistic about finding mama friends through daycare. i have my eye on this lesbian couple who are still nursing their 15 mo ds, although i didn't like when she said dd's name was "screamer" in reference to her joyous squeals. there is another family i can't see clicking with -- their clothes are obscenely expensive (really, who wears a little black dress to a presch orientation? and ginormous diamonds?) and they have a full-time nanny for a sahm. dh thinks i am wrong ot make snap judgments and who knows maybe tghis kid will be dd's best friend. i am slightly disappointed that there are younger kids in the class -- it is obvious that she is drawn to older children. so basically it sucks that work and dd's transitions are colliding and i am sticking to my guns by prioritizing her in terms of time allocation but then i have guilt and anxiety over shortchanging work. in my heart of hearts, i think the judge is going to decide this based on whether he buys into stereotypes about poor people and no amount of lawyering labor is going to change his mind (whatever that is) but the do things by the book good girl in me thinks i should give this case my all. it could possibly be career making, yet here i am on mdc. :eyesroll love you guys.

[PiePie]

oh, started out with 2 covers = disaster. can't remember if we upped it to 4 or 6.

[katt]

DOn't have a lot of time, but I wanted to share with you all that I finally started an ETSY account: http://www.photokatdotnet.etsy.com

[~Shanna~]

I know everyone does this to this group ... but now it's my turn ...
What great regime have you all come up with for nappies (diapers)? We're thinking prefolds with wool covers for newborn nights and just regular prefolds and PUL covers for days. And once Squeak is big enough we will probably switch to one-sized bamboo fitteds with wool covers for nights and continue with regular prefolds for days. I'd also like to have a few AIO's for going out but they're not in our current budget.

What do you all think? I think we're getting a 36 pack of prefolds. How many fitteds and wool covers do you think is a realistic minimum for what we want to do? Have I got the equation generally right? He's a summer babe.

on the cloth diapers, my view is that you can never have too many COVERS. the actual prefolds never/rarely ran out, but woe unto you if you don't have a clean cover on hand.I have to agree with Pie Pie, I needed so many more covers than I thought - Fenton pooped out of the dipe nearly every time, plus the woolies take a)initiative to get hand-washed and b)time to air-dry. We had 2 fleece and 1 wool cover for night, and usually this was enough, but I think there were a few times where I could have used a 4th night cover. I found we went through about 12 dipes a day when F was newborn, and that included doubling it up at night and not changing it for 8-12 hours when we slept. Back when we did that :lol. How often do you want to do laundry? Depending on squeek's wetness, you may find you can get away without changing a dipe at night. If he stays in one all night, I'd say just 1 fited per night, plus 2-3 extras per laundry run to smooth out lagging laundry. I don't think I know anyone who changed dipes in the night, unless of severe dipe rash. Most mamas I know just keep stuffing until they can get away without changing in the night.

Did that answer your question? I found dipe preparation to be maddening because it's so vast and complicated and even if it weren't, it's impossible to guess what kind of eliminator your LO will be. How many pul are you getting? I always seemed to be one short, no matter how many I had....

And while i hate to throw a new variable in your well-oiled machine, I simply must add that I LOVE bumgenius pockets, and wish I had known about this from the start. Same cost and benefit to AIO, but they dry faster and allow you to customize absorbancy. Only con is that you do have to stuff them, which probably takes less time than the extry drying time on the AIO.

And I have to echo Pie Pie on how you're probably getting your challenges out now. I had a blissful pregnancy and birth, hellish nursing, and sleep started out perfect and has declined since then (around the time nursing stopped it's blinding pain). It won't all get thrown at you at once :hug.

Katt, congrats on the Etsy account! That's such a great site.....

Awful night last night, we seem to be running one bad/one good. Napping like a dream. I should be sleeping. :shrug

Zoewatch.......

[MujerMamaMismo]

Oh boy...we're on page 2! BUMP

Thanks Shanna & PiePie for the nappy recs. I'd really like to try a BumGenius but they're not avail in Australia. That is to say, lots of online business' claim to stock them but none of them ever have them in stock. Covers covers covers. I hear you. My mum has just bought a couple of metres of PUL and is going to try her hand at making them so hopefully we'll be all good.
This nappy thing is soooooo confusing. I've spent months trying to wrap my head around it. DP only really scratched the surface for the first time last night and she was sitting there saying 'oh boy, i get it now. this nappy business is serious stuff!'

Thanks also for the words about difficult pregnancy vs challenging babe. I hope you're right. I don't feel like my pregnancy has been terrible but it's WAY harder than I expected and I'm certainly looking forward to having this little wiggler earthside. I can't believe that I'm merely weeks from the 3rd trimester. How did that happen??

Zoebird - I think you're having a September babe too. Sending you love :love

PiePie - Sounds like you're being practical and realistic. You know in your heart that you're making the best choices for you and DD. Career opportunities are great and all, but at the end of the day it's just work. Of course, it's really important work but you're not a good worker when you're sacrificing yourself and your family. You have your priorities right. Keep believing that and look after yourself. I'll be thinking of you over the next week. :hug

Sleepless Mums: sending you and your babes all the sleep vibes I can muster.

[~Shanna~]

Better sleep last night. I bit the bullet and started writing down how often Fenton was waking, so I can see trends. He woke once around 2, and again around 6! :joy:

MMM, if you decide to go with BG, I would be happy to order and ship it to you.

[zoebird]

just finished my massage!

still standing at the library, but i do get to pick up the computer this afternoon. then, we have to get the internet hooked up again and what not, and then we'll be good to go.

got the mattress today too. it's nice. of course, they forgot to include the mattress protector (mattress pad), and so they said they'd ship it. i told them i wanted it on friday at the latest, and they are paying for shipping. their error, and i have already paid $258 for the thing AND waited over a week for it all.

otherwise, the house is finished. i do have an appointment to talk to another cleaning person on friday. i hope she'll be less expensive, but we'll see.

that's all around here. very few contrations really, but a lot of baby miovement.

oh, and we're having trouble figuring out how to put the car seat in. could they make the instructions more confusing?

[wateraddict]

<snip> I can't believe that I'm merely weeks from the 3rd trimester. How did that happen?? <snip>


Oh my goodnes, that went FAST MMM! :joy:


Yeah for more sleep Shanna :joy:


ZB - glad to hear there will be no more standing for the computer. My goodness, that's just ridiculous! :joy: on having your mattress. I think you can take the car seat to the police station and they will help you install it.



Thank you everyone for sharing your lives and stories here. :grouphug I really appreciate all of your insight.

[Sihaya]

Then, a dearly-loved gentleman at my church was telling me all about his naive DIL who "didn't believe in spanking", and he kept telling her "just you wait". Well, apparently she eventually spanked out of anger and was so happy to see that "it worked! :joy:" WHAT??!!! YOu mean violence and coercion work?! Well, what the hell am I doing over here?????

Wishing I could drown my culture in a bathtub......:hug I'm there with you, Shanna. This weekend, BIL and his girlfriend were making snide comments about a friend who doesn't spank her dd and I'm at a loss of how I'll respond when those type of comments start to be directed at me/my child.

I'm going to take a 5 day break from the internet and tv. I just feel like I need it. So I'll be gone for a few days, but thinking about you all. Have a great week everyone! Hope you have a peaceful break! I just finished a 4-day internet break of my own and catching up isn't as horrible as I imagine in the middle of day 2, but is still quite a task.

Things have been crazier than usual here. Spent Sat night and Sun morning at the hospital. My 17yo brother attempted suicide and was in the ped ICU. We are still in the thick of packing/moving and not feeling any closer to being ready to make the big move any time soon, though our lease is up in 2 weeks.

[~Shanna~]

:hug I'm there with you, Shanna. This weekend, BIL and his girlfriend were making snide comments about a friend who doesn't spank her dd and I'm at a loss of how I'll respond when those type of comments start to be directed at me/my child.The happy thing is that they won't direct them at you or Calvin - they'll just talk about it behind your back. Which I actually think is better :thumb

Things have been crazier than usual here. Spent Sat night and Sun morning at the hospital. My 17yo brother attempted suicide and was in the ped ICU..Steph, I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say. :hug

[~Shanna~]

I think my menstrual cycle might be coming back. I have to keep napkins in the car because of CM - sorry for TMI (really), but I wish someone had warned me about this, so I thought I'd warn someone else. It's just.....wow.

[MujerMamaMismo]

Steph: :hug - so sorry to hear about your bro. I hope he's finding the care and help he needs.
Good luck with the packing and organising. Moving, they say, is one of the top stressors in life. Take care.

Shanna: O/T but was excited to see you're a lover of Marilynne Robinson (via facebook). I couldn't really get into Gilead but Housekeeping is in my top 3 fave books ever!

Thanks too for the generous BG offer. I'll keep it in mind and see where the finances take us!

[cking]

:eyes

I wrote a super long post last night and the computer ate it and then dd woke up! I promise to come back soon.

let's see if I can recap-

Josephine is getting two teeth! The second bottom tooth broke through the gums on Sunday. Dh finally realized there was a tooth last week and said "wow, it feels like there's a piece of glass in her gums." :lol

in response to other's posts - she has also been crying out in her sleep - right now i think it's teething pain, but she's been doing it since she was very young. She also laughs in her sleep sometimes, so I do think it's dreaming.

be back

[MujerMamaMismo]

Page 2 again!

A question for all you Mama's...Have you felt that your relationship with your DP has been jeopardised or negatively changed since the birth of your DC? I ask because it's probably the biggest worry I have about becoming a Mama. DP and I have had 7 very happy years together with never more than a minor tantrum/argument and only very rarely. I'd be so sad to cave under the pressure of new parenthood.

[zoebird]

i think that problems from before become pronounced after. so, i don't anticipate any real problems here. :)

our relationship has changed. ryan talked with me about how he feels very 'number 2' in my life, but also understands why. he used to be number 1, and of course when october j was dying, he was number 1, but that was temporary.

he just finished reading the continuum concept, and he totally gets how babies become number one, and also how our relationship has to adapt as well. he also read another article somewhere about when fathers really come to the fore in the child-parent relationships, which helped him a great deal.

he is involved, excited, etc--but he has to 'take care of' more things for himself than before. for example, i used to have way more patience for his whining, his piles of mess (clutter) and what not. he used to be able to really vent to me about anything ad infinitum until it was worked out.

not so anymore. i ahve other things on my mind/plate, and so he has to take care of a lot of that on his own. he's found this difficult, and he's found me "cold" because of it, but he's also understanding that my focus is on the baby and preparing for it, so i don't have a lot of physical or emotional energy to manage stuff that, technically, he should be ablet o manage on his own (and can and does, it's just that, before, he'd rely on me for "help").

so, we're finding balance. it's just new.

----

oh, and i'm on my friend's computer. guess what? my computer STILL isn't done and they didn't call me to let me know. i was completely ticked about it, and about their attitude. i've called to talk to corporate about it, as well as complained to the manager on site.

it's such a PITA.

[witchygrrl]

Our relationship has changed a bit too, but in an enriching way. DH holds DD and asks her all the time how we lived before she arrived. It's very sweet. It's just one more thing we have in common--that we have this beatiful child together.

Of course, it also helps that DH was able to find work. He says that I'm smiling again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoe, I'd be raising holy hell! Don't mess with a ready to give birth mother!

[PiePie]

steph, that is so sad about your brother. your family must be under incredible stress right now. there are mh issues in my family too but that is more than i can imagine.

mujerista, yes things have changed, but almost 100% for the better. dh is a much more enamored dad than i would have thought possible. to be honest, i feel like i am #2 to dd to him (although he swears otherwise). the only "negative" -- or shall i say, things i want to work on -- changes have been that we don't have really any us time. our sex life is pretty inactive. part of that was my own fears/pain after the birth, part of it was the touched out feeling from nursing and babywearing and cosleeping (that was a relatively small factor, although i thought it would be bigger), a lot of it was that he was working way too hard for some period of time, and a lot of it was that we weren't laying the predicate romance because there was no alone time. so we went on a date on dd's first birthday. 1 date in 12 mos. that's it. my goal is to double that in the upcoming year. other impediments to sex: cosleeping, my falling asleep with dd sometimes when i nurse her down because the hormones are so strong, and of course the need for sleep. honestly i think if we unplugged from the net we might do better in the evenings after she is in bed. also getting the crib set up 10 mos. after the birth means that i can in theory put her down there for naps to give ourselves space.

[PiePie]

very rough day for me. left for work super early when dd was still asleep and when i came home somewhat late well before bedtime she was already down. and the judge told us that he wants us on trial till midnight next thursday. ua violation.

[snozzberry]

Baby who's still not napping well, so I didn't have time to read thru all the posts. :( But I did see all the advice/support for me, and I truly appreciate that, mamas.

Steph, I saw your post about your brother. :hug I'm so sorry.

I really, really need to get some sleep, but just wanted to say one last thing...







OBAMA ROCKS!!!

Did anyone else watch the speech tonight?!?

[PiePie]

loved the speech.

does anyone know why "good" nights are sometimes followed by "bad" nights? the night before last, dd woke only once to nurse (i stuck my boob in her mouth for a second session...) then last night she was up for 2 hours squirming and more awake than usual for a nurse. it sucked. i think it's because she didn't see me at all during the day -- her nursing sessions were more than triple their usual length, too -- that she was using nighttime to reconnect.

of course now work is blowing up.

[MujerMamaMismo]

We're back!

zoebird...can't wait to hear some news.

Had a hellish weekend - put my hip out and it got so bad I couldn't walk. Thanks to my osteopath, I'm mobile again but it's gonna take a while before I can walk properly. And, thanks to supple pregnancy joints and hormones, the midwife suspects it's going to keep happening. Oh the joy.

[PiePie]

mujerista, glad you're on your feet again. pregnancy sucks but you get good and valuable rewards as soon as it's over!:wink guaranteed...

[TwilightJoy]

We're back!

zoebird...can't wait to hear some news.


:2whistle:

Might want to head to Ryan's blog... http://holyembersofdreams.blogspot.com/

:joy:

[witchygrrl]

I had a feeling Zoe's baby was here, but I couldn't place when...hooray!!! Happy birthday Hawk!!! And congrats to Jenifer and Ryan!:joy::joy::joy:

[cking]

Woohoo! Welcome baby Hawk!:joy: :bouncy:

Congratulations Jenifer and Ryan!

thanks for the update TJ.

[Maela]

Woohoo! Welcome baby Hawk!:joy: :bouncy:

Congratulations Jenifer and Ryan!

thanks for the update TJ.

Yay!

Welcome Hawk!!!! Congrats ZB & Ryan!!!!


What a cool name! I love it. :thumb

[PiePie]

wow! you did it! great photos with your ds. the pics of you at 36 vs. 38 weeks show a striking difference. can't wait to hear your story in your own words.

[MujerMamaMismo]

:joy: :loveWelcome Hawk :love :joy:
& congratulations Jenifer and Ryan.
:champagne
I can't wait to hear all about the birth.

[witchygrrl]

DD is such a hungry girl. I feel like she is nursing ALL of the time...but it paid off. She weighed 8 lb 12 oz yesterday...a weight gain of 1 pb 10 oz in 2 weeks. Doc's not worried anymore:) But man, would I like a rest!

Off to reserach delayed vaxes more..doc wants to start on her on them, and I'd rather wait on most, if not all of them until she's 2.

[~Shanna~]

Welcome Baby Hawk!!!!!!!!!! :joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

[zoebird]

thanks all!

we're napping in shifts, nursing is a bit of a struggle but we're getting there. hawk is eager, and when the "service" is slow, he is quick to lodge a complaint to management.

he was quite certain that this establishment catered to babies, but now he's not so sure!

right now, we try the breast, scream for 5 minutes, then i give him pumped milk with a dropper (about 3/4-1 oz), and then a bit of water (dr's orders on that one--when did i ever listen? anyway, it makes sense for the now), and then i try to pump and oz or more--whatever i can to create a reserve for the next feeding.

we have a small tube now, and surenge (sp?), to attach to the nipple and see if it will help him make the connection. we've only had one good nursing session--yesterday--but we have hope.

the LLL ladies are really greatl; the leader called today after we were at yesterday's meeting. that was really great.

night time isn't bad either. i'll need to learn some different ways of nrusing (not just sitting up), but we'll get there.

so that's us. not a lot of time here. having a snack before pumping, so i'll probably be reading and pumping while hawk and dad nap!

[~Shanna~]

thanks all!

we're napping in shifts, nursing is a bit of a struggle but we're getting there. hawk is eager, and when the "service" is slow, he is quick to lodge a complaint to management.

he was quite certain that this establishment catered to babies, but now he's not so sure!

right now, we try the breast, scream for 5 minutes, then i give him pumped milk with a dropper (about 3/4-1 oz), and then a bit of water (dr's orders on that one--when did i ever listen? anyway, it makes sense for the now), and then i try to pump and oz or more--whatever i can to create a reserve for the next feeding.

we have a small tube now, and surenge (sp?), to attach to the nipple and see if it will help him make the connection. we've only had one good nursing session--yesterday--but we have hope.

the LLL ladies are really greatl; the leader called today after we were at yesterday's meeting. that was really great.

night time isn't bad either. i'll need to learn some different ways of nrusing (not just sitting up), but we'll get there.

so that's us. not a lot of time here. having a snack before pumping, so i'll probably be reading and pumping while hawk and dad nap!Hang in there Zoe :hug Nursing was so hard for us, but once we got it, I was so glad i hung in there. We did finger feeding too.

By the way: He's gorgeous :love

[~Shanna~]

Dear God, I am in nesting mode for the next baby already.

It has something to do with:
-Planting season is over and I need to stockpile my seeds, and figure out what I need to order this winter. And that is a function of how much food I need 1 1/2 years from now
-Putting up food with this harvest, trying to figure out what to can, freeze, etc.
-Which leads me to fantasize constantly about how I'll stock my freezer for the next one, and plan to have a mothers helper for the next one
-Numerous newborns in my life (thanks Zoe :irked:) plus my sister is TTC
-We're getting a bigger bed this week, and I'm worried about having spent so much money and it still doesn't solve the issue of how to co-sleep with 2
-Feeling crampy and eggwhitey, with no af in sight...
-Change in academic plans for DH means the world won't end if we get pregnant before January
-I finally saw some action this weekend! :D

And I have a suspicion that there is an irrational thought process going on here, that if I have another one, DS can't still be so demanding. Which is ridiculous.......

Sooooo......anyone know of traditional food meals that freeze well??? :eyesroll

[TwilightJoy]

Sooooo......anyone know of traditional food meals that freeze well??? :eyesroll

KerryAnn used to have a yahoo group on batch cooking (cooking a lot and freezing). She would be one to PM.

Also, I've made spaghetti, frozen pizzas, chicken and rice, taco pie, and a few other things for the boyfriend's freezer when he moved into a new apartment. I mostly TF'ed everything.

[witchygrrl]

thanks all!

we're napping in shifts, nursing is a bit of a struggle but we're getting there. hawk is eager, and when the "service" is slow, he is quick to lodge a complaint to management.

he was quite certain that this establishment catered to babies, but now he's not so sure!

right now, we try the breast, scream for 5 minutes, then i give him pumped milk with a dropper (about 3/4-1 oz), and then a bit of water (dr's orders on that one--when did i ever listen? anyway, it makes sense for the now), and then i try to pump and oz or more--whatever i can to create a reserve for the next feeding.

we have a small tube now, and surenge (sp?), to attach to the nipple and see if it will help him make the connection. we've only had one good nursing session--yesterday--but we have hope.

the LLL ladies are really greatl; the leader called today after we were at yesterday's meeting. that was really great.

night time isn't bad either. i'll need to learn some different ways of nrusing (not just sitting up), but we'll get there.

so that's us. not a lot of time here. having a snack before pumping, so i'll probably be reading and pumping while hawk and dad nap!


It'll happen, Zoe. Keep up the good work! It wasn't easy for us either, but we got the hang of it!

Can't wait to hear about you and Hawk.

[Sihaya]

Zoe, please let me know if you are in need of a Lact-aid system. I have four of them just lying around now that Calvin is back on the boob full time. I would be happy to sterilize one and mail it to you, overnight if necessary. Please let me know.

[Maela]

ZB, I'm so excited for you! Glad to hear the LLL ladies are giving you good support. I'm sure things will improve. Your baby is so beautiful.


I have been thinking a lot about the next pg too. We're still 10-11 months away from TTC, but it's been on my mind a lot lately. I find myself planning how I'm going to handle pg if I'm really nauseaus (sp?) again with a 2 yo. And how I'm going to eat better. And how I'm going to get in some exercise with a 2yo. And still cook homemade healthy dinners (like I've been doing for a month now! :thumb to me!). And how we'll arrange Dd's room to accomodate new baby's stuff. And how if I want to find out gender. And if I want to announce the pg before i'm in the 2nd trimester. How we're going to save money for another homebirth. And on and on... I've always been a big planner, so this makes sense. I'm not really dreading it all, just anxious. I really want the next birth to go better than the last one did (although I must admit until the pushing it was a pretty good labor). And I really want to be calmer and more relaxed during this next pg and newborn period. So I've just really been working on preparing myself mentally. I've got a lot of physical and mental work to do in the next year and a half before the next baby comes.

So, I guess I'm just saying, Shanna, that I think I know what you're going through. :innocent

[~Shanna~]

KerryAnn used to have a yahoo group on batch cooking (cooking a lot and freezing). She would be one to PM.Oh, great idea! I have her site bookmarked around here somewhere.....

I have been thinking a lot about the next pg too. We're still 10-11 months away from TTC, but it's been on my mind a lot lately. I find myself planning how I'm going to handle pg if I'm really nauseaus (sp?) again with a 2 yo. And how I'm going to eat better. And how I'm going to get in some exercise with a 2yo. And still cook homemade healthy dinners (like I've been doing for a month now! :thumb to me!). And how we'll arrange Dd's room to accomodate new baby's stuff. And how if I want to find out gender. And if I want to announce the pg before i'm in the 2nd trimester. How we're going to save money for another homebirth. And on and on... I've always been a big planner, so this makes sense. I'm not really dreading it all, just anxious. I really want the next birth to go better than the last one did (although I must admit until the pushing it was a pretty good labor). And I really want to be calmer and more relaxed during this next pg and newborn period. So I've just really been working on preparing myself mentally. I've got a lot of physical and mental work to do in the next year and a half before the next baby comes.

So, I guess I'm just saying, Shanna, that I think I know what you're going through. :innocentIt feels a little insane, when on most days I don't feel like I can handle what I have. Partly, these types of planning dilemmas are just what I love to think about when I can't sleep. But it's becoming a little obsessive.

[snozzberry]

zoebird, congratulations!!! :joy: :joy: :joy:

Hang in there with the nursing. It sounds like you have some great support, though, which is great.

Hawk is beautiful! When do we get more pictures? :love :love :love

Shanna & Maela, you're making me start to sort of maybe think that one day I might could possibly entertain the idea of having another one. I LOVE planning and when I can't sleep, I lay in bed trying to think of something to plan for. It's calming for me. :o

But then again, the idea of taking care of a toddler while feeling nauseous...not so appealing. :lol

So I will for now live vicariously thru your exciting planning and talking about planning. :D

Gotta run, need to get to bed before Abby wakes up to feed again...

[MujerMamaMismo]

Y'know Shanna & Maela,
The strangest thing has happened to us in the last 2 weeks. With 14 weeks (give or take) until the first is born, we're putting serious thought into our second. And we think we might do it sooner, rather than later. Might even start TTC when Squeak turns 1.

Of course, I'm still not 100% convinced that it's a smart idea to ever have a 2nd child, but if we did it does make sense in terms of my career and further study aspirations to have them close together and study part time while they're young.

I can't wait for the second wave of grad babes to be conceived! :joy:

zoebird - I dreamt of Hawk last night. He was truly beautiful and it made me very excited about the impending arrival of my little boy. Can't wait to hear more about him and you. Good luck with the breastfeeding challenges :hug

[PiePie]

z.b., everything gets way easier once the breastauarant is fully stocked. trust me. we learned to nurse lying down at 6 w; my LC said not to expect it till 2 m. but then it gets way easier.

[Sihaya]

Next baby - I think I've shared this here more than I probably should, but I've been thinking about, dreaming of, and planning for our second since about a week before Calvin was born. The week after his birth, DH and I were considering and discussing whether we wanted to UC next time. I am really looking forward to being pregnant again. I loved it and miss it and want to do it as often as possible!

All that said, I know me and I don't think I could handle children closer together than ~3 years, so the countdown is t minus 20 months until we'll be TTC #2. Fortunately, it looks like I may be able to live vicariously through some of the other NMY Grads between now and then :wink

Side-lying nursing - I agree with PiePie -this definitely made things so much better/easier. We were able to do it at ~3 weeks IIRC.

[cking]

z.b., everything gets way easier once the breastauarant is fully stocked. trust me. we learned to nurse lying down at 6 w; my LC said not to expect it till 2 m. but then it gets way easier.i agree. we were able to do it early on (on the left side at least) but J didn't really seem to appreciate it until a little later. THen around 3 months, that's all she wanted to do. Now she's finally 'requesting' to nurse in my lap occasionally.

hang in there ZB! :thumb



So I will for now live vicariously thru your exciting planning and talking about planning. :D

me too. i have more to say about this, but for now that's all i can get out. :o

[snozzberry]

Abby actually slept thru the trash trucks coming down our street this morning, which is a first. Woot!

But then again, the idea of taking care of a toddler while feeling nauseous...not so appealing. :lolSo re-reading my post after a night's sleep makes me realize this may not seem like the most supportive statement for our mamas who are thinking about TTCing soon. I'm sorry if it came across that way--I was just trying to express where I am in my journey to another pregnancy.

MMM, you're getting so close!!!! :joy:

Next baby - I think I've shared this here more than I probably should, but I've been thinking about, dreaming of, and planning for our second since about a week before Calvin was born. The week after his birth, DH and I were considering and discussing whether we wanted to UC next time. I am really looking forward to being pregnant again. I loved it and miss it and want to do it as often as possible! I totally get that. I had an easy pregnancy and loved the feeling of growing a HUMAN! Made me feel powerful. :D

Oh dang, Abby's up...

[zoebird]

thanks all. i know that it is coming together. things take time.

got good rest last night, too. sure, we were up every two hours no question, but slept well in between. so far, i feel that it is all going well. :)

and, i can hardley describe how much i love this guy!

[witchygrrl]

We can do side-lying, but not football. But I feel like side-lying works better for comfort than nutrition...my boob always feels so squished. But yeah, zoe, I agree with PiePie. Once fully stocked, it will get MUCH easier.

In other news, I think I had a real smile from Rhea this morning. I'll try to capture a pic of the next one.

[Maela]

So re-reading my post after a night's sleep makes me realize this may not seem like the most supportive statement for our mamas who are thinking about TTCing soon. I'm sorry if it came across that way--I was just trying to express where I am in my journey to another pregnancy.
No, I agree with you; that's one of the things I've been worrying about. I remember saying during my first trimester, "How in the world do people do this with a toddler to take care of?!" I could barely take care of myself, and I couldn't take care of the house. But I'm sure we'll figure it out. We live closer to the gparents now and closer to Dh's work. My MIL is only working three days a week now, so I think I'm going to take advantage of her offer to come spend time with DD a couple of times a week when I'm really sick.

:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy: <------ Maev loves this little guy. This is for her.

[Maela]

I would love to have our kids closer if it weren't for the fact that I didn't really enjoy pg all that much and, like Sihaya, can't really imagine myself being able to handle them being close. I get kind of stressed easily. :o

[~Shanna~]

We can do side-lying, but not football. But I feel like side-lying works better for comfort than nutrition...my boob always feels so squished. But yeah, zoe, I agree with PiePie. Once fully stocked, it will get MUCH easier.

In other news, I think I had a real smile from Rhea this morning. I'll try to capture a pic of the next one.Posting on the run, but thought I'd share - I love side-lying while nursing, but only after I discovered this trick: Lie on my side, and then roll to a halfway-between-my-back-and-my side position. It's like you're lying more at a 45 degree angle. If you prop yourself up with pillows under your back and butt, you can get really comfy this way. They DC can nurse off bottom breast without it being squished. Does this make any sense?

[witchygrrl]

nak

Makes sense, Shanna...I'll give it a whirl!

[~Shanna~]

I'm the last person to give Palin a thumbs-up, but.....

Have you seen this (http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/022579.html)?

I would LOVE to see a politician campaign while babywearing. I would HATE for it to be someone I wouldn't vote for :lol!

[witchygrrl]

Ok, that's the first positive thing I've seen Palin do. Otherwise, she makes me want to :Puke

I'm insulted that the McCain campaign would hope I would vote for her because we're both genetically XX. Uh, no.

[annettemarie]

Ladies, FYT is not the place for political commentary. We like to keep things civil here. ;) Thanks for understanding!

[wateraddict]

Congratulations Zoe! He's beautiful! :joy:


I look forward to hearing (and seeing) more at a later time.


Happy baby mooning! :joy::joy::joy::joy:

[snozzberry]

Maybe we can talk about Palin in our NMY Grads Facebook group instead? ;)

Cradle cap: What can be done about it?

Nap length: Abby takes 30- to 45-minute naps, rarely longer. When did your babies transition to longer, less frequent naps?

[Maela]

Cradle cap: Dd had it and still does a little bit. My mom keeps telling me that if I would just scrub it every day, it would go away. But it's barely there anymore and I don't like shampooing her hair every day. :eyesroll There's not enough there to look bad or cause any problems, so I'm just leaving it alone.
Anyway, when it would get really bad when she was little, I would put some olive oil on it and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I could gently scratch it off with my finger nail because the oil softened it. Then I would shampoo it, and scrub it lightly with a baby brush. Then her hair would always be so soft and shiny and smell good for a couple of days. :love I did this once or twice a month until she was about 8 months.

[PiePie]

girlfriends, as soon as the trial is over i am going to join facebook...

the trial is going miserably. the judge is a huge sexist and my ego has been shredded so many times today. i have been really sad and missing dd so i bucked my boss and told her i am working from home tonight. 3rd all-nighter in a row. still not productive enough because dd needs to nurse long, to reconnect, i suspect, guiltily.

she loves sch. the teachers say they have never seen any child so well adjusted and that they can't believe she hasn't been in daycare before. she marched in on the first day and the teachers exclaimed, "she looks like she's going off to college!!" i got all teary. she lvoes the new toys and a little boy who is unfortunately named ferrell, pronounced like feral cats. the teachers tell us she is their favorite because she is so active, curious, inquisitive, etc. :)

[Maela]

Nap length: Gosh, I don't remember when she stopped. I think she started taking two 30min-2hr naps a day when she was around 6-9 months. Sorry I know that's pretty vague, I just don't remember. Then sometime around 10-11 months, she started taking only one 45min-2.5hr nap. This is still what she usually does.

[Maela]

she loves sch. the teachers say they have never seen any child so well adjusted and that they can't believe she hasn't been in daycare before. she marched in on the first day and the teachers exclaimed, "she looks like she's going off to college!!" i got all teary. she lvoes the new toys and a little boy who is unfortunately named ferrell, pronounced like feral cats. the teachers tell us she is their favorite because she is so active, curious, inquisitive, etc. :)
So cute! I'm glad she's enjoying school so much. She sounds like such a cool little baby! I think my Dd and your dd would get along well. Maev's a little slower (not intelligence/academic-wise; she's very quick, just not developmentally as quick as Lorelei) and calmer probably, but they both sound like they have really strong, happy personalities.

I wish all the NMY Grad babies could get together and play. :D Wouldn't that be so much fun?


Maev wants more of these. :joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

[snozzberry]

Anyway, when it would get really bad when she was little, I would put some olive oil on it and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I could gently scratch it off with my finger nail because the oil softened it. Then I would shampoo it, and scrub it lightly with a baby brush. Then her hair would always be so soft and shiny and smell good for a couple of days. :love I did this once or twice a month until she was about 8 months.Thanks for the tip! We put some olive oil on tonight for 15 min and then shampooed. But then we didn't have a baby brush (doh!) so we skipped that part. She went straight to bed after so I'm anxious to see what it looks like in the morning! :fingersx:

PiePie, hang in there! Do you know how much longer the trial will be, or does it depend? I'm sorry the judge is a sexist. :hug

she loves sch. the teachers say they have never seen any child so well adjusted and that they can't believe she hasn't been in daycare before. she marched in on the first day and the teachers exclaimed, "she looks like she's going off to college!!" i got all teary.Oh, that is SO CUTE! :love

I wish all the NMY Grad babies could get together and play. :D Wouldn't that be so much fun?ME TOO!!! One of these days maybe we can plan a get-together in a central place. :D

Maev wants more of these. :joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::wave Maev!!!

[PiePie]

when lorelei was 4.5 mos. i started instituting 2 regular nap times. i would lie down with her at 11 and at 2 and nurse. for the first week i napped with her all the time, my presence kept her asleep. after about a month of the same schedule, i stopped needing to be there, and she would conk out at exactly that time no matter where we were, waht the noise level was, etc. the first nap was 1 hour and the second nap was 2 hours, usually.

at about 9 mos. she started moving to 1 nap a day, which started out being at noon and is now moving to 1. that nap is ideally 2 hours long but often more like 1.75. the transition to a single nap has been very nonlinear.

[zoebird]

i think that non-linear is the truth of being with a little one.

we went to the LC and it was great. what we'd sort of figured out on our own (feeding him with a finger) is what needed to be done! so, we hand pump the breast and set him to, as long as he is happy there.

he likes something harder to suck on than a breast, and so we're doing some training of the tongue to get it to soften while still being able to suck.

once he begins to be frustrated with the breast, but before he starts screaming about it, we offer him the finger pad side up (his preference) for the first 1/3 of an oz or so. then, for the second 1/3, we give him pad side down, even though he doesn't like it (it's softer). if he starts to fuss a bit from this, we'll flip it, and hten try again on the next third and so on.

right now, he takes in about 1/2 to 1 oz each feeding, and this morning his 'split' a feeding taking in about 1/3 and then again another .57 oz, which took us close to 3/4 of an oz in this last "feeding."

after feeding him, i pump my breasts for the next feeding. i'm working my way up to getting hte full 2-4 oz out of me. it's not quite up there yet, but i do drip a lot and i get at least 1.5 oz per pumping (after hand pumping and just dripping away while i feed him, i might actually be above that 2 oz mark. but who knows?)

dr's appt today to follow up about weight, the time with the LC, etc.

oh, and the LC was in the maternity ward at the hospital. what a terrifying place. i am so glad that i didn't birth there. ryan said it was surreal--completely surreal.

i am glad that hospitals exist, but i'm also glad that i rarely need them.

[PiePie]

z.b., far be it from me to interfere with advice from lc, but ime a hosp grade pump makes things easier at the beginning. we rented one for the first 2 weeks. so glad you saw an lc. best $210 i have spent. keep up the good work mama.

[witchygrrl]

mmm, yeah the hospital grade pump was great while I was staying in the hospital after the birth. But yeah, am I glad I never went into the real maternity ward. yikes! When I was hanging out at the birth center once Rhea was born, another mother was in labor next door, but things seemed calmed. She certainly wasn't 'sounding' the way I was.

I have so much to get done and no energy to do it. Rhea was nursing almost nonstop this morning. I had to laugh at the doctor last Tuesday asking if she was nursing every 3 hours...hah! More like every hour. She's napping now though. So cute.

ETA: nope, she's awake...and hungry again.

[Maela]

when lorelei was 4.5 mos. i started instituting 2 regular nap times. i would lie down with her at 11 and at 2 and nurse. for the first week i napped with her all the time, my presence kept her asleep. after about a month of the same schedule, i stopped needing to be there, and she would conk out at exactly that time no matter where we were, waht the noise level was, etc. the first nap was 1 hour and the second nap was 2 hours, usually.
Wow that is really nice! I wish Dd was that consistent when she was little.


i think that non-linear is the truth of being with a little one.
Exactly. :)
I can't wait to hear your birth story. I'm glad youwere able to have him at home like you wanted to.



I should probably write out my own birth story someday. :o

[Maela]

I had to laugh at the doctor last Tuesday asking if she was nursing every 3 hours...hah! More like every hour.

oh yeah, I never knew/know what to say when I get asked "how many times a day is she nursing?" I don't know... a hundred? now maybe 8? sometimes 20? Her nursing "sessions" are never consistent. And sometimes they last 2 minutes, and sometimes they last 15 minutes. She's never put herself on any type of feeding schedule. She only now, in the last couple of months, has started going 3-4 hours sometimes between nursings.

[zoebird]

i'm really...comforted... to hear about the different 'nursing styles' around and what not.

i do have to admit, i'm psyched.

the LC said that i should work up to 2 oz. i'm still getting about 1.5 per pumping, though i did get two earlier in the day! so, that's good and i'm getting there! and that hospital grade pump is so nice and quiet!

beyond that, Hawk has also 'advanced' a bit in his progress. first, he will take the nipple and play with it a bit. i wouldn't call it anything like nrusing (no chomp or suction really), but he is staying on and tasting and trying.

with this, in the 'finger training' he has already moved from the pad up to the pad down position. this means that things are improving, that his tongue is softening to the idea here.

i talk to the LC again tomorrow, see where we go from there.

so, it's definitely progress. i think we'll get there no problem. :D

[Maela]

i'm really...comforted... to hear about the different 'nursing styles' around and what not.

i do have to admit, i'm psyched.

the LC said that i should work up to 2 oz. i'm still getting about 1.5 per pumping, though i did get two earlier in the day! so, that's good and i'm getting there! and that hospital grade pump is so nice and quiet!

beyond that, Hawk has also 'advanced' a bit in his progress. first, he will take the nipple and play with it a bit. i wouldn't call it anything like nrusing (no chomp or suction really), but he is staying on and tasting and trying.

with this, in the 'finger training' he has already moved from the pad up to the pad down position. this means that things are improving, that his tongue is softening to the idea here.

i talk to the LC again tomorrow, see where we go from there.

so, it's definitely progress. i think we'll get there no problem. :D

That's great ZB! I'm glad things are improving so quickly.

[~Shanna~]

Maybe we can talk about Palin in our NMY Grads Facebook group instead? ;)

Cradle cap: What can be done about it?
I put oatmeal in a sock with Fenton in his bath. Once it was wet, I used it to rub on his scalp. Don't know if it made it go away faster.

AF is back!!!!! :joy:

[MujerMamaMismo]

AF is back!!!!! :joy:
Wow! I wonder if your recent serious baby lust is at all related to hormones/ovulating? Our bodies are amazing things!

[Maela]

AF is back!!!!! :joy:

Woo hoo! I'm actually kind of looking forward to it too. Just for the regularity of it, yk? :innocent

[witchygrrl]

i'm really...comforted... to hear about the different 'nursing styles' around and what not.

i do have to admit, i'm psyched.

the LC said that i should work up to 2 oz. i'm still getting about 1.5 per pumping, though i did get two earlier in the day! so, that's good and i'm getting there! and that hospital grade pump is so nice and quiet!

beyond that, Hawk has also 'advanced' a bit in his progress. first, he will take the nipple and play with it a bit. i wouldn't call it anything like nrusing (no chomp or suction really), but he is staying on and tasting and trying.

with this, in the 'finger training' he has already moved from the pad up to the pad down position. this means that things are improving, that his tongue is softening to the idea here.

i talk to the LC again tomorrow, see where we go from there.

so, it's definitely progress. i think we'll get there no problem. :D


You'll both get there, I have no doubt.

[zoebird]

mmm: ryan wants to hear about your dream. we are not surprised; we have a sense of his ability to travel already. yours isn't the first dream to come in, and yes, he appears to be quite the powerful little spirit!

nursing: still not up to "full production" and honestly, my breasts don't hurt. but, i have weird notions of discomfort, i guess.

still keeping on with the finger feeding, though we are offering breast frequently. he's doing great and does get a little bit of a suckle now and again.

sleeps like a champ, too. so we're actually pretty rested.

i'm so thankful my mom came yesterday to clean, but i'm not happy about my ILs coming tomorrow. BAH! bleh. i need to feelrelaxed/comfortable to pump and feed and allow him to go to nipple, and the whole process takes an hour. so, even while the ILs are here (they're coming after church, they may be here for one or two feedings), a large protion of their time will be without me, ryan, or the baby, because i'm not doing topless in front of them (like i did with my parents yesterday. my parents are, btw, incredibly cool--i guess i'd forgotten. :D )

so, that's me. consternation about ILs. LOL

[~Shanna~]

mmm: ryan wants to hear about your dream. we are not surprised; we have a sense of his ability to travel already. yours isn't the first dream to come in, and yes, he appears to be quite the powerful little spirit!

nursing: still not up to "full production" and honestly, my breasts don't hurt. but, i have weird notions of discomfort, i guess.

still keeping on with the finger feeding, though we are offering breast frequently. he's doing great and does get a little bit of a suckle now and again.

sleeps like a champ, too. so we're actually pretty rested.

i'm so thankful my mom came yesterday to clean, but i'm not happy about my ILs coming tomorrow. BAH! bleh. i need to feelrelaxed/comfortable to pump and feed and allow him to go to nipple, and the whole process takes an hour. so, even while the ILs are here (they're coming after church, they may be here for one or two feedings), a large protion of their time will be without me, ryan, or the baby, because i'm not doing topless in front of them (like i did with my parents yesterday. my parents are, btw, incredibly cool--i guess i'd forgotten. :D )

so, that's me. consternation about ILs. LOL I wondered how things were going with those characters :hug.

I'm thinking of you constantly with nursing, hoping the energy helps.

Have so much more I want to say, but I have 45 lbs of tomatoes to can......before naptime ends :yikes:

[witchygrrl]

Zoe, I have no doubt he's an old, powerful soul..seeing the pics on ryan's blog just confirmed that. no dreams yet...i haven't slept enough to dream.

good luck with the ILs...I hated nursing in my ILs presence, and they're not nearly as 'special' as yours. The first time, I was still in the hospital, my mil was sitting in the chair nearish my bed, looking at a bf'ing maual. Rhea and I hadn't gotten the hang of things yet, and mil's asking me a million questions about what the LC had told me (who I had only talked to for about 5 minutes at that point) based on the manual (as my mil never breastfed and hasn't a clue). It was a VERY stressful experience, and the only reason why it happened was because DH had gone off with his dad to pick up lunch.
---------------------------------------------------------
Shanna, 45 lbs? Wow. And woot to AF's return!

[snozzberry]

Yay for Hawk's progress!

Yay for Shanna's AF!

:joy:

[zoebird]

NAK!!!!!


so, we are on the breast! and he won't take anything else! we started with the nipple shield plus syringe and that ended quickly. he just hung out on the breast from 6 pm to 3 am, then we got 3 hrs of sleep, and we're back on again. awesome!

and we managed a side lying!

so that is great since i can just takr the baby up when i want to and ryan can hang with his parents.

[cking]

Yahoo! That's wondeful ZB!

Josephine is now sitting unassisted. I got a pretty good picture of it the other day. :) Also, she rolls from her back to her belly all the time, but rarely from her belly to her back. In fact, she's done it exactly three times, but that was a month ago now. I know it's no big deal, but anyone know of anything I can do to encourage her? She seems to love being on her belly, so maybe there's no incentive...?

Piepie, thanks for the tip on napping. I think I will try that. So often I feel impatient and want to get up and do other things, but I know that's probably not best in the long run.

Kelly, we seem to be going through some similar changes with naps. She hasn't really been regular at all yet, so really it's constantly changing. But I think with teething and becoming more active, she's starting to want to stay awake longer and then take longer naps. There are times when she's too tired to play but not ready to nap/nurse, so I've found that to be the best time to wear her on my back. Then I can do something (like make lunch or take a walk) and she's content, and the change of scene seems to help both of us. Then after a while she'll be exhausted and even falls asleep in there sometimes.

[Holiztic]

Woo hoo! I'm actually kind of looking forward to it too. Just for the regularity of it, yk? :innocent

Me too, I can't wait!

Shanna--what do you think brought it back? Quinn is still nursing about 6-20 times a night, and I feel like its never going to come back!

[PiePie]

Josephine is now sitting unassisted.

wow she is so advanced!!!!!

[PiePie]

cking, toy as incentive. mirror or portable mobile. gotta go.

[snozzberry]

Congrats, zoebird!

Josephine is now sitting unassisted.Yay!

There are times when she's too tired to play but not ready to nap/nurse, so I've found that to be the best time to wear her on my back. Then I can do something (like make lunch or take a walk) and she's content, and the change of scene seems to help both of us. Then after a while she'll be exhausted and even falls asleep in there sometimes.What carrier do you use to put her on your back? Was it hard to learn how to put here there by yourself?

Quinn is still nursing about 6-20 times a night, and I feel like its never going to come back!Dang, mama! You deserve a medal. :) It's nice to see you on the thread more...I've missed you! :love

Cradle cap: We tried olive oil for 15 minutes, then a baby brush to lightly scrub, but it didn't come up. The olive oil makes it just about disappear, actually. It's easier to pick it off when it's dry. Maybe I should do that here and there, and follow up with olive oil to soothe the skin after?

Or maybe I should just wait for it to go away. It's just that it looks SO grody. :( And she scratches at it sometimes, so I wonder if it makes her head itch.

[MujerMamaMismo]

ZB: Yay for Hawk on the boob! That's great news - I'm so happy it wasn't a long and drawn out process for you.

My dream was not that interesting - really it was just that I'd given birth to my boy who was very obviously Hawk. We were just in the early days and lots of people were visiting. And that's all I can remember. Sorry.

[MujerMamaMismo]

PiePie - Is the trial over? How did it finish up?

[cking]

Yay!

What carrier do you use to put her on your back? Was it hard to learn how to put here there by yourself?


I've been using a Beco Butterfly. They are $$, but very easy to use. It has an internal panel, so I just put her in it lying down, and then put the whole thing on like a backpack. You are supposed to be able to do it while DC is very young, but I didn't get comfortable with it until recently. I even got her on my back for the grocery store last week! {funny, when she's on my front, I get lots of people stopping to admire her...but on my back I just got a few weird looks :lol)

I've also used a mei tai....a little more economical (i made mine) but a little more of a learning curve. I do the 'shoulder toss' (http://kozycarrier.homestead.com/instructions.html#anchor_407) which she actually really likes now, especially because she can pull on my ponytail. :eyesroll

Yeah, I think we're just sitting out the cradle cap. Our ped said it should go away in a few months. It seems to be going away as her hair thins out. The brush seems to flake it off, but it still sticks in her hair and I have to pick them out. :shrug

[zoebird]

mmm: nothing to apologize for. he probably brought reassurance, and sometimes, that's all you need.

[witchygrrl]

PiePie, how did you pick up on the reflux? I swear Rhea is spitting up too much...and now my cat is vomiting again also. Awesome.

[PiePie]

trial is going to go down as one of the lowest moments of my prof'l life. judge was a total ua violation and sexist pig who got off on humiliating me. it was miserable. don't know if we won or lost (but in my heart of hearts i know we lost) because it's not over yet -- he requires post-trial briefing on an expedited schedule. ua violation.

witchy, reflux starts at about 4 to 8 weeks. it can mean excessive spitting up but the only instances in which i consider it problematic (worth treating) are when it is causing pain and interfering with the bfing relationship. dd screamed immediately after eating and only then. eventually she started refusing the boob because she knew it would cause her pain. :( only 10% can be addressed by your diet, and of that chunk 90% are dairy. when she went on meds it immediately cleared up and if it had been soemthing else the meds wouldn't have helped. btw, the meds are no longer needed. we want on holiday from them a few weeks ago and no symptoms! :joy: oh, the other telltale signs: arching back and standing -- like the whole body is stiff -- when screaming.

[Maela]

NAK!!!!!


so, we are on the breast! and he won't take anything else! we started with the nipple shield plus syringe and that ended quickly. he just hung out on the breast from 6 pm to 3 am, then we got 3 hrs of sleep, and we're back on again. awesome!

and we managed a side lying!

so that is great since i can just takr the baby up when i want to and ryan can hang with his parents.
ZB, that is so awesome! Yay!


Me too, I can't wait!

Shanna--what do you think brought it back? Quinn is still nursing about 6-20 times a night, and I feel like its never going to come back!
Yes, Dd is still nursing 1-5 times at night. I have a feeling mine won't come back until she's done nightnursing or at least not more than once a night.


Cradle cap: We tried olive oil for 15 minutes, then a baby brush to lightly scrub, but it didn't come up. The olive oil makes it just about disappear, actually. It's easier to pick it off when it's dry. Maybe I should do that here and there, and follow up with olive oil to soothe the skin after?

Or maybe I should just wait for it to go away. It's just that it looks SO grody. :( And she scratches at it sometimes, so I wonder if it makes her head itch.
Sure, just do the olive oil. I just shampooed because her hair seemed too greasy, and the baby brush helped get rd of more of it for us. Or you could just leave it. But like you, I thought it looked gross.


I'm watching my friend's 8yo dsd this week. It's fun, and Dd's loving it.

[witchygrrl]

trial is going to go down as one of the lowest moments of my prof'l life. judge was a total ua violation and sexist pig who got off on humiliating me. it was miserable. don't know if we won or lost (but in my heart of hearts i know we lost) because it's not over yet -- he requires post-trial briefing on an expedited schedule. ua violation.

witchy, reflux starts at about 4 to 8 weeks. it can mean excessive spitting up but the only instances in which i consider it problematic (worth treating) are when it is causing pain and interfering with the bfing relationship. dd screamed immediately after eating and only then. eventually she started refusing the boob because she knew it would cause her pain. :( only 10% can be addressed by your diet, and of that chunk 90% are dairy. when she went on meds it immediately cleared up and if it had been soemthing else the meds wouldn't have helped. btw, the meds are no longer needed. we want on holiday from them a few weeks ago and no symptoms! :joy: oh, the other telltale signs: arching back and standing -- like the whole body is stiff -- when screaming.

PiePie, I'm sorry the judge was such a ua violation toward you...I wish there were some way that the judge could be censored for bad behavior, but that might make it worse. Ugh. :hug

and thanks for the advice on the reflux. it's not as bad as you describe--usually she wants more after she spits up, whether it's a small amount or looks like the entirety of what she just ate. she gets more upset if there is any left in her mouth--but I would be too. it was weird how we went from no spit up to spitting up extremely often, but I guess she's getting enough to eat based on how often we change diapers.

But hooray that Lorelei doesn't need meds anymore!

[Maela]

I don't know how much Rhea is spitting up, but I remember that Maev had an increase in the amount of spitting up at some point. I think it was around 4 months though, which is much older than your dd. I never found out why she increased the spitting up; I just guessed that maybe it was from being able to move around more, and maybe she was moving around too much right after she ate?
That doesn't really help I guess. :o

Hope things improve soon.

[~Shanna~]

Me too, I can't wait!

Shanna--what do you think brought it back? Quinn is still nursing about 6-20 times a night, and I feel like its never going to come back!When he's not in teething pain (not often, but we had a week or two consistently without it), he slept really well, only nursing 2X a night (2 am and 5-6 am, then going right back to sleep). Seemed to coincide with that and when I started to suspect that Fenton was nursing often in the day because he was bored or wanted to try out his power. I started suggesting something else when i suspect this ("some bread?" "water?" "go outside?") so he wasn't nursing quite as often in the day.

Elizabeth, I've missed you :love. Hard to keep up here with a Toddler running around, huh? :lol

Have to run, but wanted to add: My sister (who is ttc) has asked me to be at the birth to video tape, but she has some insecurities about having me there when she's so vulnerable to feeling judged since I make such different choices from her. Had a frank discussion with her about it, but mostly acknowledged that yes, we do make different choices. Not sure how to proceed......

[farmama]

nak. gosh, i'm behind...

congratulations jenifer & ryan!

Welcome Hawk!

[Sihaya]

I know this question has been asked several times before but am hoping you'll all humor me. With Christmas/Calvin's b-day marching ever closer, I am starting a list of things we want/need for him for the next six months or so. I am starting to foray into the realm of toys and am wondering if there's anything you'd suggest getting (in the vein of natural, plastic- and battery-free, and with a low annoyance level) for a 12-18 month old?

So far, I plan to give four natural toy websites as suggestions, at three of which have mail order catalogs. I am also asking for books (we haven't received any since our baby showers), a drum/drums, a wooden popper/lawnmower, a sorter (to replace this (http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/tup_show_item.show_item_detail?fv_item_category_co de=7000&fv_item_number=P10054276000)), balls, and playsilks. I also want a play kitchen and play stands for him eventually but think he's a bit young just yet and they're a bit pricey to ask for - I'm afraid we'll get some cheap plastic substitute instead.

[~Shanna~]

I know this question has been asked several times before but am hoping you'll all humor me. With Christmas/Calvin's b-day marching ever closer, I am starting a list of things we want/need for him for the next six months or so. I am starting to foray into the realm of toys and am wondering if there's anything you'd suggest getting (in the vein of natural, plastic- and battery-free, and with a low annoyance level) for a 12-18 month old?

So far, I plan to give four natural toy websites as suggestions, at least two of which have mail order catalogs. I am also asking for books (we haven't received any since our baby showers), a drum/drums, a wooden popper/lawnmower, a sorter (to replace this (http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/tup_show_item.show_item_detail?fv_item_category_co de=7000&fv_item_number=P10054276000)), balls, and playsilks. I also want a play kitchen and play stands for him eventually but think he's a bit young just yet and they're a bit pricey to ask for - I'm afraid we'll get some cheap plastic substitute instead.
nak
I dig this (http://www.rosiehippo.com/productdetail.asp?groupnumber=T545) so much that i'm getting one for Fenton for christmas. And i got him one of these (http://www.funbabytoys.com/melissa-and-doug-pound-and-roll-tower.html)that is a great alt. to a sorter, got f's at keane's downtown :D

anyone seen "birth" yet? thinking of going......
'

[zoebird]

ack, christmas?! you mean, christmas?!

seriously, we're having an awesome day 10. things are hitting a nice, comfy rhythm.

and my butt hruts from sitting so much.

[Sihaya]

nak
I dig this (http://www.rosiehippo.com/productdetail.asp?groupnumber=T545) so much that i'm getting one for Fenton for christmas. And i got him one of these (http://www.funbabytoys.com/melissa-and-doug-pound-and-roll-tower.html)that is a great alt. to a sorter, got f's at keane's downtown :D

anyone seen "birth" yet? thinking of going......
'The toy in that first link looks really cool! I forgot about Keane's but that would be a good place to suggest to my grandma who doesn't shop online. The jury's still out on Made in China toys here, not for lead issues, but others.

I'm undecided on seeing Birth still, the description makes me think it will make me more angry than anything, but I could be wrong.

[cking]

I know this question has been asked several times before but am hoping you'll all humor me. With Christmas/Calvin's b-day marching ever closer, I am starting a list of things we want/need for him for the next six months or so. I am starting to foray into the realm of toys and am wondering if there's anything you'd suggest getting (in the vein of natural, plastic- and battery-free, and with a low annoyance level) for a 12-18 month old?

So far, I plan to give four natural toy websites as suggestions, at three of which have mail order catalogs. I am also asking for books (we haven't received any since our baby showers), a drum/drums, a wooden popper/lawnmower, a sorter (to replace this (http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/tup_show_item.show_item_detail?fv_item_category_co de=7000&fv_item_number=P10054276000)), balls, and playsilks. I also want a play kitchen and play stands for him eventually but think he's a bit young just yet and they're a bit pricey to ask for - I'm afraid we'll get some cheap plastic substitute instead.

:notes:

Likewise, any suggestions for 6-12 months? :innocent

On the playsilks, I've been wanting some baby-sized, and I saw someone suggest getting silk blanks (on thaisilks dot com or the like) and dying them with koolaid. So I got some 11x11 and 22x22 (they have larger also) and they are sitting here waiting for me to dye. (i did dye some wool with koolaid last year and it was quite easy).

[cking]

While we're on the subject, I thought i'd mention that Cutie Patootie runs a yahoo group for coops on all kinds of stuff, including nice wooden toys. There is a link in her siggie. There's on going on Selecta toys right now. Now if I could just figure out a way to get the inlaws to use it.....:p

[Sihaya]

Christina, I was in a completely different thread and just happened to see that in her signature and was just about to come here and post about it! :lol

ETA: Oops, it was actually lactivist's group I found. It looks like Cutie Patootie has a different one. Well, I joined both just to be safe!

[snozzberry]

Steph, thanks for starting the toy conversation! We got MIL to agree to NO store-bought gifts for Xmas--only gifts we make for each other--which I still am just :dizzy: excited about!

So that means I want to buy Abby some good toys ourselves. Although, just heard today Haba is recalling a bunch of their rattles/rings for choking hazard. Wasn't a surprise to me since Abby just about choked on the problem part on her Haba ring last week. :( Luckily, she was able to swallow it--saw it come out the other end--but it was a SCARY minute where I picked her up, turned her upside down, and banged on her back, wishing I remembered the exact choking maneuver for babies. (I re-reviewed the manual right after we had both calmed down after that incident!)

and my butt hruts from sitting so much.:lol I remember having that same problem in the early days!

[snozzberry]

Just saw that I was 1 away from post 1800, so had to do one more here because it's only right that it be with you all. :D

[TwilightJoy]

Just saw that I was 1 away from post 1800, so had to do one more here because it's only right that it be with you all. :D


:flowersforyou: Happy 1800!

[PiePie]

i know it has an older age range, but dd loved these http://www.amazon.com/Sylvia-Longs-Mother-Nesting-Blocks/dp/0811832619/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221007937&sr=8-1 from as soon as she could sit up. i got them in the bargain section of borders for 4.99. i lust for this http://www.amazon.com/Haba-902-Discovery-Wagon/dp/B0012J0ZF8/ref=pd_sbs_ba_17 for dd for christmas this year but let's be real, the price is nutsy. my parents got dd this http://www.amazon.com/Parents-Busy-Zoo/dp/B000H396VY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221008152&sr=1-1 for her 1st bday, 2 mos. early, and she plays with it EVERY SINGLE DAY. it is available at target. and for the younger set, don't forget balls and puppets... i also lust for this shape sorter http://www.amazon.com/Plan-Toy-Shape-and-Sort/dp/B0001VUNV4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221008495&sr=1-1 and will probably get that.

eta: i have a melissa and doug puzzle but i am not in love with where the screws are. if i were doing it over i would get puzzibilities/small world toys/ryans room; it was just that m&d is more readily available.

eta: on musical instruments, i like those by remo aka lynn kleiner and woodstock percussion. but it is hard to find ones that are baby-safe. i ordered dd a set from a place called miscellaneous supplies. it contains plastic but the sound quality is high, better than some of the pure wood stuff. i've tested lots at various music classes. cking, some are available at kazams in princeton in palmer sq.

[PiePie]

thank you all for permitting me to engage in consumerist fantasies re toys. i am super down about the judge thing (i think he and i are in an abusive relationship, seriously) and boy is this the perfect distraction.

so in the if i had a million dollars vein, here are some more push toys: http://www.amazon.com/Haba-1623-Pushing-Car/dp/B0007CSF12/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221011836&sr=8-1 andhttp://www.amazon.com/Haba-0949-HABA-Doll-Pram/dp/B000OMQCGA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221011964&sr=1-1 these haba prams are cheaper than the first i linked to but all are imo crazy pricey. but a girl can dream, right? :wink

along the lines of one of shanna's links i like this http://www.amazon.com/Plan-Toys-0531501-Miracle-Pounding/dp/B00004WCHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221012069&sr=1-1 hey maybe i'll get it. stop me now. :wink

and sihaya's original inquiry included shape sorters, so here are some more http://www.amazon.com/Ryans-Room-5522520-Get-A-Grip-Sorter/dp/B0006IRSP6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221012262&sr=1-1 and this one, which i believe (correct me if you disagree??) is more appropriate for an older age range: http://www.amazon.com/Plan-Toys-39534700-Shape-Sorter/dp/B0001VUNTQ/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221012400&sr=1-9

btw, i totally agree that a toy kitchen is for an older age set. if a 12 mo can reach it, it won't work for a 3-4 yo. dd sees toy kitchens all the time at a park we go to containing outgrown toys (really nice ride-ons) but does not actually play kitchen with kitchen stuff. however, today she did use her toy phone as a phone and steal someone's ipod on the subway, put it to her cheek, and say, "hello!!" :joy:

[PiePie]

another push toy http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Flyer-Classic-Walker-Wagon/dp/B00005AWB5/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221012783&sr=8-3 perhaps i should quit the law and become a personal shopper...:o

[snozzberry]

:lol at PiePie's toy fun time!!!

Anyone read Confessions of a Naughty Mommy: How I Found My Lost Libido? I was skeptical, but I'm 40 pages in and LOVING it. The author's description of Sex Life After Baby is spot on, imho. At least so far...and it's funny as hell too!

And now to go spend too much time on Oompa Toys when I should be sleeping...

[~Shanna~]

:lol at PiePie's toy fun time!!!

Anyone read Confessions of a Naughty Mommy: How I Found My Lost Libido? I was skeptical, but I'm 40 pages in and LOVING it. The author's description of Sex Life After Baby is spot on, imho. At least so far...and it's funny as hell too!

And now to go spend too much time on Oompa Toys when I should be sleeping...OMG, I need to read this. I so need to find mine :(

[Sihaya]

Great links, PiePie! You've got me lusting after that Radio Flyer Walker Wagon. It's one of the more affordable wooden push toys I've seen.

[PiePie]

and anything under $70 is a great price for that wagon. check out your local craigslist first, though, as it is quite common and perhaps might be handed down (albeit commercially). what i like about it -- better than dd's push toy -- is that it is weighted and as such won't go fwd when an unstable baby pulls up on it.

[PiePie]

need to read that book too.

[zoebird]

i'm finding myself feeling very amorous right now, but my body isn't ready at all. it's a tough spot! LOL

baby is doing well. we made our first trip out today that wasn't doctor/whatever related. we went to target to get another nipple shield and a box for them--even though he's now on the nipple itself about 1/3 of the time, so we are improving and i may not need the shield for long. we also went to the grocery store and a craft store to get some ink and paper to do hands/feet for everyone.

he has such long feet! :D

[witchygrrl]

Such cool toys to look forward to...:D

I'm still thinking DD has issues with spitting up--she's very gassy (honestly Dh and I are too these days), and I've noticed that sometimes she starts choking on my milk...I think my letdown might be too fast for her. So between the two, she spits up quite a bit, although it's much less at night, especially if we do side-lying. But of course, after I said she's not screaming at the boob, what does she do? Not consistently, but it was heartbreaking :(

So we need to examine diet. We do eat a lot of fiber and dairy. Perhaps it's time to cut down. And I need to look at how to deal with fast letdown. It was all seeming so easy a week or so ago. Silly me.

On a related topic, my great aunt, who usually seems so progressive and cool, asked if my doc had talked about solids for DD yet...um, she's not even 6 weeks old yet?!? Apparently even though she breastfed her 5 children, she gave them rice cereal at night so they'd sleep through starting when they were only a few weeks old. Yikes! 4 out of 5 have food sensitivity issues/allergies that I know about...I can only think this practice did NOT help in any way.

[farmama]

zoe, did you post your birth story? i have to get back through the pages i missed...

toys...i could buy so many, but i get so tired of picking them up! :o
plus, the ones i like best are not my girl's favorite (she's still packing around a bald little doll with a plastic homemade dress that my friend's 3 yo gave her for her b-day). so i'm doing my best to curtail the spending.

one of my friends is pg again, another is talking about #2, and it's getting me thinking. :wink we would have to dramatically restructure our business to make it work, though. i have NO time for anything in the summer.



thanks!

[cking]

Steph, that’s so funny!

i know it has an older age range, but dd loved these http://www.amazon.com/Sylvia-Longs-Mother-Nesting-Blocks/dp/0811832619/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221007937&sr=8-1 from as soon as she could sit up. i got them in the bargain section of borders for 4.99. i lust for this http://www.amazon.com/Haba-902-Discovery-Wagon/dp/B0012J0ZF8/ref=pd_sbs_ba_17 for dd for christmas this year but let's be real, the price is nutsy. my parents got dd this http://www.amazon.com/Parents-Busy-Zoo/dp/B000H396VY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221008152&sr=1-1 for her 1st bday, 2 mos. early, and she plays with it EVERY SINGLE DAY. it is available at target. and for the younger set, don't forget balls and puppets... i also lust for this shape sorter http://www.amazon.com/Plan-Toy-Shape-and-Sort/dp/B0001VUNV4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221008495&sr=1-1 and will probably get that.

eta: i have a melissa and doug puzzle but i am not in love with where the screws are. if i were doing it over i would get puzzibilities/small world toys/ryans room; it was just that m&d is more readily available.

eta: on musical instruments, i like those by remo aka lynn kleiner and woodstock percussion. but it is hard to find ones that are baby-safe. i ordered dd a set from a place called miscellaneous supplies. it contains plastic but the sound quality is high, better than some of the pure wood stuff. i've tested lots at various music classes. cking, some are available at kazams in princeton in palmer sq.Piepie,
Yes, we got nesting blocks similar to that for our friend’s 2yo’s birthday, but I think J would like them too. She certainly would like to chew on them (can’t keep her away from books, cardboard, wood, magazines, etc!)

I love that busy-box too. It seems like J might like that now too even though she’s probably young for it. She’d love to spin the blocks. I really want more things that she can use while sitting. There was an inflatable globe (beach ball) at the LLL meeting last night and she loved it!

And I absolutely heart Jazams!

Ok, speaking of music…..J got to check out the piano at my sister’s house and she was having a ball banging on the keys. Acutally, she sounded pretty good. Lol. So, I can’t wait to get her a toy piano. She loved banging her hands on the table, so I got out a set of bongos that I never use, and she is having fun playing with those too. (but she does want to chew on the skins) We are going to take a music together class starting next week, so I’m psyched for that.


:lol at PiePie's toy fun time!!!

Anyone read Confessions of a Naughty Mommy: How I Found My Lost Libido? I was skeptical, but I'm 40 pages in and LOVING it. The author's description of Sex Life After Baby is spot on, imho. At least so far...and it's funny as hell too!

And now to go spend too much time on Oompa Toys when I should be sleeping...

OMG, I need to read this. I so need to find mine :(:hug I so need to read this too. :(:irked:

Such cool toys to look forward to...:D

I'm still thinking DD has issues with spitting up--she's very gassy (honestly Dh and I are too these days), and I've noticed that sometimes she starts choking on my milk...I think my letdown might be too fast for her. So between the two, she spits up quite a bit, although it's much less at night, especially if we do side-lying. But of course, after I said she's not screaming at the boob, what does she do? Not consistently, but it was heartbreaking :(

So we need to examine diet. We do eat a lot of fiber and dairy. Perhaps it's time to cut down. And I need to look at how to deal with fast letdown. It was all seeming so easy a week or so ago. Silly me.

On a related topic, my great aunt, who usually seems so progressive and cool, asked if my doc had talked about solids for DD yet...um, she's not even 6 weeks old yet?!? Apparently even though she breastfed her 5 children, she gave them rice cereal at night so they'd sleep through starting when they were only a few weeks old. Yikes! 4 out of 5 have food sensitivity issues/allergies that I know about...I can only think this practice did NOT help in any way.That's so sad about the solid's. Our neighbor's first ped was suggesting they add rice cereal to her bottle of EBM at 2 weeks old. They dropped her quick, thank goodness. But that was supposed to help her gain weight quicker. :irked:

I had some problems with fast letdown too. Some suggestions were to try nursing 'down under' with you lying back, and the football hold with you lying back as well. And I think they also suggested coming off the breast when letdown happens and waiting until it slows down a bit to come back. DD still pulls off just before letdown occasionally, and of course milk goes flying everywhere. I now keep a diaper under us whenever we are side-lying.

and fwiw, we went through an extra-gassy phase around that age. I think she didn't really throw up until she was 5 weeks, and then it seemed to happen much more often after that. But it slowed down as she got a little bigger.

[cking]

Speaking of chewing on things, does anyone have ideas for teethers for a non-solids-eating/tooth-having baby? DD seems to really want to bite into stuff now. We have some wood teethers, but of course she prefers books and fingers. I give her a bm-icecube-in-a-sock every now and then, and I noticed she's starting to bite and pull on it with her new teeth.

[cking]

So that means I want to buy Abby some good toys ourselves. Although, just heard today Haba is recalling a bunch of their rattles/rings for choking hazard. Wasn't a surprise to me since Abby just about choked on the problem part on her Haba ring last week. :( Luckily, she was able to swallow it--saw it come out the other end--but it was a SCARY minute where I picked her up, turned her upside down, and banged on her back, wishing I remembered the exact choking maneuver for babies. (I re-reviewed the manual right after we had both calmed down after that incident!)

Oh no! Glad she's ok. Which toy was this? I remember from your FB pictures that we have some of the same toys.

eta: nm, I found the post (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=958137) about it.

[~Shanna~]

Speaking of chewing on things, does anyone have ideas for teethers for a non-solids-eating/tooth-having baby? DD seems to really want to bite into stuff now. We have some wood teethers, but of course she prefers books and fingers. I give her a bm-icecube-in-a-sock every now and then, and I noticed she's starting to bite and pull on it with her new teeth.
Freeze a corn cob that has the corn bit off? Or even not frozen......Only good for a couple more weeks though......

Sleep is for wimps, and I really hope to wimp out tonight :(

[witchygrrl]

i'm finding myself feeling very amorous right now, but my body isn't ready at all. it's a tough spot! LOL

baby is doing well. we made our first trip out today that wasn't doctor/whatever related. we went to target to get another nipple shield and a box for them--even though he's now on the nipple itself about 1/3 of the time, so we are improving and i may not need the shield for long. we also went to the grocery store and a craft store to get some ink and paper to do hands/feet for everyone.

he has such long feet! :D


how is your body feeling, zoe? at this point i pretty much feel like myself, though still a bit larger than i used to be. I checked out the postnatal yoga workout on the dvd I used throughout my pregnancy and wow, I'm in for it. definitely something to work up to. i plan on starting next week.

rhea did much better today...a couple doses of gripe water definitely helped the gas.

[katt]

i've missed SO much. I was out of the state and had some family things to do.

Congrats Zoe!!! SO Exciting.

Teething: no real help as DS didn't really indicate he needed anything. We did freeze those plastic water filled rings, but I didn't like to use them 'cause they smelled SO bad, even after I washed 'em and tried to let them air out.

Toys: right now Teo is all about balls, cars, motorcycles and train. Especially if he can attach them (magnents on the trains) It is SO cute, he'll lay down on his stomach on the floor to play with the cars and such. Gotta love it.
He also REALLY loves his Vacuum (he found it at Goodwill and wouldnt' let go), Tricycle, bead maze, and wooden pull-behind caterpiller.
I know he'd love something he can push/pull like a wagon or cart or something like that, but we don't have room. He'd also really LOVE a kitchen. I think he'd LOVE a balance bike. (he LOVES for me to push him around on the 'big' kids' bikes -yes, he has to wear his helmet, even on his low-rider trike-.

I do have an Amazon wish-list for him. I try to keep it updated for what he's up to at the moment, or something he'll be needing in the future. Teo's Wish List (http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2WEAZERT59Q8C) Keep in mind that I just go through and click... my retail therapy. I don't know if family/friends have even know about it, much less buy off it. :) It might sometimes seem excessive concerning 1 kind of item, ie: lots of trains, I don't do a lot of editing, just wishing. :)

[snozzberry]

Speaking of chewing on things, does anyone have ideas for teethers for a non-solids-eating/tooth-having baby? DD seems to really want to bite into stuff now. We have some wood teethers, but of course she prefers books and fingers. I give her a bm-icecube-in-a-sock every now and then, and I noticed she's starting to bite and pull on it with her new teeth.Abby LOVES cloth teethers. Her two faves are the frog teether from Under the Nile and one of those ghost-looking things like this (http://www.oompa.com/baby-toys/item/KK89123/Kathe-Kruse-Organic-Grabbing-Gnome-Moon-and-Stars.html?oompaItem=Kathe%20Kruse_Organic%20Grabb ing%20Gnome%20Moon%20and%20Stars). She also loves the green beans and the carrot from the Under the Nile veggie crate. :thumb

eta: we'll also get the cloth teethers wet and put them in the freezer for a bit, and that helps a lot.

[snozzberry]

Oops, I forgot I had a question for y'all!

We're taking Abby to her first wedding in October, and I'd like to splurge on a super cute dress for her. :o Preferably organic. Do you know of any good organic clothes retailers that have cute dresses?

Also, is there such thing as an organic Halloween costume?

[zoebird]

i did post the birth story in birth stories. it's not complete because there is so much i cannot describe--it was such a deeply spiritual experience and how do you describe that. i guess it was an ecstatic birth!

organic dresses...kate something. . .i'll look it up see if i find it. . .

body is actually feeling good. i feel larger than before, of course, but it's only 12 days out now. (oh, and hawk has regained ALL of his weight back, even though the doc didn't think it possible!)

anyway, i'm already doing most of the abdominal exercises that i normally do (and did during pregnancy), and i feel it coming together. the skin is still loose, but i'm in most of my old clothes (the 6s for certain, the 4s are a bit tight).

i hope to be back to size by hawk's blessing (oct 12), but it may be well before then anyway.

and my legs and arms are certainly leaner. but i feel good "down there" and bleeding stopped (turned yellow) on day 7, and is slowing too.

so, it's all good here. ice packs still feel nice though. :)

[PiePie]

I do have an Amazon wish-list for him. I try to keep it updated for what he's up to at the moment, or something he'll be needing in the future. Teo's Wish List (http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2WEAZERT59Q8C) Keep in mind that I just go through and click... my retail therapy. I don't know if family/friends have even know about it, much less buy off it. :) It might sometimes seem excessive concerning 1 kind of item, ie: lots of trains, I don't do a lot of editing, just wishing. :)

same here

[PiePie]

one of those ghost-looking things like this (http://www.oompa.com/baby-toys/item/KK89123/Kathe-Kruse-Organic-Grabbing-Gnome-Moon-and-Stars.html?oompaItem=Kathe%20Kruse_Organic%20Grabb ing%20Gnome%20Moon%20and%20Stars).

my mom got dd one similar to that and it didn't get much use as a teether. she preferred board books and cold washcloths and now sippy cups. what she really wants is to chew on frozen bags of milk but that is such a huge no. her top 2 teeth poked through on sunday.

[Maela]

another push toy http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Flyer-Classic-Walker-Wagon/dp/B00005AWB5/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221012783&sr=8-3 perhaps i should quit the law and become a personal shopper...:o

I love this one!



Teething: Maev loved chewing on wet baby washcloths.


Dd has been going to bed later and later. 8 o'clock is out of the question now. 9 o'clock, maybe, if we're lucky. :( There goes the parents' alone time. I probably shouldn't be letting her sleep in right now, but I didn't get any time to myself last night. *whine* :eyesroll



Off to find ZB's birth story...

Then wake baby up. :innocent

[wateraddict]

Kate Quinn Organics Dresses (http://www.katequinnorganics.com/eshop/cart.php?target=category&category_id=78)

[wateraddict]

Farmama - How is the farm doing this year? It seems it was a rough year for most farmers due to the slower than normal warming of the weather. Is your farm back up and running as usual after the flood? Are you back in your house now? I stopped at the Olympia Farmers Market and picked up some of your wonderful chard and raspberries. :eat:

[Sihaya]

Not sure if it's fancy enough for a wedding, but Happy Green Be (http://www.happygreenbee.com/infant/dresses/dress)e also sells organic dresses.

[PiePie]

steph, just noticed your sr title. love it.

[witchygrrl]

Rhea will also be at a wedding this October...must peruse the dresses on these sites.

[arelyn]

We just got the internet...unfortunately we also got phone service and DS has discovered how to dial!! EEK!!!!!!!!! Sometime I'll find the time to get online nad post properly and read all I've missed (which is ridiculous amounts of material by now).

[zoebird]

you know, you might consider christening gowns as an option for the wedding dresses. you might consider asking the elders in your family for christening gowns.

my mother just brought the one that my sister and i wore, as well as her own (57 yr old christening gown). my mother's is beautiful, but so fragile. i'm having it box-framed, and hopefully my grandmother (with the help of my aunt) will be able to find a picture of my mother in the dress to be framed with it.

we're using the christening gown that i was in for hawk's blessing (including the bonnet, because i just think that's darn cute on boys--all those frills)--though ryan also wants to ask his mom to see what christening stuff might come up from their side of the family. who knows?

but, if i reject ryan's christening suit for my christening gown (because frills on boys is adorable!), she might get upset, just as how i had him in a little pink outfit in one of the pictures that we sent. it had a cat on it too, that pink outfit. it was so excessively girly--don't you know? LOL anyway, it totally wasn't. it was brown and pink with a cat on it for goodness sakes.

anyway, i ramble. i was thinking that you could probably find some really awesome old dresses in the family stashes somewhere--if you have contact with family. with mom's christening gowns, we also found a number of dresses that she saved that were mine and my sister's--adorable things.

anyway, an idea. perhaps not organic, but recycled.

[Holiztic]

Note on Kate Quinn: Everything we have bought of hers had holes or snaps falling off within a few wears. I refuse to buy another thing! Maybe just our experience, but buyer beware! We have ended up going all Hanna Andersson, much of what is not organic is Oko-Tex 100 certified (free of 100 harmful substances). For the under 2 crowd, you can find everything you need (except outerwear) in organic and/or oko-tex. Check, though, as not all is (some poly, acrylic, etc)

So we now have our third pair of shoes from Soft Star Shoes, and we LOVE them and wanted to share: http://www.softstarshoes.com

That's all I have time for!

[witchygrrl]

Makes me wish mine had been preserved...alas, it has not. As for DH, he had a bris, not a christening. Do they even have outfits for those? Maybe I'll ask my MIL about hers...

I think a brown and pink outfit with a cat on it sounds lovely--your ILs are special anyway, zoe. Of course, everyone asks if Rhea is a boy, even if she happens to be wearing pink. Whatever.

Love those shoes, Holitic! And too bad about Kate Quinn..I have one outfit by her--I'll see how it holds up.

[snozzberry]

Good suggestion on asking family for clothes, but neither side of our families has kept stuff like that unfortunately. :( I might also check out some local consignment shops but as you'll see below I'm very tempted to buy something handmade... :D

Elizabeth, thanks for the heads up about Kate Quinn! I'm off to check out Hanna Andersson after this post...

witchygrrl, people mistake Abby for a boy sometimes too, when she's wearing pink AND her teething necklace. :shrug

Vote on your favorite dress!
I spent a lot of time on etsy.com yesterday :o and found some ones I like. Which one is your favorite?

The wedding will be mid-October and the weather should still be fairly warm, but it's Texas so you never really know! For the short-sleeved ones we can just do a little sweater over them.
Option 1: Pink/white with brown sash (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat3_list_13&listing_id=14893425)
Option 2: Pink/white/brown flowers with pink/white sash (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat3_gallery_3&listing_id=14377944)
Option 3: Red/blue with peasant shirt (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat3_list_8&listing_id=15120709)

[arelyn]

:joy:A Belated Welcome To Hawk:joy:

Congrats Zoe, I can't wait to read the birth story (unfortunately it'll have to wait until the little man is asleep)!

Maela: We're in the same boat. Kai has a late bedtime (11 yesterday) and most nights I fall asleep nursing him down and get no grown-up evening time. At least he sleeps in! :thumb

And the ILs are here...wish me luck!

[Maela]

Kelly, I like option 3 the best, although all of them are very cute!



Dd woke up at 6:45 yesterday! I didn't even have to wake her up. That's a good thing, because then she took her nap from 11:30 to 1:00 and went to bed at 8:30PM!! Yay! :joy: She woke up at 7:20AM today. And just went down for her nap at 11:30. Woo hoo! Hopefully this means we're getting back on track.

[witchygrrl]

Yeah, I like the 3rd option too. I'll have to go search on there since the wedding we're attending is a ren faire theme in NH.

[Maela]

I just realized that you changed the options kelly. Now I like option 2 the best. :)


Arelyn, sorry about your lack of adult alone time in the evening. It's really stressful for us when we don't get it for many nights in a row. :hug dh leaves early for work, so having alone time in the morning doesn't work well for us. I'll have to remember to try that on weekends though!

[cking]

Good suggestion on asking family for clothes, but neither side of our families has kept stuff like that unfortunately. :( I might also check out some local consignment shops but as you'll see below I'm very tempted to buy something handmade... :D

Elizabeth, thanks for the heads up about Kate Quinn! I'm off to check out Hanna Andersson after this post...

witchygrrl, people mistake Abby for a boy sometimes too, when she's wearing pink AND her teething necklace. :shrug

Vote on your favorite dress!
I spent a lot of time on etsy.com yesterday :o and found some ones I like. Which one is your favorite?

The wedding will be mid-October and the weather should still be fairly warm, but it's Texas so you never really know! For the short-sleeved ones we can just do a little sweater over them.
Option 1: Pink/white with brown sash (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat3_list_13&listing_id=14893425)
Option 2: Pink/white/brown flowers with pink/white sash (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat3_gallery_3&listing_id=14377944)
Option 3: Red/blue with peasant shirt (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat3_list_8&listing_id=15120709)

those are so cute. I think I like #1 and #3 the best. :D

[zoebird]

good luck with ILs!

I really like the second and third dresses, and particularly the third dress. those are really lovely.

i'm having a friend make as suit for the baby for my sister's wedding in Feb. in the end, both ryan and i are in the wedding, and my sister picked a nice brown fabric and what not. quite nice really.

anyway, i figured i could just order extra fabric and then have my friend make an outfit for him that matches what ryan and i are wearing, since we're both in the wedding.

and, my dress has to be nursing friendly, too. and, my sister fore-warned the priest that i would, in fact, feed the baby in the church if needed. he seemed ok with that, she said.

so, that should be fun.

Cosleeping is the nicest thign ever, but i'm turning into a sandwich. that baby cuddles close, and then ryan cuddles close, and there i am in the middle trying not to be smooshed or smoosh anyone. LOL

so, i've moved over a bit to give ryan more space, which leads him to cuddling closer, and then the baby snuggles in really close. and sometimes, we just do "tummy-tummy" (skin to skin) with me on my back. it's nice, actually.

nursing right now is interesting. he nurses every 4th hr, for an hr or more. it kinda freaks me out, as he's supposed to go every 3rd hr, right?

so, anyway, we wake him every 3rd at night, and he'll feed for about 30-45 minutes, but then today, there was a 4 hr break between feedings (beginning to beginning) and the feeding lasted 2 hrs and 15 mintues (he did fall asleep occassionally and i had to wake him--but god forbid i take him from the breast.

in fact, now he's eaching every third--he's making hungry face again. he's so cute. so, i'll feed him again, and hopefully we'll get back on that 45 minute nursing every 3rd hr routine again!

[AislinCarys]

Zoebird, there's no "supposed to" with breastfeeding, unless there's a medical (or similar) reason! Some babies have long feedings, but maybe not that often, some have tiny snacks once a hour or so. Some take a long time and just feed slowly, while others are guzzlers and finish quite quickly. And unless your baby is not gaining weight properly you don't need to wake them up to feed - they'll wake when they need to! With DD's weight issues I did end up feeding every three hours for about an hour - but I had low milk supply, and this worked best for us between 4 weeks and 4 months. We also did wake her up (every 4 or 5 hours) until she was about 10 weeks old, which I felt terrible about, but what with the LC, the nurses and the specialist paediatrician, oh well.

I realise you have had difficulties too, and I guess we just do what we need to do for our babies.

There will be days when Hawk will feed more often and seem more hungry (growth spurts). If you just let him, he'll soon settle into his "schedule" again.

Just try to relax about it. Not that I was very good about that. I found I worried a lot about everything in the first few months.

Oh, and in the first month DD was very reluctant to get of the breast at all!

[witchygrrl]

Oh yeah, I realized that my dress for the wedding I'm in is very much NOT nursing friendly. Awesome. Rhea does know how to drink from a bottle, a skill learned when we were having weight issues :( Only my milk, though, thankfully. Never any nipple confusion, and she definitely prefers the breast. But the day of will be interesting...we plan on getting a brown New Native sling to match DH's outfit.

And I seriously want to know how/if you all keep house at all? Sharing chores? Waiting until you have bursts of energy? I had inspiration today, and Rhea napped quite a bit which helped, but yikes. Usually my apt is a sty.

[TwilightJoy]

I like the 2nd dress. :love

[PiePie]

zoebird, i LOVE that h. may wear your christening gown. consider a backup outfit -- i was at an mdc mama's ds's christening, and there was a diaper explosion between the church and the after party. dd wore my christening gown that had worn by everyone (one branch of) my family since at least 1848! handmade lace, brought over from ireland. :joy: note that the gown was originally made by a mama who had 5 boys and no girls. frills back then were very in for boys. and yes they are supposed to nurse every 3 hours, and here's the kicker -- you are supposed to count from beginning of feed to beginning!! we were religious about waking dd to offer the breast for the first month. at that point she had gained from 7 lbs. even at birth to a little over 8 lbs. and we were comfortable that she knew how to get what she needed. it sounds like your breastaurant is fully stocked now, but if you want to increase supply consider sleeping skin-to-skin.

kelly, i love the first dress. i tend to favor bright colors in general and especially on children.

arelyn, i totally feel you on falling asleep while nursing the baby down. for the first 7 mos. dd could stay up late but now she has a religious 9:30 bedtime which gives us a little couple time, when i am not working.

[PiePie]

heather, it is WAY too early for you to be worrying about housekeeping... at that point, the only housekeeping that got done in my house was by the post-partum doula. i am not one to talk on housekeeping because our apt. is a sty now too, but in general it happens in spurts during napping. it got WAY easier once she was interested in "helping" (totally counter-productive but whatever), which started at 7 mos. for dishes and 11 mos. for laundry.

[Maela]

ZB, I think it's cool that Hawk nurses for so long. Maev was (and still is) a short, but frequent nurser. Sometimes I wished that she was long, but less frequent. I always worried when she was very young if she was getting enough in five minutes.


Heather, our house is just now looking great again. After 9 months or so of pg and a year of having a baby. So, you have some time. :wink I would clean every now and then with bursts of energy during the naps that I put Maev down on our bed for. Sometimes when she was really little she would sleep for three hours and I would run around the house trying to make things look semi nice again. Usually though I would just try to keep up with laundry and dishes and not worry about much else. Dh helped when he could.

[zoebird]

we're doing well with housework...i am compelled to do it...it is tough with this nursing schedule. on for two hrs, off for one hr.

but it works!

sleep is tough though. and ryan complains even though i'm the one up doing the feeding and the night diaper now. i turn on a dim light...thats why he fusses about not enough sleep! silly man!

[snozzberry]

Thanks for taking a look at the dresses! It doesn't look like there's a clear winner so maybe I'll have to order more than one and see which one I like best. :o Abby doesn't have any dresses at all right now and I feel this huge urge to dress her up lately, so two dresses wouldn't be bad. :)

sleep is tough though. and ryan complains even though i'm the one up doing the feeding and the night diaper now. i turn on a dim light...thats why he fusses about not enough sleep! silly man!Haha, you're letting him off easy! Lacking the proper equipment to participate in the night feeding, DH always did night diaper changes. :)

Seriously though, we bought a couple LED night lights to keep in the room so at least for pee diapers, we didn't have toe turn on the lamp on the dresser. Just thought I'd mention that in case it might help in your situation!

[snozzberry]

Oh yeah, housekeeping: For about the first 9-10 weeks, DH did pretty much everything house-related. So if he didn't do it, it didn't get done. :o After that, I started participating more in housekeeping, but the house is pretty much cluttered always and more days than not has a nice layer of dog/cat fur on the hardwood floors. We need to get our Roomba battery replaced so we can start running it every day for when Abby starts crawling!

witchygrrl, that's so cool you're getting your DH a carrier like that! What did you think of the New Native? We tried it on once doing the hip carry, but it seemed like the fabric was cutting into Abby's legs.

[zoebird]

he was doing diaper changes before--and during the day he has diaper duty even though i'm trying to learn to EC.

next week, he starts working from home and gets back to his sort-of regular schedule. he is itching to get back to his writing schedule, and i'm learning to let him go a bit. i still expect him to help out on chores (dishes, laundry) and i'll take care of the rest of it. baby wearing while cleaning helps a lot!

also, i told him that i would take over this stuff. it doesn't mean he doesn't participate. he does hold the baby while i shower and when i need a bit of a break. it's not that frequent--hawk rarely cries (usually when he has gas or is having his diaper changed)--but sometimes i just need a bit of freedom to say, type with both hands? LOL!

otherwise, we're doing well with the continum concept (ok, he is in the car seat, but i sit next to him and touch him while he's there), and overall, it's not too bad to care for him.

what i do not care for, though, is ryan complaining about the difficulty when, in fact, he's not actually feeding, diapering, waking every 3rd hr, etc etc etc all day and night. he's mostly having to do more housework than he had to do i the past, and he also is the diaper washer. LOL

anyway, it's going very well. ILs are coming today. it's Opie's 92nd or 93rd birthday. she's officially diagnosed with dementia, now. i'm really upset.

[katt]

Option 2... my vote. :)

[PiePie]

sleep is tough though. and ryan complains even though i'm the one up doing the feeding and the night diaper now. i turn on a dim light...thats why he fusses about not enough sleep! silly man!

we stopped needing light at about 6 weeks. so perhaps he can be reassured that it won't be this way forever?

[witchygrrl]

lately, rhea has only one diaper change in the night, if that, even if she's eaten tons. first thing in the morning, that's when we go through a few. interesting. we want to look into starting EC, but we want to wait until she's holding her head on her own regularly.

thanks for the comments on housecleaning. i'm really not a neat freak--it was just getting to be really skanky and i couldn't deal. Dh is usually a zombie when he comes home, but at least he's not complaining that i can't get enough done duning the day as he sees how rhea and i operate on the weekends. but anyway, i feel better about things now.

Snozz, I like the New Native now that Rhea's big enough...before she'd lie deep in the pouch unless we folded up a blanket in there first. DH likes wearing her, though he prefers the Ergo. DH's outfit for the wedding is a Robin Hood getup, so we wanted one in brown to coordinate with his green and brown.

[zoebird]

for the most part, i don't need the light for nursing, but i do check the diaper. and it's strange, he didn't have a wet diaper last night, but this morning's was very wet, and he had two in succession.

also, feeding yesterday was wild, but last night had me a little excitable. LOL! he fed from 8:35 until 9;35 and then passed out until 1:45. UHM--that's 5 hrs between feedings folks! i was freaked! he slept for 4 of those hours, and then when he finished feeding around 2:45, he slept again until 6:45! That's 4 hrs!

and i was freaking out, because i'd wake at the 3rd hr, but he wouldn't budge from sleep to eat (he was breathing and doing "tai chi!"--that's what we call when he has those startle reflex thingies). but, i figured that if he was breathing and all of that, all was well.

but i'm calling the LC today just to check. chances are, he'll be completely different tonight, though his feedings do seem to be spreading out. which bodes well for yoga teaching. LOL

speaking of, i start back this sunday. woohoo! i need to figure out how to babywear AND breastfeed. right now, he's in the stork-wrap (german) which we love though it's warm, and i keep him in that cross carry. they recommend kangaroo, but i no likely. i tried the cradle, and he no likey.

could have been doing both wrong though.

anyway, i can't figure out how to adjust the cross to get him to a nursing position, which would be totally fab while working since that is the plan.

luckily, one of the local ECers is also an avid baby-wearing advocate who seems to know everything about everything, so hopefully we'll get together and she can help me out a bit!

also, EC is going funny. I'm learning the signals, finally, for poop--though he doesn't poop which is also the same for gas (farting). i'm still using diapes, but i'm holding him over the diape and doing a signal sound now.

nursing signal is "click click click" with the tongue (settles him down if he doesn't get nipple fast enough), and poop signal is ush ush ush. i don't know why. i guess you just do what comes to you!

it's pretty fun anyway. and ryan was surprised by foamy poop. what a riot that was.

oh, and another victory. today, we got ryan to work on time. it was a test run--technically he's working from home for the next two weeks, but he needed to go into the office. he got up and did his normal routine, hawk's feeding was perfect timing to get ryan to the office on time.

we simply changed and bathed him before he awoke, and i got ready before he woke, and then we fed him and were out the door.

because he was only working at the office for a couple of hours, i wrapped hawk up and we went grocery shopping, then walked to the coffee shop (where i had iced tea cuz i was hot), and then walked back to the car to change the diaper (no concept of pee signals until after he's done), drove to the quaker meeting, and then fed him for an hour while making phone calls for work and family.

then ryan came out, and here we are at home--hawk napping in dad's arms while he (dad) eats lunch. i get to be online until lunch is over, wherein i will wrap the baby and do the housework, though we're heading toward another feeding soon!

at least, i htink so. LOL

[~Shanna~]

also, feeding yesterday was wild, but last night had me a little excitable. LOL! he fed from 8:35 until 9;35 and then passed out until 1:45. UHM--that's 5 hrs between feedings folks! i was freaked! he slept for 4 of those hours, and then when he finished feeding around 2:45, he slept again until 6:45! That's 4 hrs!

and i was freaking out, because i'd wake at the 3rd hr, but he wouldn't budge from sleep to eat (he was breathing and doing "tai chi!"--that's what we call when he has those startle reflex thingies). but, i figured that if he was breathing and all of that, all was well.

but i'm calling the LC today just to check. chances are, he'll be completely different tonight, though his feedings do seem to be spreading out. which bodes well for yoga teaching. LOLFenton slept like this (and longer - all night sometimes) when he was newborn. Oh, how it pains me to remember those times :lol. Anyway, I had similar concerns and had our MW come out and weigh him and it confirmed that he was gaining weight. That, with your intuition that he's lively and thrivey......it will become clear whether you need to encourage him more at night or not. If all is good though, I say "Enjoy the sleep mama!" :thumb

I have a secret that I'm dying to share, but my sister swore me to secrecy...............:joy::joy:

[witchygrrl]

I have a secret that I'm dying to share, but my sister swore me to secrecy...............:joy::joy:

hmmmm...I have a couple of guesses :lol but I'll keep them to myself.

I saw my college roommate yesterday..she's due with her 1st on Thursday, but I do worry about her birth. Maybe I shouldn't because she doesn't dig the idea of natural childbirth (or bf'ing for that matter. sigh). She's scheduled for an induction next Friday if the baby doesn't come, and says she's signed up for the epidural as it was "good enough for her doctor when she had her baby." And formula was "good enough for us when we were babies," so it'll be okay, but she'll "try breastfeeding".

Oy vey. I think I could tell her otherwise until I was blue in the face, and it wouldn't matter. I've never thought of her as "mom" material. I hpe she proves me wrong.

[PiePie]

do you think my kid is sleep deprived? so i am reading ncss for toddlers/preschoolers. it says 12 mos should be getting 13.5 hours a day. she gets 10 at night and 2 for nap. btw we are i think consolidated into a snigle nap. so she shows no signs of overtiredness (the books lists) except for conking out on pub transit, but then it is only at her naptime. dh says no worries. still i feel guilty that i keep her up late so i can play with her despite woh and perhaps i am ruining her brain. by the way i had a huge anxiety reaction to reading about nightweaning. i guess i am nowhere near ready!

[~Shanna~]

do you think my kid is sleep deprived? so i am reading ncss for toddlers/preschoolers. it says 12 mos should be getting 13.5 hours a day. she gets 10 at night and 2 for nap. btw we are i think consolidated into a snigle nap. so she shows no signs of overtiredness (the books lists) except for conking out on pub transit, but then it is only at her naptime. dh says no worries. still i feel guilty that i keep her up late so i can play with her despite woh and perhaps i am ruining her brain. by the way i had a huge anxiety reaction to reading about nightweaning. i guess i am nowhere near ready!I was surprised that Pantley gave such concrete numbers for sleep amount, given that there isn't anything else I've seen concreteness work for with kids. I think you'd know if she was sleep deprived. Pantley gave me second thoughts on whether I was keeping Fenton up too late because he has her signs of being "overtired" by bedtimes, but my xperiments have shown I was right, that he's not ready for bed earlier than 9. But I'm with ya, those charts of hers gave me fits for a spell :lol

[cking]

Fenton slept like this (and longer - all night sometimes) when he was newborn. Oh, how it pains me to remember those times :lol. Anyway, I had similar concerns and had our MW come out and weigh him and it confirmed that he was gaining weight. That, with your intuition that he's lively and thrivey......it will become clear whether you need to encourage him more at night or not. If all is good though, I say "Enjoy the sleep mama!" :thumb

I have a secret that I'm dying to share, but my sister swore me to secrecy...............:joy::joy:This was us too. Josephine slept 6 hours at a stretch early on...then 8 hours starting at about two months. I was freaking out, but she was gaining and thriving very well. (and plenty of wet/soiled diapers...) Now I'm not so sure how often she nurses. She did start night-nursing more often around 4 months, and I think she started to become more sensitive to noises around the same time - whenever DH and I came to bed, she'd wake for a nursing then.

So exciting about your sister Shanna! :innocent:D

I still haven't been able to nurse in a carrier. :eyesroll One of these days we'll find the position that's right for us. I hope you have an easier time of it, zoebird. Is the cross-carry that you are doing on the back? :thumb

RE: the sleep chart - I was surprised when I saw one (I think maybe in Sears?) that showed that sleep needs change very little from birth to age 5. (Just duration of waking times that change, i guess.) But no, don't think L is sleep deprived. You'd know.

[cking]

Oh and thanks everyone for sharing your experiences on nursing frequency/durations. Josephine has always been nursing every two hours and only stays latched on for 10 minutes, now 5 minutes at each breast (except of course during naps or nighttime - then she can stay on for an hour or two.) She is just now starting to increase it to about every 3 hours. It's good to know that it really is very individualized.

[MujerMamaMismo]

Shanna! You tricked me. I saw your facebook status last night and remembered that the last time you were 'dying to share the secret' it was great news about YOU!!! Still, lovely news!

Does anyone read the SimpleMom (http://simplemom.net/) blog? DP (who is a disorganised, clutter-bug) has been reading for a while. Anyway, her latest post is about twaddle free books for pre-schoolers (http://simplemom.net/twaddle-free-books-for-preschoolers-my-top-10-favorites/) and I thought there might be a few interested women here. It's a pretty nice looking blog to play on too. But I can't believe that anyone could be that organised!!!!

[Maela]

MMM, thanks for the recommendation. I have been reading lots of "mom" blogs lately.



I think I might be crazy, but Dh and I are seriously considering "not preventing" for the next two months. There's a very good chance that nothing would happen since no AF yet. I have no idea why, but I just got the desire today to stop trying to not get pg. I don't know.... this could be a very bad idea.... Dh has always been fine with TTC again whenever I'm ready, so we're just waiting on me to be ready.
There's a specific time frame that I would like to have all our babies in if at all possible (Apr - Aug) so that's why it would only be for two months.

[snozzberry]

omg Maela!!! :joy :joy :joy

MMM, thanks for that blog link!

Shanna, yay for your sis!

[~Shanna~]

Horrible night last night :( I was watching the muppets this mornin at 4 am. And was still watching at 5:30. :(:( He's showing every sign of teething except swollen gums. Starting to feel gaslighted, I might eliminate dairy for a few days just to reassure myself.....

Hey, I'm getting rid of my Patapum because Fenton has outgrown it. Give me a holler if you might want it.

[Maela]

Okay, I think I've changed my mind. :eyesroll:o I was nursing dd to sleep last night and thinking about how much she still nurses. I don't know if I can stand it if my nipples are so sore like they were last time. :( If I wait another year before TTC, she'll be nursing a lot less, and if I just can't stand it, I won't feel so bad about slowly decreasing her nursing times. Right now though I feel like that would be devastating for her. One of the biggest reasons i wanted to wait for two years before TTCing, is because I'm not sure that I want to tandem nurse. And it wouldn't be fair to (IMO) force weaning before two.

I can dream...:o

Really though, how likely is it that I would get pg? We're getting kind of tired of the condoms. :o I've had so much CM since Dd was about 3 mo. I've felt like AF could come any time now for the last year. I need to get a new battery for my thermometer...


Shanna, I'm sorry about your night. Dd is also having all the signs of teething, but no sign of it on the gums. :irked: I don't know what's going on.

Also, I have a question for you mamas of toddlers. Does your babe have a temper? Dd certainly does and she's gotten really aggressive lately. When she doesn't get what she wants or when I have to take something away, she will say "Ow!" and try to scratch or bite us over and over. :lol It's actually kind of cute; I have to keep myself from smiling/laughing, but I'm a little worried that she's already learned this. We have never hit/hurt her. And she's only with gparents; they don't hit. I don't think she's seeing it on TV.

[witchygrrl]

Sigh. A position in my field is opening up next fall at Wellesley College, but I'm not even close to finishing my degree so I don't qualify yet. And I'm on leave anyway. Why couldn't this be a few years from now?

New worry--Rhea smiles, but not very often...like she reserves them or something. how can I encourage her more than I do? I smile at her, I coo at her...

[PiePie]

heather, dd didn't smile till 6 weeks, way later that other babes in my ddc, now she is the picture of ecstacy, and, according to her dcp, the happiest baby they've ever seen. and they have 5, 5, and 40 yrs of experience to go by. :love i didn't do anything to encourage it, i think it came about when she was able to sit/crawl and therefore feel more empowered.

i am in work hell. :(

[PiePie]

so i found ncss to be pretty blah. not overwhelmingly offensive -- lots of great photos of cosleeping -- but not really where we're at.

[Maela]

so i found ncss to be pretty blah. not overwhelmingly offensive -- lots of great photos of cosleeping -- but not really where we're at.

Hmm...I wonder if I should even bother reading it? It was next on my list.

[~Shanna~]

Hmm...I wonder if I should even bother reading it? It was next on my list.I thought it had a lot of ideas, but somehow I haven't gotten around to trying many of them. They're pretty-labor intensive and decisive, so I think things have to be pretty bad.

[Maela]

I thought it had a lot of ideas, but somehow I haven't gotten around to trying many of them. They're pretty-labor intensive and decisive, so I think things have to be pretty bad.

Aaahh. Well, Dd keeps chaning her mind about whether or not she wants to stay up late at night or go to bed on time. Either way she usually wakes up at about the same time. If she stayed up late the night before, she's grumpy in the morning. If she didn't, she's a happy camper. So maybe I'll read the book anyway, just incase this gets worse.

Tonight was a good night. She went to sleep at 8:30PM.

[snozzberry]

New worry--Rhea smiles, but not very often...like she reserves them or something. how can I encourage her more than I do? I smile at her, I coo at her...No worry! Abby was reserved at first too. It doesn't help when you have other mamas saying stuff like "oh, my baby smiles ALL the time!" Grr.

But now Abby is a happy little monkey all the time!

PiePie, I'm sorry about work. :(

[witchygrrl]

got 3 grins this morning! I guess the "normal" time for smiles is 6 weeks, and she's going on 7. she was just so ahead with her strong neck that I figured she'd be ahead on this too. I hear you, PiePie, on the idea of feeling empowered. Rhea seems so frustrated by not being able to move like Mommy and Daddy.

[snozzberry]

Maela, have you tried baby signs with Maev? In theory at least, it seems like that might help with her feeling frustrated enough to throw a tantrum, i.e. if she can use words to communicate her emotions.

Not even sure if that makes sense, but the thought popped into my head this morning so I wanted to share it!

[PiePie]

going to start a sing and sign class with dd per kelly's theory.

[Maela]

Maela, have you tried baby signs with Maev? In theory at least, it seems like that might help with her feeling frustrated enough to throw a tantrum, i.e. if she can use words to communicate her emotions.

Not even sure if that makes sense, but the thought popped into my head this morning so I wanted to share it!
She uses signs for "more", "allgone/all done" and "nurse" and she says "ooooh" for open. I usually know what she wants, it's jsut that she can't have it at the moment because I need it or it's dangerous, etc. Like the other day we were getting into the car to go home and she had my keys. I needed them, so I was just going to take the car key off and give her the rest back. I was taking them gently and trying to tell her what I was going to do (not that she definitely would understand...) and she grabbed my hands and was scratching them saying "ow!"

Maybe teaching her the sign for "mad" so she can at least let me know in a positive way? I think I need to give her something constructive to do when she's mad.

[zoebird]

carrying: i'm using the front cross carry where hawk's on my chest. there is a way to shimmy the kid down to the breast, but it requires loosening the knot to do so. the concern i have with that is that he'll signal to nurse, and if i don't respond in about 20 seconds, he goes into full screaming mode. and, it takes more than 20 seconds to shimmy him around to the right position.

so, for the teacher training this weekend, we're going to be mellow about it all. i'll have the wrap, but unwrap him and have a seat--while continuing to teach--and nurse him. everyone at that class is pretty liberal.

but, i'm concerned about how to do things for the regular classes that i want to teach--and since he doesn't ahve a real nursing pattern yet or now or whatever. . .i'm a bit nervous about it. i want to start work in Oct--i do miss working.

body stuff: body is really starting to feel better. i think i pushed a bit much with my anus while giving birth--it hurts to go! silly me! i still have some loose skin and sub-cutaneous fat, but i'm back in pre-preggo clothing pretty nicely. and, i'm up to two miles of walking per day right now--the pace is slow, but it's good to be out and about. and of course, i'm baby wearing then. next week, i'm going to add in a bit more work to help remove the rest of the weight. though admittedly, every day i seem a bit thinner/leaner than before. breastfeeding works.

breastfeeding: hawk's been funny. ok, last night was nice. it was 4.5 hrs between feedings. we had a feeding at 9:30 and then again at 2, and then again at 6:30--which was perfect for our morning routine. but today, he's been on the breast more than he's been off. he took two "naps"--one while i was walking (that's about an hour) and one this afternoon (i napped also)--but otherwise he's either been on the breast or having his diaper changed. he hates having a wet/dirty diaper, but he also hates being changed. which brings us to. . .

ECing: so, he doesn't have clear signals. i'm considering just doing a nakie day to see if he does have signals that i'm missing, but normally he's either in his marathon nursing session and just goes whenever during said session, or he's asleep. he wakes up and goes "meep" when he has a wet diaper--so we change it then--and poop is obvious because he's noisy when he goes.

if i can't figure signals, then another suggestion from another ECer was to simply offer him the potty throughout the day when he usually goes. for example, he usually poos morning and evening (not day or night), and he pees pretty much about 30 minutes after each nursing--assuming he stops nursing. it seems strange to wake him to pee though. . .so who knows?

anyway, now that nursing is going well (i assume), we can move onto ECing.

Also, we weighed him today and he's just aroud 8 lbs. he was wiggling a lot, and it was at least 8 lbs, if not more. so, he's definitely getting enough milk between wet diapes and gaining weight.

i suppose he wants to nurse again now. ryan can't seem to settle him.

[Maela]

carrying: i'm using the front cross carry where hawk's on my chest. there is a way to shimmy the kid down to the breast, but it requires loosening the knot to do so. the concern i have with that is that he'll signal to nurse, and if i don't respond in about 20 seconds, he goes into full screaming mode. and, it takes more than 20 seconds to shimmy him around to the right position.

so, for the teacher training this weekend, we're going to be mellow about it all. i'll have the wrap, but unwrap him and have a seat--while continuing to teach--and nurse him. everyone at that class is pretty liberal.

but, i'm concerned about how to do things for the regular classes that i want to teach--and since he doesn't ahve a real nursing pattern yet or now or whatever. . .i'm a bit nervous about it. i want to start work in Oct--i do miss working.

body stuff: body is really starting to feel better. i think i pushed a bit much with my anus while giving birth--it hurts to go! silly me! i still have some loose skin and sub-cutaneous fat, but i'm back in pre-preggo clothing pretty nicely. and, i'm up to two miles of walking per day right now--the pace is slow, but it's good to be out and about. and of course, i'm baby wearing then. next week, i'm going to add in a bit more work to help remove the rest of the weight. though admittedly, every day i seem a bit thinner/leaner than before. breastfeeding works.

breastfeeding: hawk's been funny. ok, last night was nice. it was 4.5 hrs between feedings. we had a feeding at 9:30 and then again at 2, and then again at 6:30--which was perfect for our morning routine. but today, he's been on the breast more than he's been off. he took two "naps"--one while i was walking (that's about an hour) and one this afternoon (i napped also)--but otherwise he's either been on the breast or having his diaper changed. he hates having a wet/dirty diaper, but he also hates being changed. which brings us to. . .

ECing: so, he doesn't have clear signals. i'm considering just doing a nakie day to see if he does have signals that i'm missing, but normally he's either in his marathon nursing session and just goes whenever during said session, or he's asleep. he wakes up and goes "meep" when he has a wet diaper--so we change it then--and poop is obvious because he's noisy when he goes.

if i can't figure signals, then another suggestion from another ECer was to simply offer him the potty throughout the day when he usually goes. for example, he usually poos morning and evening (not day or night), and he pees pretty much about 30 minutes after each nursing--assuming he stops nursing. it seems strange to wake him to pee though. . .so who knows?

anyway, now that nursing is going well (i assume), we can move onto ECing.

Also, we weighed him today and he's just aroud 8 lbs. he was wiggling a lot, and it was at least 8 lbs, if not more. so, he's definitely getting enough milk between wet diapes and gaining weight.

i suppose he wants to nurse again now. ryan can't seem to settle him.

Glad to hear things are going so well! I don't really have any advice for the bfing while babywearing; I couldn't really ever do it. :shy Maybe Hawk is going through a growth spurt, and that is why he's nursing so much?

I still haven't figured out Dd's signals for peeing. Poop, I can definitely tell, unless I'm not paying attention.

[~Shanna~]

I got a good night's sleep last night! Hurray! :joy:

I'm trying to remember the name of a cookbook that we were talking bout here, something to do with moon and harvest? Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I ran into it at a Nourishing Traditions conference this weekend and vowed to see if my library has it....and now I can't remember what it's called. I just scored both Susun Weed books on paperbackswap. I heart that site :joy:

I miss you ladies, I've just been lurking away. Fenton is keeping me running, but he's such a joy. He's a little chatterbox these days - DH and I have counted that he's saying more than 70 words - he'll pretty much repeat anything you say, but it's amazing to me when I see him put a word into context that I didnt' know he knew. He's still almost exclusively breast fed though, despite my attempts to make solids more attractive. He's been "helping" me with gardening and preservation. And today he "helped" me by dropping Harry Potter audio disc 17 from the library.....down between the cracks in the patio. It will be a miracle if I get it out again. He's also interested in and asking to use the potty, though every time I set him on it, he gets scared and tries to climb back up me. He's pretty reliable when he tells me he needs a dipe change because he "pooped". It's so cool to see the ways he's excited about the world :joy:

MMM, how are you feeling? Is MMM our remaining pg mama? Am I forgetting anyone?

[MujerMamaMismo]

MMM, how are you feeling? Is MMM our remaining pg mama? Am I forgetting anyone?

Still not loving every minute though this week has been better than last. I just want sleep and some reflux respite. I thought I had it nailed by upping my protein and cutting out most carbs and white everything but after 5 days of relative success, it's all back with a vengeance. I think it's got everything to do with Squeaks position and only a little to do with my diet.

My hip is better though so I can move and I'm happy to be swimming and walking and yoga-ing as much as possible.

I'm flying out this afternoon to visit my best friend. It's only an hours flight but summer has come early where she is (central coast, new south wales) and it's going to be a perfect weekend - 31 degrees celcius! (~87f.) I'm so excited - I'm going to swim in the ocean!

I think I am the last preggo though I suspect that there's a lurker or 2 here that may be getting close to TTC. :wink

[witchygrrl]

MMM, I hear you on the reflux. That was the worst part for me. I was getting ready to buy stock in Tums, the only thing that gave me relief, and even that got piddling toward the end. But you're just about in the 3rd trimester! Hooray!:joy:

The great-grandmas are getting antsy that they haven't met Rhea yet. But it's not exactly a short trip to NJ (4-5 hours without stops), and no one seems to realize that as a schoolteacher, especially one that early in his career, he can't just take days off to make long weekends whenever he wants. They're a bit too infirm to make the trip to us, and our only long weekend comig up is the weekend of the wedding we're in, so...guess they're going to have to wait.

zoe, I'm impressed about the nursing while wearing. My upstairs neighbor does that all the time, too.