[angel04345]

Well we certainly have taken a serious turn! But how wonderfull that we all feel comfortable enough to share! I don't know if I shared with you all my dream during pregnancy! I had a dream that some men came and tried to take us over. They came into our homes and we had to let them stay with us and we were being "converted to their ways" One of their ways was that you could only have ONE child! Well I was pregnant and had Ali! So through the course of this dream this was relayed to me and I discussed with my husband that I didn't want to kill one of my children! By the end of my dream we had decided that we would keep Ali because she would know what was happening! I could still cry thinking about it now. But I guess I was mildly aware that this was a dream and that I could fix the outcome and decided that my husband pulled out some guns when the baby was born and he told them they weren't going to do anything to his son or his daughter and they left!

Anti gun NOT ME!!!

At any rate I feel that this dream was tied to my feelings that I wasn't going to love the baby and that he was going to take away from Ali! When he came at first I was just so in love but when we got home things were more difficult and I did feel it was taking from her

But I've realized when I'm watching her snuggle with him and make him giggle that I've given her so much more than I took!

I gave her a life long friend! Someone who will hopefully be there when I'm not anymore!

So that is my confession!

Pepper I am so glad that you were reading and hope that you can find some comfort here!

I am so sorry Amy! I am just glad that you weren't there during the storm! If you need anything let us know!

As far as letting them CIO I am not against it so to speak but I'm not for it. For instance with Ali I let her cry it out and she did fine with it but I think that is what she wanted. She never cried really when we started just lying her down. Honestly I don't remember it being hard to deal with or any long bouts of tears! I think she just wanted to sleep! Shes like that now too! She asks for the lights to be turned out!

Nolan on the other hand I tried to lay him down one night and he started screaming this ungodly cry and I would NEVER put him down before I saw that he was nursing to sleep and then it doens't bother me. I like to make sure hes full and tired! By tired I mean each time I nurse him he falls asleep even if he wakes when I try to lay him down hes obviously tired! Usually I turn on the mobile and give him a paci and he doesn't cry. So I don't think that I would want to Ferberize him!

However each child is differant and you will know what to do!

Well I hope I didn't scare anyone with my dream! I don't think I've told anyone that my husband has firearms and I've been flamed before because its a big hobby for him! Its why we dont' have a house already! But we are safe about it and he enjoys it and I don't mind as long as my children are not near them!

Hope you all are feeling great!

 

[dynamohumm6]

Angel, I call myself a gun-toting liberal...I like shootinng guns. We don't own any, but I enjoy them, and I think it's important for kids to be aware of them and what they can do. Sam knows if she ever sees one, to LEAVE wherever she is, whether it's a grown up, a friend, whatever. I am careful about knowing whether not there are guns in her friends' houses, etc.
Anyway...I hate Charlton Heston and the NRA and all that jackbooted crap, and I am all for waiting periods etc...but it's an awful lot of fun to go to a firing range and play with an MP5 automatic

Meli - as far as tattoos....it's hard to explain about what a release they are for me without sounding like a freak. But there's something to be said for turning mental pain/stress into physical pain/stress. On the same note, though, I don't feel like it's so much pain as it is an awareness of some sort. Like I said, hard to explain. But I love the sting of the needles, I love the smell of the blood & ink, and I love the "HEY, I'M HERE" feeling of the tattoo while it heals. The endorphine rush while I'm getting tattooed is almost overwhelming, I sometimes almost fall asleep from it. I have one guy that does all my work for me, but one of these days, when I have the money and the opportunity arises, I am getting one of the old school traditional Borneo tattoos done--where they use nothing but black ink and a sharp piece of wood. I've seen them done before, it seems like a pretty intense experience, and I'm waiting for a good convention to come to town next year (I missed it this year at 6 weeks post partum) with members of the Borneo tribe to get one done.
Ahhh, I'm itching to get ink again. It's been too long, about 15 months. You can do it while breastfeeding, but I'd rather wait until Cully is close to a year old (plus, we're still catching up after all the wedding spending, and xmas is coming, too). I have my entire left arm to sleeve, and my entire back. Alex is starting after the new year, too.

Anyway, I'm just blathering, I should go get in the shower--after getting a half inch of snow yesterday, it's 50 degrees and sunny sunny sunny out today, so we need to get out of the house! Taking the kids to a 'haunted house' thing at a nearby mall today, then I might maybe make some pumpkin loaf.

 

[bamamom]

on board

 

[PatsGrace]

I FINALLY got a sig...like it?

Emmy and Pepper, I totally get you on the pain thing. I did go through a rough spot as a teenager, and while it wasn't very healthy, I used to hurt myself on a regular basis.

Usually with a knife or a wall... I don't know how to explain it, but I felt like I had a hard time feeling anything and felt rather numb, and doing that brought a bit of focus...

But I've never gotten a tatoo (aside from the ones I gave myself which faded away)

And I had the wierdest, most violent dreams while I was pregnant too.

Meli, I'm sorry you are deaing with anxiety too, and that your fish oil isn't doing it's thing for ya! It sounds like alot of us had bonding issues in the beginning, and that is really interesting about the third child thing. Glad you guys are doing good now! Good luck with your crib, maybe Dan will like it.

Off to hang out with dh, and by the way, I know I've brought this up before, but does anybody else here have a messed up sex drive???? I feel broken

and it's depressing, I miss my old self. I feel totally uninterested in sex, and I feel wierd about my body, especially my "big broken baby hole" as I call it...I think it has healed with some wierd permanent shreds.

The other night went like this: *time* with dh, uh oh, baby crying, nurse nurse nurse, back to dh, baby crying, back to dh...it was like they were tag teaming me. I feel like it's just one more chore when I want to sleep.

 

[la mamita]

i like the new sig grace! it is very interesting!

 

[fuzzypeach]

I have one tattoo, and I really enjoyed getting it too. It is about 3 inches in diameter, circular, black, intricate designs - took an hour and 45 minutes to do. Very painful! But like you said emmy when it was new and so obviously 'there' (tho it's not in an obvious place) that was cool. If that makes sense. I find myself being less and less coherent these days, forgetting words and such

I would like to get another but don't know what yet.

Nice sig line Grace

Yeah I don't have a sex drive to speak of either. It's the nursing hormones supposedly. Also the fact that my postpartum body does not seem at all attractive (to me).

Is anyone else's babies CHOMPING their nipples really hard?? Elaina is lately, and ouch!! I don't really know what to do about it when she's actually doing it, hard to remove my nipple when she's got it squeezed flat between her jaws and arches her neck and whipes her head around

She also is inconsolable riding home in the car after about 5pm

We're going to just not go anywhere until she outgrows this... which hopefully won't be long... it's just not worth it to have her so miserable, I can't bear it. Dh agrees. Poor baby. We'll do our socializing in the daytime.

 

[bamamom]

ugh..dd was a terrible car baby... i don't honestly think she got much better til we turned her around at a yr

Sex drive.. welll,,,, not too great here. i often instigate it, but not because i truly feel like i want it, jsut because it's Time to do it.. does that make sense??

I don't feel alot.. but I try real hard. And we have been fortunate....Dd NEVER once interrupted us, and s has only a few times

 

[Pepper]

Hi Mamas,

I have a new regimen to help with the ppd:

6 flax oil pills a day
B-complex
Inositol

I read a thread in the ppd forum here that recommended the above. A lot of the moms were helped so I'm giving it a shot.

Honestly, just the fact that I am here and looking for help says a lot. Before I just didn't give a sh*t and was wallowing in it so I'm hopeful.

Baby is fighting sleep. Gotta go nurse her down

 

[fuzzypeach]

Pepper it does sound like you're going upward. I'm so glad, and glad to see you here again!

DH is off at a friend's today and instead of being a total crankpot Elaina hasn't done much besides eat and sleep!

I feel like I'm on vacation!

Fellow ECers: how goes it? Elaina is doing pretty darn well. She will every now and then have about 2 days where I'll only catch one or two pees, but other than that we average about 3 misses a day. My record is only one wet diaper a day

I was so proud of us that day.

She has allowed me to sleep in til 6:30 the past few days!

That's much more acceptable than 4 or 5:30! It seems downright luxurious.

 

[PatsGrace]

That's awesome Fey! I stared reading about EC today, so I tried it when ds woke up...we caught it! This could prove to be addicting...

 

[Meli65]

Does anyone else have dry, scaly, itchy patches on their breasts? How lovely, hmm? I've started hand-washing my bras in baby soap but it doesnt seem to help.

:

I can have a short fuse and tend to let fly with a "G D it!" when frustrated. Miles, of course picked up on this and is now saying it about 20 times a day.My mother even called to tell me, saying, "of course, you never say this in front of him..."

: But seriously, I am mortified.

Hope the new regimen works, Pepper. As you say, identifying the problem and trying to solve it is a huge step!

 

[bamamom]

anyone else here cutting second teeth already?? Ds;s first tooth is all the way in. and the second one is halfway through, bless his heart it bothers him so much

Well the cleaning crew will get here tomorrow....mom and gma are coming to helpme restore two weeks of idle takeing care of sick kid mode... honesltly, with dd being sick, thenhospitalized, then us getting stomach flu, well.. let's just say my house is pretty grody

So tomorrow is damage control day, lol

Gnight ladies

 

[swedemom]

guns: im pretty insanely anti gun, but i say that from a viewpoint of never having been around them.each place ive lived in was more and more negative towards them, so my opinion although may be strong, is like the virgin giving sex advice.

angel: on worldlyness, you mentioned how unworldly maine was...well let me tell ya

i grew up in newfoundland, canada....we DREAMED about one day having enough money to go to maine (going to america!) and buying one piece of LL bean clothing (only one of course, cause we spent the whole budget getting to maine) heheh

grace: i love your broken baby hole....thats the best description i can think of these days. genuis. but as someone said, its the hormones of BFing....it goes back to normal quickly once we stop (if we are not too tired i guess)

maybe the fact that in our baby making years we are not overly sexual as women, whereas we have our peak at 40-....hmmm.

michelle: halloween is not so big here either, just in a imported comericalism kinda way. everyone associates it with eating pizza, drinking coke american kinda thing...and i spend my time saying "its actually irish/pagan" hehehe. Is nov 1, all saints big in peru? i know it is in some other latin american countries, oddly they do that here as well...a laid back version, but people go to the graveyards.

fey: mathilda was / is a great car child. Louis screams murder....now he even starts scream as soon as i show him the chair

its a pain. poor mathilda sits there with her ears covered while L screams

meli: i have those exact same patches! they are like the size of a pencil eraser. i had them with DD they went away after i stopped...almost instantly went away. sorry about a potty mouth miles. mathilda says "jesus mary and joseph" alot at daycare. as DP is not english, everyone knows where it comes from.

bamamom (spellled correctly i might add!) congrats on the cleaning crew. it will feel so nice to have everything freshened up i can imagine.

sleeping: im not sure how much longer i can co-sleep with Louis, i am having nasty pain in my shoulder and hips from being on my side

mathilda is no problem, but it feels wrong to have her with us and little louis alone in a crib

off to look for a pumpkin

happy all hollows

 

[fuzzypeach]

Well ladies, we have mobility!

: Elaina is inchworming forward.

Anyone know anything about how long it takes to go from bellycrawling to real crawling? We really need to stop putting off babyproofing the house... it's gonna be such a huge job...

No teethies yet though.

Nancy, how is your supply problem doing?

 

[angel04345]

Well I am glad that no one freaked out about the firearms!

I was bracing myself!

Nolan was trying to type I think! He was banging the keyboard and moving the mouse all over the place!

So what are all of you doing about teething pain? I bought some oral gel to put on his gums but dont' know if we will bother. Sometimes I can tell he could use it but for the most part hes just drooling buckets

Pepper you sound so much better already!

OMG my daughter says your [email protected]@@@ me off! I have since changed it to your ticking me off and shes caught on to that! She also says to DH when he says [email protected]@. "Why you say that dirty word? Thats naughty and mommy will get mad!" But she also says things like this "A few months ago I did something foolish with my books!"

: I don't know why but I made her repeat it about three times!

Halloween is pretty normal in Maine. Ali will be cinderella. I am pretty psyched to take her this year. I think she might remember it for next year! This year its like she is relearning! She doesn't get it! But she sure liked the little halloween party we went to!

Onto something I know I've told you all about but I'm happy to report is in the works.....I am going January 12th to see a surgeon about getting a reduction! How wonderfull! I am suppose to try to loose some weight to prove that the size doesn't go down dramatically enough to make enough differance. Right now I am wearing a 46I but my breasts fall out the bottom. So thats not big enough! But that is the biggest size they had at the lactation office. So I wear a normal bra over it but they are still coming out the bottom!

I have lots of questions about how long does milk have to be dried up and does it at all. Can I breastfeed subsequent children, could I know that before I got pregnant or would I have to wait until birth to find out. (I wouldn't have a child I couldn't breastfeed so this is big for me!) Can you all think of something else I should be asking?

Well I guess that I will talk with you all later! I have to get going as I have a daycare kid coming! Oh and thats something I didn't share! I only have two daycare children right now and one is on a by the day and the other is 80$ a week. The one that is 80$ a week came one day last week and then his mother only paid me 25$!!!! I asked her why and she said that she already told me thats all she could afford!

: I explained to her that I can't go to the grocery store and give them what I can afford and take all the food I need! She laughed and told me it wasn't the same! I told her this was our grocery money and she had no business taking MY money! Needless to say I don't think I'll be watching him much longer!

Okay really I have to go!

 

[SharonAnne]

Hey everyone

Happy Halloween!

It is so interesting to hear how Halloween is celebrated around the world. Especially since it's celebrated as a holiday of American Commercialism. Blech.

My brother's girlfriend made us all dinner for his birthday last night, and she confided in me that she was sooooooooooo nervous about having my mom over.

That cracks me up, because my mom is SUPER HYPER critical of me, but not of anyone else

She had NOTHING to worry about. Anyway, we all had a great time, until Danny (brother) and I discovered that neither of us had brought a deck of cards for our weekly after dinner game of gin-rummy. Grrrr LOL

Anyhoo....Joey was soooooooooo cranky yesterday. The whole turning the clocks back thing messed with her internal clock pretty well. Prior to dinner, we spent the day at my inlaws and NO ONE could get her down for a nap for more than about 15 minutes. So, she was pretty grumpy

She seems better today; sitting next to me and gooing and gahing.

We're headed back to Bayonne this evening to show off her halloween costume (she's going as a pea pod). My sister-in-law is taking her son trick or treating and I honestly don't get that at all. He's a year old, he's not going to eat the candy, why drag him door to door in the chilly autumn air? No, well, I guess I sort of get it. He's going to be awfully cute in that monkey costume. But, he can't even walk up to the doors!

Fussy baby, more later!

 

[mcs]

good morning happy halloween! i have not been able to post in a while and then, when i did, it was in the old post. fey, eisa is wriggling too in a "crawl like way" but i thought to myself "no way" and left it at that. really?! could these little baby-baby-newborn-babies be ready to wriggle and crawl? she has also just found her feet and the cats (found them as in CATS! tails and fur and fun.) also, after i reported that she didn't like the boppy anymore, i tried again and she loved it- last night she even sat up on her own for a few seconds. we have had a crazy busy few days- the party design busniness that dh and i work for is moving to a new place and they threw out everything. you would not believe all of this stuff- so eisa and i drove into manhatten to pick up a car load. what a terrible stress. we drove first to a computer store in brooklyn, then into manhatten with the worng directions, and then back to brooklyn to a friends for dinner. i could have been in PA with all of the driving time. so we were going to have a yard sale with the loot and what a great day for it yesterday, weather wise---but, nobody was out! we only made $16. so my house is an incredible mess with all of this stuff and the mess we made making halloween costumes and for a few min. we even had a pile of dishes on the floor. that was too much for me. well, i was feeling pretty strange and getting so that my eyes were bugging out of my head and saying to myself "let it go, let it go" while really i was in shut down mode, till suddenly at 10 with still-no-dinner-in-me, i burst into a rage of energy and hosted my own dance party. hilger was dumbfounded but eisa was really thrilled by the performance. i was tired. I am still tired. i havn't been so active since before i was pregnant and it felt great. the house is still a mess though.

well, on other, older topics and repeated from the post i left in the old thread-- pepper, i am so happy to see you back. really happy too, that you came back to read all of the posts about ppd that your original message prompted- you have soo much to contribute. you really are a special person and i hope that we will be able to help you in your recovery- you can talk talk talk yourself right out of that place. tell us more- how are the other kids? what is new in baby land?

I have had problems with depression and was really prepared to have ppd. especially with the advanced warning of a c-cection- i just tried to imagine that i would not have bonding problems, but it was always in the back of my mind that, of course i would. when i saw eisa after the birth, for just the few min. that i was able to touch her, i was shaking all over with happiness, but was thinking that she was ugly (have never told this to anyone,) and i thought "oh no, here it begins- who could think their own baby ugly?" and so i worried and worried all of the time that she was away from me. when she was finnally with me though, i didn't have time to think of it anymore. We had almost NO help from the hospital staff (something i have never really talked out here) and i think that this terrificly terrible care may have saved us. I was so drugged and i really felt like it was eisa and me against the world. I held her so close for the rest of our awful days in the hospital and that is what they became- "OUR awful days." Even so, i can relate to this feeling that so many of you wrote about- "i guess it would be terrible if something happened, but maybe then things would be nice too, i mean we could have another baby in a few years..." I did have thoughts like this a few times- all along though, i was loving her like crazy and not even fully realising the other thoughts. thanks for the opportunity to talk about it- i think that it is a good idea to say these things out loud. i have more to say but it will have to be later.....mcs

 

[twouglyducks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzypeach Well ladies, we have mobility! : Elaina is inchworming forward. Anyone know anything about how long it takes to go from bellycrawling to real crawling? We really need to stop putting off babyproofing the house... it's gonna be such a huge job...

Gwen can move around a bit. How long it takes will totally depend on the baby. My first started army crawl at 6 months and got SUPER fast and could get about anywhere. Didnt do tradt'l crawl until 8 months or so, after he mastered sitting and getting to crawl position. My second was full blown crawling by like 6 months, pulling up at 7, walking at 8 mo, running at 8mo1week. :LOL He really wanted to keep up.

re teething pain- we do teething tabsand cvhamomile. wont do orajel anymore as it has saccharin in it. didnt do much good with the boys anyway.

 

[twouglyducks]

Quote:

She laughed and told me it wasn't the same!

Wow! I can't believe she responded that way!! Don't think I'd watch him ever again if that's how she was acting.

 

[twouglyducks]

I really suk typing and nursing. i had those terrible thoughts, too. this time i even thought things like, "i'd miss the boys and be sad for a while, then just have the one kid and have it easy" during the weeks when Gwen was having so much trouble getting any sleep b/c the boys kept waking her up. I never told that to anyone.

What else was I going to reply to here...??? Oh, I also thought my first son and gwen were ugly at birth... in a beautiful newborn sort of way... if that makes sense??