PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[Mara]

milk cow #3 checking in while early morning pumping..

oh and drk that cow feeling, get used to it. it just gets more ''natural'' HAHA. last nite G said he doesn''t even notice me walking around with my boobs hanging out anymore.

viz i agree with fiery...charlie looks happy to be in your arms. i also agree people should seize life, i am actually the world''s biggest advocate for ''doing what makes you happy'', i feel like life is too short and too filled with responsibilities to not do things that give you pleasure (umm my taco bell run yesterday??). i think i am able to be a bit nazi about J''s schedule and habits because i am home with him right now. so i''ll get the morning cuddle but after he wakes up for the day. and i''m able to stand there when i put him down for a nap and watch him flirt and smile and babble to me and not pick him up and play with him or hug him because i know i''ll be there in an hour when he does get up and does the same thing. when i go back to work i will prob feel like i am missing out on more of that stuff, so that is one of the side reasons why i want our schedules to be more firmly in place.

limit temptation.

long work thing, skip if you are not interested haha. so last nite one of my coworkers/friends came over with the bumbo and a huge bag of clothes that her baby outgrew (coincidentally named Julian also, actually not coincidentally but i was considering that name before she even gave birth lol). we were chatting work stuff because there is a huge reorg going on and a ton of changes. i don''t officially have a boss right now, i was reporting directly into my VP because my function was transferred from another internal dept during ANOTHER reorg about 7 months ago, and they were hiring for a layer between me and the VP...anyways... long story short is that i don''t know if my job will still be there, if it is i will have a new boss, a new VP, and the whole reorg is affecting a lot of people i have worked with for the last 3 years. it''s a ton of change and everyone is freaking out and worrying about their jobs. if i was there i wouldn''t worry at all because i did my job solo bringing in a crazy amt of money for the company for almost 3 years BUT when i moved to this new org i hired someone and then someone else internally was tapped to fill in for me while gone. he is doing a wonderful job apparently working on this technical piece i setup before i left, TOO wonderful?? so part of me thinks well why wouldn''t they keep him and my employee as cheaper labor and get rid of me, i am already ''gone'' PLUS they could offer new blood whereas while i have a ton of historical on my program and knowledge, maybe the new VP wants fresh blood. i am not stressing out though, because whats the point? i can''t change anything anyway, and i have already let our new VP know i am avail if she wants to talk. going back earlier would change nothing. on the flip side, the last reorg a gal was laid off as part of it who was on mat leave and she got like 6 months sev...so seriously if they want to get rid of me and give me 6 months i would be fine with it!!!! who is to say that when i return in 1.5 months that i will even want to be part of this new crazy world?? i''d love to be ''paid'' to stay with my kid for 6 months or get a part time contract or something which i am considering ANYWAY.

soooo when my friend came over we talked about kids and jobs and all that. she has 2 little kids, one is 4 and one is 8 months. she said she is over working, her head is not in the game, she is right on that cusp of not wanting to work or having to work, so she was also saying she hopes they get rid of her so she can stay home with a package. however, she also runs a huge money maker for the company so doubt that will happen, but it was ironic for both of us to be like ''hmm''.

on a fun note we put J in the bumbo and he is close to being ready for it. a little too floppy on the head right now (esp when tired) but he looked so friggin cute. and uncomfortable, like what is this? lol.

today is J''s 2 month appt for shots and pedi visit. i am hoping he''s like 12 lbs but i figure he''s more like 11. keeping my fingers crossed shots go ok.

i feel like i am getting a cold or something but it might just be allergies. we had rain here the last day and with all the blooming flowers the rain would make all the pollen explode. bah.

fiery...that new pic of S is so cute. and 9 months wow!!
mtj...i was super excited when i was able to freeze too. simple pleasures!
pg...yay for spring break.
tao...glad baby is good, boo on work not so much!
rps...boo on 1600 for 2 in daycare but yeah it sounds par for the course. i love the idea of him talking to the ceiling fan.
drk...i wouldn''t worry too much about weight gain and lots of smaller babies have gained weight without supplementing but i know it''s hard when you are in the ''thick of it'' and trying to decide. we supplemented until my milk really came in because J had jaundice and from that point on we just couldn''t NOT give him something after the first few days of his body eating regularly. then we went to exclusive BM but then because his weight gain was so slow they suggested formula again and we did it because i don''t really have any issues giving him both. so now he is both and he is doing fine. i also don''t feel stress at all about supply issues or anything now because i know that he will always have food if something happens.

 

[gingerB]

milk cow #4 also getting in some ps time while pumping

Experiment update: unfort A missed his last nap of the day yesterday, mainly due to DH being too tired to properly soothe him and so I have no idea if last night''s events were due to the feeding changes or missed nap

. Anyway, I guess i''ll keep trying this new shcedule for a few days. Hopefully this is a growth spurt like ya''ll say and things will improve soon. Either way this new feeding schedule will be good to re-ditrubute his caloric intake overall for more int he daytime less at night.

FL steph - we''ve tried that, didn''t work and made the reflux (which is worse at night in general) even worse

CC - oh my little porker takes the whole bottle every time, and freq asks for more. we have the opposite problem of most parents in that i''m sometimes afraid he eats TOO much. doesn''t know when to stop. after we finish a bottle, he fusses for more immediately, but if we distract him for 5-10minutes, then he''s chill. he doesn''t realize that he''s full.

fiery - edf sounds similar. trust me, my little chunky monkey eats every 2-3 hours during the day. he is not one to miss a feeding

. the prob is he does that all night too.
and yuck for work interfering with orlando. boo.

pg - thanks, me too

mara - we''ve done all of the above for the reflux. i''m EPing so its easy for us to sit him upright for feedings and we do. and lots of burp breaks despite his screams of protest when we interrupt the bottle. and he sleeps in the fisher price rock and play so it has a great incline. and yay for a good outing in the bjorn!

viz - that really put things into perspective. and i love that picture of C in your arms.

rps - so glad you found a possible soln to your day care dilemma. and an economical one at that! we''re looking into a nanny and that is going to be ouch on the wallet

i''m going to start fishing around to see if anyone wants to nannu share to offload some of the cost if the nanny we like is agreeable. although i may wait until A is a bit older and more "settled" if that ever happens

 

[Dreamer_D]

Mara EBF babies poop as much as every time they eat and as infrequently as once every two weeks! It is normal. Hunter pooped a few times a day when he was very young and then from about 2 months old until we started solids he pooped once a week or once every 10 days. Breast milk is almost 100% digestible so there is very little waste.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 3/31/2010 10:06:27 PM
Author: drk
Me update (since I''m too overwhelmed/freaked to comment on much else and really don''t have anything useful to add at this stage anyhow!):

Went to the lactation consultant. In 2 days, she''d only gained 14g. Though she did feed just before the weight on Monday and was starved in preparation for the appointment today. They did a pre and post feed weight check, and by going back and forth twice on each side, she only got 30mL in (1 fl oz). They said they want to see her getting 60mL every 3h. Told me to get some fenugreek and blessed thistle to supplement with, and to get a pump on the way home and start pumping 15min after every feed to help build up my supply. Then she gets that via finger feeding with the next round of feeding/pumping.

She''s supposedly got a ''weak'' suck for a 2 week old, and may possibly have an issue with a mildish tongue tie. I''m going to ask about that when I''m in seeing the nurse for a weight check tomorrow. Despite all the issues and her being totally lazy at the breast (I''m lucky to get a decent 5min period on each side where she''s actively sucking and swallowing), she''s still peeing and pooing lots, has lots of tears when she cries if she''s really upset, and is pretty alert.

I''m supposed to go back on Sunday to see the lactation consultants for another check to see how things are going. Hopefully the pumping and supplementing will be helping lots by then. If not, it sounds like they''re going to end up asking me to add in some formula supplementation, which I really don''t want to do if I can avoid it.

Boy, do I feel like a cow with my Freestyle pump hooked up and buzzing away. At least it''s a little reassuring to know at least part of what she''s getting. I just hope I start being able to pump more than a measly 8-19mL (usually less than 1/2 an oz) each time!

Thanks for all the words of support. I''m glad to know I''m not the only one who has dealt with this!

Dr K I had to do all those things too in the first week, my milk took 7 days to come in properly. Every 2 hours I would feed him 15 minutes, then pump for 15 minute and he would get a supplement of 2 OZ formula. Repeat ad infinitum. I also took fenugreek and blessed thistle. It all worked

Two days later there was milk and we went EBF.

What you are dealing with is normal BFing crap for first time moms. Mela''s son also had a tongue tie and her BFing life changed when it was fixed! So if they suspect it get it dealt with NOW rather than later. If tongue tie is affecting her suck it would explain why your supply is not greater -- she is not giving enough stim to make it happen.

Take a deep breath and trust in the process and the experts you are dealing with. If BFing is something you want to do long term, these early hurdles are normal.

My production on the pump only really increased when I was doing the every 2 hours thing and right after he nursed, so you can always try that. But some wome njust don''t let down for the pump, yo ucannot judge your supply by what you produce.

Good luck! Stay calm!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Viz Good lord, hold that baby if you want to!

"Shoulds" are for suckers

 

[vizsla]

DRK - my LO was tongue tied as well and had a ROTTEN suck. i had to pump and feed him a bottle every hour

for the first week of his life until things got going.. then i had a host of other problems but persevered for a whole 4 months before i was kinda forced to quit. soothie brand pacifiers teach babies how to suck properly, you could pick one of those up. and i saw my LC almost every day for 2 weeks until things started working. anyhoo YOU CAN DO IT!!! but formula is not the devil either (took me awhile to come to grips with that little nugget)

re:pooping.. yeah when c was EBF he would go days... sometimes 10 or 11 without pooping... hahahahaha poop discussions always crack me up.

right on dreamer! that post was more for comments i get at home from well meaning family members and friends... "you know viz, if you keep holding c all of the time he will never learn to be content on his own" (impossible.. he''s in daycare and NOT with me 11 hrs a day) "you know viz, i have one word for you FERBER, we did it and never looked back" (totally unsolicited email from a friend on how i could get charlie to sleep) "you know viz, if you sleep with c in your room, the transition into his crib is going to be awful" (more awful than waking up every 45mins? i don''t think so)
blah blah BLEH

rps - super dupery congrats on finding that in home care... i think finding proper care is, like, the BIGGEST stressor... and the extra $$ each month aint to shabby either

 

[steph72276]

Well, some big news for me. I guess when we DTD earlier I had ovulated because I''M EXPECTING AGAIN!!!

Bhahahaha! April fools!
I''m totally getting my husband with that one tonight...oh how I can''t wait to see his face

.

I''ve been running around like a crazy person today trying to get the boys'' Easter basket stuff for Sunday. So fun! Got Andrew the movie UP and got him lots of art stuff (paint, paper, coloring books), bubbles, sidewalk chalk and of course candy! Got Evan a bunch of new toys for him to play with and a toy bar that goes across the car seat. Hope everyone is having a great day!

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Steph, that was NOT FUNNY!!

I confess that I thought about changing my FB status this morning to "can''t believe she''s pregnant again!" but I realized that would probably give my mom a heart attack.


Good news for once from me...

I just got off the phone with the day care lady after talking to her for AN HOUR. As it turns out, we have a mutual friend and our older kids go to school together, so we had a lot to talk about (and only a little was about the little kids!). We''re meeting her on Sunday and I think we''re going to end up changing because she seems very trustworthy. She''s a bit older than me, I''m guessing in her early 50s, and has loads of experience. Her only having 3 kids all together is a big plus -- Will would have a little friend to play with and Ben would get plenty of spoiling.

Makes me feel like:

after a pretty rough week!

 

[Mara]

ginger...i know it's hard but stick with what you guys feel like is the right thing to do. if A is having a blip, he'll catch back on eventually.

we had 2 more poops last nite yay, but seriously not the explosions i thought we would. also for the first time J's poop was like a darker olive green...not sure what that is about, maybe the fact that the last 2-3 days i was giving him a bit more formula than breast milk in the bottles because i was worried he was eating less and didn't want him to be hungry?

and speaking of eating less, this kid is boggling my mind. i calculated it and i estimate he is getting about 20oz per day, with 4 bottles and 2 feeds on the boob. that is what he was getting like a month ago. shouldn't he be eating more by now? i am estimating him at 11lbs so i am thinking he should be eating more like 22-24oz. and previously he was eating more like 22-23oz consistently. so why is he backtracking to 20? and still doing that fighting thing, not all the time anymore, but last nite i could not get him to finish his last 2oz of milk, he was so pissed and upset i had to stop because i don't want to give him negative connotations with eating (and have him blame me later for some eating disorder haha). so i will ask the pedi today but it's totally weird.

AND every night i am so paranoid that because he's eating less that he will wake up at night but he has been going 10-10.5 hours the last 3 nights (knock on 500 lbs of wood)...so i don't know what is going on. but i guess we'll go with it. i am just trying to get him food when he def wants it...so if i give him a 3oz bottle and his suck is strong at the end i will quickly try to give him another oz before he decides he doesn't want it. but at night before bed he is only eating like 3-4oz then going to sleep for that long stretch.

also i am not convinced he is waking up after the 10.5 hours because he is hungry. i think it's external stimulation... because usually about that time greg is getting ready for work and making noise. this morning we were trying to see how long he'd go but i had to pump. i was done with pumping and he hadn't woken up but then Greg came to the front bathroom and forgot he left his alarm set so it went off with super loud music for a few min before i caught it sooo of course someone woke up. BUT when we went in there after a few min he was lightly sleeping again so we prob could have waited. the crappy thing is that i totally need to pump after 10 hours so it's hard for us to just stay in bed and wait to see what happens with him.

BUT then at 7:30am this morning he took a 5.5oz bottle and prob would have eaten more so maybe he IS hungry.

then he went to sleep for 3 hours.

blah blah a lot about my thoughts and speculations, anyway this is why i know i need to go back to work because otherwise i'll obsess on this stuff all day long haha.

quick Q for the moms who have done crib moves... the 'after morning bottle' crib move is going pretty well and it's day 4... my friend whose kid is not a great sleeper (so i am hesitant to take her advice) said why not just go for it and put him in the crib for it all right now, why are we waiting. i am totally afraid of messing with his long stretch. should we try the big chunk this wkd (aka when we can make up for sleep during the day if he regresses?)...OH actually nevermind he is getting shots today and i don't want to mess anything up during that time! but maybe next week? or wait til the morning move is totally solid before we do that last step? i don't think one more week makes a diff.

STEPH my heart totally stopped when you posted, evil!!! i was like OMG.
RPS you too hhahaa. and yay for great care!! for affordable pricing.

 

[puffy]

steph hahaahaha!!! that was good, but my heart totally skipped a beat!

ETA: mara, we transitioned both B and N to their cribs really early on...maybe at 4 weeks or so. so i don't have any advice, but you might ant to try it for naps first and make sure that goes well then do the night thing.

 

[Mara]

puff he has been napping in there for about 4 weeks now and we just started putting him in there after the morning meal (aka at 7am) for 2-3 hours and it''s been going ok. but 10 hours i dunno, i''m paranoid.

and umm my left boob hurts again. i hate this!! i ordered larger flanges for my super nipples and they will hopefully be here tomorrow so lets see if that takes care of it...i think the pump is what is doing this, not J feeding, actually it feels better when he feeds off it.

 

[phoenixgirl]

Mara, we moved Claire into her room at night around 4 weeks. I just have to let go of worrying about her (thought I still peek at her all the time during naps and during the night when I''m up) . . . the crib is probably the safest place for her in our entire house.

I had to order larger flanges too . . . mine are 30mm. It''s funny because my girls are quite small (I think I''m only up to a B cup now, but I wouldn''t know since I just wear nursing tanks all the time) but apparently the base of my nipple isn''t? I don''t know; I just know one size doesn''t fit all.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Mara I may have missed it but why are you pumping so much instead of boob feeding now? I only say it because it might help with the feeding issues because he will drink what he wants and you won''t need to worry so much about how much he gets. BTW BF babies do not increase their feeding in the same way formula babies do I think. But I honetly have no idea how much babies take because I never used bottles at all, so he could have drank 100oz. or 2oz for all I know

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 4/1/2010 1:40:19 PM
Author: vizsla
right on dreamer! that post was more for comments i get at home from well meaning family members and friends... 'you know viz, if you keep holding c all of the time he will never learn to be content on his own' (impossible.. he's in daycare and NOT with me 11 hrs a day) 'you know viz, i have one word for you FERBER, we did it and never looked back' (totally unsolicited email from a friend on how i could get charlie to sleep) 'you know viz, if you sleep with c in your room, the transition into his crib is going to be awful' (more awful than waking up every 45mins? i don't think so)
blah blah BLEH

"Well meaning" my butt

I know so many babies who co sleep and are carried around and all those bad things... and ya know what? By 3 years old they are all the same, no matter how the slept did not sleep blah blah blah.

As for transitions... I am of the mind that it is hard no matter when you try it, just in different ways.

 

[NovemberBride]

Quick drive by post looking for some help - We started supplementing with 1 formula bottle a day last week due to my inability to pump enough while at work. More than half of the time, she projectile vomits the entire formula bottle back up. I am not talking spitting up, I am talking real vomit of everything in her stomach. She has never thrown up from breastfeeding. The most logical answer seems to be lactose intolerance, but I have had dairy in my diet the entire time I''ve been breastfeeding, so I am not sure if this is possible? I will call the pedi tomorrow, but I am wondering if anyone else has had this same issue when introducing formula?

 

[Mara]

NB i read something somewhere about how when BF babies move to more formula it changes the way their stomachs work or something to do with the flora/bacteria...maybe it''s a transitional stage? does she vomit it immediately or later during digestion? i would say if its the latter then it could be an intolerance. not sure.

DD i only pump 2x a day right now thank god, once at night before bed and then once at about 7am when he gets up. i feed him 2x off the boob and then he gets 4 bottles. but the pull from the flange has always been kind of rough on my nipples and i meant to get larger ones but then i thought oh it seems ok. and then i would get this weird left boob pain and i finally realize it''s prob from pumping. so we''ll see if these larger flanges work. thankfully my boobs are getting ''trained'' to feed him 2x and pump 2x but i wish that they weren''t quite so engorged after the 10 hours, wonder when they''ll ''catch up'' to the program. prob right when he regresses and starts waking up after 6 hours!!

oh and the bucking bronco and pulling happens whether on boob or bottle..but he won''t get OFF the boob typically, he just will pull and twist on it and kind of cry. but if i take him off he roots and then latches back on and does it again in a minute or two. same with bottle, he''ll fight it but then we give it a sec and do the nose/lip touch with it and he opens wide and then we give it to him and he gets pissed like THATS NOT WHAT I WANTED. haha. we asked the pedi about it and she said his stomach might be bothering him. not sure, we''ll see. also he has a cloggy tear duct and its been worse the last few days so that combined with the weird bottle and eating less thing made her think he is fighting something.

and PG... yeah i ordered the package with the 32 and 36 mm. the other one was 28 and 30 and when greg showed me how big 5mm was (from 25 to 30) i was like heck no i need bigger hehe. and the reviews from people said they were so happy once they got bigger and never realized how it should feel. so we''ll see!

pedi appt... J is 11.155 lbs and 23 inches! yay. he''s about 50% for both..! so funny to think that 50% of the babies out there are longer than him, they keep telling us he''s ''so long''..but he''s just 54%! anyway he did great. he screamed during the shots, poor thing. and now he hasn''t slept at all for the last 3 hours since coming home, and just keeping a low-grade fuss going. finally we fed him til he passed out so he could get a nap in... we''ll see how long he stays out..hopefully he gets a good hour.

greg is off tomorrow which i am super happy about so that i can get some help in case J is a superfuss.

 

[KimberlyH]

Steph, we''re doing really well, thanks for asking. Facing all of the challenges new parents do, am so glad to have expected these issues -- sleep, breastfeeding, etc. -- to arise as it makes them reasonably easy to contend with. Jane is amazing; I spend most of my time just being with her, in awe of her. It is truly a priveledge to be a parent and we are just cacooning and loving every minute of her. John is home a lot, which is so nice. He''s taken over all household responsibilities, from cooking and cleaning to grocery shopping which has made things much easier for me.

I can''t keep up with this thread, or PS in general, so back to lurking...

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

NB, the only time I''ve had a child projectile vomit up half a bottle was with my daughter who had severe reflux. I bf her for the first 2 months and she didn''t spit up much at all, but when the ped told me to start giving her formula due to insufficient weight gain, the projectile vomiting started. We switched to a soy formula and she still did the same thing. She didn''t show any of the other signs of reflux that you''d expect like arching her back or a lot of crying -- she was a pretty happy baby overall. She simply couldn''t keep food down and couldn''t gain weight as the doctor expected.

She ended up on Reglan and then was on a diet of mostly solids before 1 and in hindsight, it was a major case of reflux mis-management (but it was also 16 years ago).

It''s possible that the symptoms simply aren''t that bad with breastmilk because it''s so much easier to digest. I think if it were a milk protein allergy (which is more probable in a baby than lactose intolerance), you would see other symptoms like blood in the stools instead of vomiting. Plus, if you were consuming dairy, she would have shown symptoms of the allergy long before this.

My fingers are crossed that you get some quick answers from the ped. I know how distressing it can be to see your baby vomiting like this!

 

[steph72276]

Good morning! Hope everyone is doing well. Evan slept 8 hours straight in his crib last night, I am so proud of him

. We have a busy day planned. I have to go buy a gift for a birthday party Andrew is going to tomorrow and I have to go to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for the dishes I'm making for our Easter dinner with our family on Sunday. I'm making some casseroles and some Easter cupcakes...it's been forever since I've baked, I hope I didn't forget how! I am going to take Andrew to play on the playground this afternoon b/c it is beautiful out today. Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Here's our pic of the week...I was playing with Evan on a blanket on the ground and the poor baby fell asleep so I'm letting him nap there!

 

[steph72276]

Date: 4/1/2010 9:13:26 PM
Author: KimberlyH
Steph, we''re doing really well, thanks for asking. Facing all of the challenges new parents do, am so glad to have expected these issues -- sleep, breastfeeding, etc. -- to arise as it makes them reasonably easy to contend with. Jane is amazing; I spend most of my time just being with her, in awe of her. It is truly a priveledge to be a parent and we are just cacooning and loving every minute of her. John is home a lot, which is so nice. He''s taken over all household responsibilities, from cooking and cleaning to grocery shopping which has made things much easier for me.


I can''t keep up with this thread, or PS in general, so back to lurking...

Yea! Glad you guys are doing well, I''m sure you''re loving every minute of it.

 

[fieryred33143]

Mara-Awesome stats

Steph-He''s so adorable! I love how peaceful he looks

Kim-It''s nice to see you around here! Jump in whenever you get free time, which apparently you should have 40 hours a week worth

NB-I''m thinking an allergy to the formula as well. When we switched, Sophia didn''t have any problems with the formula besides not liking the taste. Hope they can give you guys some answers.

********

Nothing here. We made it to Orlando at about 8pm. I had some of my mom''s yummy food right away

.

Sophia and I slept together last night. I didn''t want to put her in the PNP all night. I don''t know how you co-sleeping moms do it. First she spent 15 minutes "playing" with me. I finally had to get out of the bed, make the room really dark, and sit on the floor. It took 5 minutes before she passed out on her own

. Then, I put a pillow by the foot of the bed and one in between us so that I didn''t risk rolling over on her or something

. I had the pillow between her lower half and myself so she didn''t dig her face into the pillow. I woke up at 3am and we went from being parallel to each other to being perpendicular with her head jammed against my boobs. So I moved her back and at 6am, she was right back in the same position so I let it be. We both woke up at 8!

Speaking of my mom, she''s the most stubborn person I know. When I got here she had a hospital ID bracelet on her. Turns out she was in a lot of pain, went to the doctor, and they sent her to the ER. She didn''t even tell me. She was supposed to stay there to get a scan but left because "it was annoying to wait." This morning at 4am, she drives herself back to the hospital because she was in pain. She didn''t even wake me so that I could drive her! She''s in the ER now waiting on the results of her scan and they have her some medication for the pain. She keeps apologizing to me for being sick. What?! She also won''t let me go to the hospital because she doesn''t want Sophia there so I''m waiting for my cousin to get out of work so that I can go to the hospital. Knowing her, she''ll check out and drive herself home

 

[gingerB]

omg omg OMG. every hour last night. and ridiculous AM fussiness. not just plain crying - we are talking heartbreaking screaming.

my poor baby. i feel like i can''t figure out what he needs and he''s exhausted and we''re exhausted. i''m quoting viz here -- SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT TO DO

fiery - my mom is the exact same way. i hope everything turns out ok.

steph - awww he looks so peaceful. soooo jealous of babies who can just fall asleep. A hasn''t done that since he hit the 3 week wakefulness

mara - yay for good stats!! hoepfully he''ll sail through the post shots phase with minimal distress (for you and him!). when i tell my husband about other parents who are having difficulty getting their kids to eat, he doesn''t believe me. the only significant newborn exposure he''s had is A and we have the opposite problem with this kiddo. he''s never met a bottle that he doesn''t scarf down, then ask for more. and i think he may be smaller than J and of course is a few weeks younger but is eating more, which makes me worried about overfeeding. this is def a time when i wished i was EBF from the bbs so he that he controls his own intake. with the BM in the bottle i feel like we have too much control in this area and trying to decide how much is too much. or too little. -- wish these kiddos came with a manual. oh and pumping got much less painful once i found the right size flanges. and it also increased the yield from my stingy boob

.

pg - lol...my girls are small too, only a b also. i thought i needed a larger size basedon how humongo the nipples got after pumping, but turned out i needed the smaller (too much areola was geting sucked into the flange -- OW!).

 

[Mara]

ginger...hmm now i am wondering if i need the larger or smaller i think my aereola is getting sucked in too but my nips are still kinda big and the sides of them get sucked in too. hmm well guess we''ll see! all i know is my boobs hurt. i am going to my OB today to get checked up after gummi bear removal so i''ll ask her to look at them and see what she thinks.i think i would cry if i had to pump more than 2x right now.

and booo so sorry about A''s wakefulness!! do you think his reflux is worse? if it happens again tonite i''d email your pedi or make another appt. ours does email in betwen appts so it''s easy to touch base with her. and we don''t see her again til 4 months so i''m sure i''ll have a lot of Q''s in 2 months!!

re: eating a lot.. J used to take every bottle and boob we offered. people always said they take themselves off when full? NOPE not him. which is why this sudden i''m not hungry thing is sooo bizarre and freaky for me. i am like what is wrong, why aren''t you eating enough etc. if it really is like the pedi says and his tummy is just bothering him then hopefully he goes back to normal soon but we''ll see. i have had to toss 1-2 oz from time to time and i just hate wasting the stuff.

oh speaking of reflux and stomach issues being worse, pedi said that basically like when we are sick or we don''t feel well a lot of times your stomach can be affected--same with babies. because i pointed out that J''s reflux was worse this week but so much better last. and she said well his eye is a bit more weepy so he might have allergies or fighting a cold or both and that will affect his airways and breathing and also reflux! so if you guys have allergies and the like in TX then that could be what is making his reflux worse this week. i''d look into a medicine for those bad weeks if it keeps up..J''s is pretty mild given what it could be (knock on wood) though last nite he did projectile vomit a little all over his arm, poor kid.

ginger are you guys doing gripe water? i think it helps us a little, not a ton but some moms seem to swear by it. we get ours at whole foods but our local walgreens had the same organic one we found at WF too.

steph YAY for a full night''s sleep!! go E. and love the picture!

kim good to see you and glad you are doing well!

fiery lol re the cosleeping...yeah the few times i have brought J into bed in the morning it was just soo not fun!! i was way too stressed and he makes too many noises for me to feel comfortable. plus i was just too ''aware'' of him. oh and he''s not a snuggler so i''d prob just piss him off anyway haha.

___________

so last nite i thought for sure we were IN for it... he took over an hour to go down with repeated awakenings. greg finally got him down at 10 and he slept til 5:50am thank god!! and then i put him down at 6:30 after his bottle and he slept til 10:30. a little less than his normal chunks but that''s ok..based on how awake he was last nite at 9/9:30pm i am fine with it. i hope he naps today. but his legs dont seem to be bothering him overall, knock on wood, and he seems in general ok spirits.

here''s my pic for today.. Greg and J yesterday at the pedi..! i love how you can see our kid''s giganto feet.

and confession, gee i need to start writing these down because mommy brain kicks in by friday and i can''t remember. oh here''s one. i confess have thought a few times...why can''t you just leave the kid in the car if you are literally running into 7 eleven or something for a minute AND car is in plain view? i thought well what if something happens while i''m in there BUT on the flip side i think well i am not always near him at home, i leave him alone in rooms while i go into other rooms for a few minutes ...so what''s the real diff??? (obviously car is not on and it''s not a hot day when i wonder this).

 

[drk]

We went to see the nurse/doctor yesterday. Since she''d only gained 20g in 3 days (about 2/3 of an oz), the nurse got the doc to come see us. They gave me a script for domperidone, some nipple cream, pretty much told me to continue following the LC''s advice, and when I asked about the tongue tie, suggested it might help to get it snipped. So I did, after calling DH to tell him of the developments and having him tell me I must kiss our daughter and be sure to tell her he had nothing to do with it. Thanks, hon.
I started the domperidone yesterday. And had a beer, as per the doctor''s recommendation. I think she either gave me an incorrect prescription or the pharmacy screwed it up, because she verbally told me to take 3 tablets 3 times a day, and then the script says 1 tablet 3 times daily. Will have to clarify that on Tues at our follow-up.
My LC follow-up got moved up to tomorrow morning since they had a cancellation, so I guess I''ll be able to see if her milk transfer is improving and find out what other tips they have. I need to get them to check her latch yet again, and want them to assess how I''ve got this breast pump attached, because I think even the small nipple shields I bought are too big. Pumping isn''t terribly pleasant, I have to say. Though the freestyle seems to be a good choice so far.

Did anyone else have dissolvable stitches put in for a tear? I have one that they put in one of the labia up above my urethra that''s pretty irritating to me. How long does it take for them to fall out? I''m even thinking of asking the family doc on Tuesday whether she could remove it for me if it''s not gone by then.

 

[steph72276]

Fiery, thank you. Have fun in Orlando with your fam!

Ginger, thank you! So sorry A is waking up so much. Maybe it is just a growth spurt...we went through the same thing with E for a few weeks and it''s miserable. Hopefully you can catch up on some sleep soon!

Mara, thanks! Cute pic of J with Greg! He looks so huge compared to Evan, but they are only a pound or so different!

DRK, good luck with your appointment tomorrow!

 

[KimberlyH]

Question about breastfeeding: At what point is it okay to feed her when she''s hungry rather than wake her to eat every 2-3 hours? I was told I could go 4 hours at night when she was 2 weeks old, but otherwise she needed to eat every 2-3 hours (she was early and small so getting her to eat was obviously important). Last night she slept a longer stretch than normal and I let her sleep as she was so peaceful, but I''m not sure if I can continue to let her sleep if she goes longer periods of time sleeping or if I need to wake her. She''s only breastfeeding (has had 2 small bottles to "practice"). All information on breastfeeding states what I was told, but it''s in regard to newborns and I''m not sure when that shifts. She''s 5 weeks old today.

 

[puffy]

steph cute cute cute pic!!!

mara sounds like J's growing just fine. my 'lil noah' is a giant compared to J. have you tried to put him in the crib at night yet? i'm thinking he will do just fine since he does naps in there as well.

ginger so sorry to hear about A waking so often. poor baby and poor mama.

happy friday mommies!! have a great easter weekend! i gotta get B's easter basket together while he's napping and get stuff done for the easter egg hunt and goody bags for all the kids.

ETA: kim, i THINK as soon as she's back to birth weight and gaining weight, just feed on demand. that's what i always did with my 2 boys. unless her pedi told you to feed her every 2-3 hours because of her weight.

 

[snlee]

Date: 4/2/2010 3:45:43 PM
Author: drk

Did anyone else have dissolvable stitches put in for a tear? I have one that they put in one of the labia up above my urethra that''s pretty irritating to me. How long does it take for them to fall out? I''m even thinking of asking the family doc on Tuesday whether she could remove it for me if it''s not gone by then.

I had some stitches and I can''t remember exactly how long it took to fall out but if I remember correctly, I''m pretty sure at my 6 week PP checkup I still had some stitches in there/it hadn''t completely fallen out. Does 2 months sound too long? It was awhile ago so I could be wrong!

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 4/2/2010 4:19:28 PM
Author: puffy

ETA: kim, i THINK as soon as she''s back to birth weight and gaining weight, just feed on demand. that''s what i always did with my 2 boys. unless her pedi told you to feed her every 2-3 hours because of her weight.

She''s way past her birth weight at this point. I weigh her and me and then just me and find the difference and she''s about 7 lbs now, so definitely gaining and very healthy. His instructions were to feed every 2-3 hours and that it was okay to go 4 hours at night, it wasn''t related to her weight, just a general statement about feeding. But I know there must be a point when I don''t need to wake her, I''m just not sure when that is. I could call and ask, but knew I''d get a quicker answer here. Last night was a fluke in regards to sleep, but just in case it happens again I don''t want to be sitting up at 3 a.m. wondering if I should wake the kid or not.

 

[fieryred33143]

Kim-If she''s back to her birth weight and assuming you have no issues with supply, I''d let her tell you when she''s hungry at night. I stopped waking Sophia after she was back to her birth weight and was no longer jaundice.

I would still not go longer than 3 hours during the day because a) it helps boost supply and b) it sets the framework for a good day/nap/bedtime routine going forward.