PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[nycbkgirl]

?...anyone know where to get the "baby or babies on board" car stickers/magnets...cant find them at bru??

MELA- can u tell me how u downloaded the white noise cd?? im looking on the babysleepsounds sight and u have to purchase it?

 

[curlygirl]

DD, thanks for the sweet compliment. In my mind, I would absolutely LOVE to have a whole litter of babies but the reality is that I''m DONE!

I enjoyed my pregnancies, had easy labors and have great daughters but there is no way in hell that we''re having more. Two is really the maximum for us, especially since we''re not getting any younger and at this point, not getting any richer either!!!

Regarding heating bottles, we never did it with either child. I didn''t want them to get used to it in case we were out and about and had no way to heat a bottle, I would hate for them to starve! I''ve given them straight out of the fridge which caused major admonitions from both grandmothers but didn''t harm the children at all! Since we use powdered formula, I''ll generally just make the bottle with lukewarm water. In your case with breast milk, I would probably just run the bottle under hot water for a few minutes if he''s not screaming his head off or like nyc said, put the bottle in a cup of hot water while you tend to his needs! I wouldn''t wake him to feed though--if he''s sleeping, let him sleep!

 

[nycbkgirl]

Date: 6/30/2009 9:57:59 AM
Author: curlygirl
DD, thanks for the sweet compliment. In my mind, I would absolutely LOVE to have a whole litter of babies but the reality is that I''m DONE!

I enjoyed my pregnancies, had easy labors and have great daughters but there is no way in hell that we''re having more. Two is really the maximum for us, especially since we''re not getting any younger and at this point, not getting any richer either!!!

Regarding heating bottles, we never did it with either child. I didn''t want them to get used to it in case we were out and about and had no way to heat a bottle, I would hate for them to starve! I''ve given them straight out of the fridge which caused major admonitions from both grandmothers but didn''t harm the children at all! Since we use powdered formula, I''ll generally just make the bottle with lukewarm water. In your case with breast milk, I would probably just run the bottle under hot water for a few minutes if he''s not screaming his head off or like nyc said, put the bottle in a cup of hot water while you tend to his needs! I wouldn''t wake him to feed though--if he''s sleeping, let him sleep!

right on sister! i agree with the no heating and same in my case..grandparents go nuts..the throat will hurt etc lol..not true...ask any doc kids do not get sick from the cold in any way!. during the day since ur up it fine to warm the bottles up inadvance but at night who will do that!

curly. i agree that i want to be DONE but what to do when ur dh wants more kids and u dont? im devastated that he wants 1 or 2 more!

 

[MustangGal]

DD - I didn't warm bottles either, even when I was giving him expressed breast milk. I did it straight out of the fridge. If he won't take it cold, you could get one of those electric bottle warmers and pop a bottle in it while you do diaper change, etc. just to get it to room temp at least.

Nyc - My DH wants another also, but I'm perfectly happy with 1. I can't imagine that your DH wants more than the 2 you have already! Can you tell him there isn't enough space/money/etc.? And you had to do IVF right?, so doesn't that add up as well? Maybe that'll calm him down. That's my excuse for now, that we can't afford daycare for more than one

.

Well, I think the housing market is recovering here, the 2 houses we liked both got offers within a week of being listed! This might be harder than we thought, but at least we were approved for the amount we would be comfortable spending.

And... I made it back to pre-baby weight!!!! Things still aren't quite back to the same shape they used to be, but I can fit in almost everything pre-baby now. I need to start doing some crunches I think to get the bit of flab around the middle to go away.

Kyle still isn't drinking as much formula as he used to, so when we fed him oatmeal last night I broke out the peas and tried his first real food. You should have seen the faces he made! The green spit up later was interesting, and I wonder what his next dirty diaper will look like... Here's a pic from the pea feeding, he looks angry at us

 

[TravelingGal]

DD, if you can give him cold milk and he takes it, definitely go that route. I tried and she didn''t like it at ALL. That, coupled with the guilt that I wasn''t able to give her breast milk, led me to heat the bottle knowing full well it would be spoiling her. That is the ONE area I consciously decided to spoil her, and she is indeed spoiled. I never had a problem giving her a warm bottle because you can get hot water almost anywhere (restaurants, etc) and I''d just mix some cold water with formula to get it just right. However it I were doing it with breast milk, that becomes a bit more problematic.

 

[nycbkgirl]

MGAL- hehe he def looks angry LOL...2 funny

Congrats on the pre baby weight..wooohoo..I dont wanna brag lol...but I gained like 20lbs while pg but afta birth I was 30lbs (still am) less than I was b4 baby?? How does that happen :-O

Thanks for the advice I def will try the no space thing and how expensive it is (bc omg how much we are spending now!)...but he will say (as he has been saying)..that we should buy a house!...we live in a beautiful apt and we renovated it (put lots of $$ into it ) and we pay very cheap (utilities included!)....so its not worth it imo but he wants a backyard etc..I do too but am not willing to pay full salary to get it (prices in nyc are thru the rooof...taxes n utilities esp)...we have a 2 bdrm so eventually we will have to move but im thinkin at least 5 yrs we will be ok.

Re ivf: we have 2 frozen embryos and all we''d have to do is implant them when the time is right so we would have to go thru the whole procedure like the 1st time...but I don''t want anymore kids! Lol...im perfect with 2..boy n girl..can''t get betta than that...and my niece is nex door and she is like a daughter to us and big sister to them..so we are set!....duno what his problem is but it aint happenin!

 

[Blenheim]

Ok, I''m really jealous of everyone who can fit into pre-baby clothes. I''m starting to feel like it''s never gonna happen. Even though I''m feeling a lot more muscle definition than I was (and my abs are now stronger than my DH''s), my size doesn''t seem to be going down at all.

I''d love to have a litter of kids. Less than a week post partum, I already felt ready to do it all again! We''re holding off for now though.

DH heats the bottles that he gives to George.

 

[lili]

DD--
I second those who suggested giving Hunter the milk straight out of the fridge, especially since it is getting hotter now.
You really don''t want him to get used to warm milk cuz it can be a real pain when you are out or late at night.
My nephew refused to drink cold milk for the longest time and my niece was still drinking her milk warm up to 3.5.

 

[lili]

Mustang--
Hehe....love that picture! So cute and funny.
I have to say, please post bigger pictures than that
All your pictures are so tiny, these old eyes can''t really see much

 

[MustangGal]

Lili - I know, I haven''t quite mastered the resize thing. I thought I had acheived a happy medium, but it wouldn''t load

. I''ll work on it. I think part of the problem is our camera, it''s 10 mega pixles, so the file sizes are huge. I have a really cute one of him floating around in the spa last night. I''ll try resizing a different way and see if it works...

 

[MustangGal]

Lets try this...

Well, it's a little bigger, but the quality sucks

 

[MustangGal]

Another try

Oh well, I give up for now. I might have a program at home that'll help.

 

[nycbkgirl]

HAHAHA those sunglasses are toooo cute! stud muffin!

 

[Blenheim]

LOL. Love the sunglasses.

We have a stager coming to our house in 2 hours, and I have the afternoon off, and George is asleep, and so I really should clean clean clean. But I wanna take a nap!

 

[janinegirly]

curly: just realized i said Lily in my post on your 9month stats, and I meant Lucy, sorry!

DD: I've warmed bottles for night feedings from day 1. I have a bottle warmer and a handy bottle of water so that way it only takes 1-2 mins. I do let the baby fuss while I prepare b/c it's worse if I pick her up (when she was younger, and now..since she'll spot the bottle and get mad!). Sometimes I'll give her a paci in her crib to distract her. Once she fell asleep while I was prepping, but 99% of the time she's hungry so paci gives me about 1minute and that's it! And Curly's right this creates probs when out and about, but I'll sometimes warm the bottle with my hands about 20mins before feeding (if I'm in the car as passenger), or I'll let it sit out about 30mins to bring it closer tol room temp. Now that it's summer I don't think she minds it a little cold anyway!

 

[MustangGal]

My little sister works part-time at Bbay Gap, she''s gotten us some cute stuff including the glasses

Good luck with the stager Blen! I think I would be naping too...

 

[Dreamer_D]

MGal MY camera is the same and I open the pics in Paint and then resize to 20%. Perfect every time!

 

[Pandora II]

DD - when I was supplementing I used to give Daisy formula either straight from the packet - so room temperature - or from the fridge. I tried giving it to her warmed up (I''d stick the bottle in a cup of hot water (hottest water from the hot tap not boiling) and shake it every minute or so until it felt warmish) and a couple of times she just got it cold. Didn''t seem to make much difference to be honest.

With expressed milk I have these insulated bottle bags so I tend to put it in the fridge and then straight into the bag so it keeps cool for a good few hours, again she doesn''t seem bothered by the temperature at all.


I had a wonderful afternoon!

DH took Daisy off in the pram to see a friend and then to a school governor meeting for a whole FOUR hours! I got all the rest of my employer''s defence case done (going through and spotting the errors/contradictions etc and boy were there loads!) to send to my attorney - first court date is the 24th July for the pre-tribunal meeting so it was getting close. I''ve been having nightmares getting it done (42 pages to wade through) with Daisy''s daytime marathons and was getting angsty so I''m now a happy camper!

I have a sneaky feeling I may not be going to the meeting. They''ve only started paying for legal advice when they had to prepare their defence and they''ll have to pay their attorney to come to London for this meeting (5 hours each way) plus normal fees, so I reckon that they might be even more keen to settle than they currently are. So far they have doubled the original offer so we are halfway to what I have asked for. I might agree to a little tete-a-tete with the man with the cheque book at some point in the next 3 weeks...

Then I bought D a sunhat on ebay - hopefully one that doesn''t come down to her knees this time!

 

[Mrs]

Date: 6/29/2009 7:26:10 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Yippeeee!

I went and bought a manual breast pump today and Hunter took 2oz. of expressed milk from a bottle tonight!

That means I get a night off this weekend!

I was only able to pump 2oz. though, and BFed him after he was done. I''ll keep practicing and storing the milk, and then DH can just defrost what he needs this weekend.

Question: For those of you who use bottles, how do you handly night feeds?? Right now Huter wakes crying and I just feed him. When your babies wake crying do you ignore them while you go heat a bottle? Or do you wake them to feed at a certain time??

Drive by post but wanted to send DD this link in case it''s helpful regarding how to maximize output when pumping. It''s pretty graphic but you might find it helpful.

Re: night feeds and BM, I do all the night feeds now since S is getting bottles all day during the day at DC but when we were giving her bottles at night early on, we were warming the milk in warm water since BM tends to separate when it''s cold and it''s easier to get the fat to redistribute when warm.

 

[Blenheim]

Mrs - thanks for posting that link! I hadn''t seen anything on the best way to pump, but I think I fell into it naturally. Massage definitely helps.

Stager came and went, and we now have chores to do. But it''s not as bad as we thought! Paint the bathroom, paint the fireplace and some trim, new curtains, a couple new light fixtures, steam clean the carpet and perhaps replace a couple of rooms, slip cover a chair, declutter even more and move a bunch of furniture out - she wants beds and side tables and nothing else in bedrooms. okay, that seems like a lot when I actually write it out.

 

[lover in athens]

just wanted to say hi! am SOO exhausted today. coby is STILL getting up about twice a night and it''s starting to wear on me. the problem is that since he won''t take a bottle during the day, he will miss feeds when i''m at work so i think he''s truly HUNGRY. what a PITA. oh well..

MGAL: CUTE pics!!! i love them! he is adorable.

NYC: i hear you on only wanting two kids. i always told dh that we could start trying for #2 right after my exam in august. um, that''s in like 5 weeks!!! YIKES!! not sure i''m ready. i''ve always wanted 2 kiddos, and dh wants three. BUT he says he wants 4 so we''ll have to compromise on 3. sneaky...but i''m on to him!!

BLEN: glad it went well with the stager! does sound like kind of a lot of stuff to do, but i guess it can always be worse!

PANDORA: glad you had such a great day. and that''s wonderful that you''re close to settling. what a load off for you that is going to be when this is OVER.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Thanks for all the bottle advice! I think cold from le frigo is fine. Also, thanks Mrs for the link about pumping! I''m going to try it next time. Didn''t know also that you can keep EBM in the fridge for up to 8 days. I probably don''t need to freeze it most of the time then, it isn''t like I have so much extra just sitting around

Hunter pretty much takes all I have!

 

[Courtneylub]

Totally selfish post: I''m so depressed and frustrated. I have not lost a pound in 7 f****** weeks. I''m still nursing and no, not working out every single day, but I do a couple of times a week. I don''t eat too badly, but I''m not super disciplined either. Pandora, I saw your post in the pregnancy thread and I got so jealous!! I think the difference is, I didn''t gain a lot of water weight. It was FAT. I lost 20 lbs in the first 2 weeks and NOTHING in the past 7. How ridiculous.

 

[Courtneylub]

Dreamer, I keep EBM in the freezer for up to a week and then I freeze it if we don''t use it. I have a ton in the freezer right now since we feed Alila formula with her one night feeding. We just run a bottle under hot water for a couple of minutes. I only tried giving her a cold bottle once when she was hysterical and she happily took it!

Blen, I''m right there with you on the clothes. I''m pretty depressed about it. I guess you and I are similar in regards to our bodies hanging onto everything while nursing? It''s so unfair.

Mela, adorable picture and the tear breaks my heart! I hate it when Alila produces actual tears.

Mgal, love the pictures and the shades are too cute.



I''ve got 3 weeks until I go back to work and we''re really struggling with it. We are contemplating me taking an additional 6 months off and finding another job. I don''t love my job, but I like the company and the people. I''ve put in 2 years there, so I''d be losing some investment. I know it''s silly, but in addition to the obvious feeling of me not wanting to leave Alila so soon, I also will have to purchase a whole new work wardrobe because I can''t fit in my others. I gave all my maternity work clothes to my cousin.

 

[jas]

Hi all! Love, love, love all the pictures on this thread.

I may try to do a 50/50 blend on this and the next older thread, as my boys are now 10 months and tipping the scales at 23 pounds.

We had our first experience in the big bathtub today...first time not in the sink or using a baby tub, because they cannot fit in them any more...

Success! Splash time fun. Except for when J. splashed water up L.''s nose. They are learning to try to cry a lot in front of me when bro commits an infraction. They are learning this sibling rivalry thing pretty well.

L. is cruising and we''re waiting for J. to start pulling himself up on furniture.

The house is a disaster area and the dog dishes are like Six Flags to them.

L. has taken on his father''s trait of finding his own toots funny.

I walked in the nursery this morning and was greeted by two smiling babies who both smiled ear-to-ear, looked at me, and said, "Dada!"

I couldn''t be happier!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/30/2009 11:36:45 PM
Author: Courtneylub
Totally selfish post: I''m so depressed and frustrated. I have not lost a pound in 7 f****** weeks. I''m still nursing and no, not working out every single day, but I do a couple of times a week. I don''t eat too badly, but I''m not super disciplined either. Pandora, I saw your post in the pregnancy thread and I got so jealous!! I think the difference is, I didn''t gain a lot of water weight. It was FAT. I lost 20 lbs in the first 2 weeks and NOTHING in the past 7. How ridiculous.

I am with you on this too! BFing a big beast of a baby, watching what I eat and I have not lost anything is a couple of months either... well, maybe 2 lbs. I am losing about a lb or two per month which is so slow. I still have about 12lbs to go and it means things really are not fitting me yet. BUT i have noticed that in the last couple weeks as Hunter is eating a LOT more milk, my metabolism has really increased, feels like when I was preggo! And I am holding fast to my knowledge that all my friends who BFed lost all the weight and then some by the 12 month mark. But with BFing I really think those second six months are key. I know you don''t plan to BF that long, so don''t worry, when you stop BFing you can diet and work our more and I am certain your body will respond!

As for staying hom... if you can manage it and you think you can find another job, then I would stay home. Your babies are only babies once and we only get the opportunity to be with them once! If it is doable and you want to, then I''d try to make it work. I know that in this economy others would have different advice, but I just really feel for all the moms who *have* to go back to work and don''t want to! If we can stay home we are so lucky.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 7/1/2009 12:46:57 AM
Author: jas
Hi all! Love, love, love all the pictures on this thread.

I may try to do a 50/50 blend on this and the next older thread, as my boys are now 10 months and tipping the scales at 23 pounds.

We had our first experience in the big bathtub today...first time not in the sink or using a baby tub, because they cannot fit in them any more...

Success! Splash time fun. Except for when J. splashed water up L.''s nose. They are learning to try to cry a lot in front of me when bro commits an infraction. They are learning this sibling rivalry thing pretty well.

L. is cruising and we''re waiting for J. to start pulling himself up on furniture.

The house is a disaster area and the dog dishes are like Six Flags to them.

L. has taken on his father''s trait of finding his own toots funny.

I walked in the nursery this morning and was greeted by two smiling babies who both smiled ear-to-ear, looked at me, and said, ''Dada!''

I couldn''t be happier!

LOL!

Do you free feed your dog Jas? We just put the food out at meal time.

 

[jas]

Date: 7/1/2009 10:38:56 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Date: 7/1/2009 12:46:57 AM
Author: jas
Hi all! Love, love, love all the pictures on this thread.

I may try to do a 50/50 blend on this and the next older thread, as my boys are now 10 months and tipping the scales at 23 pounds.

We had our first experience in the big bathtub today...first time not in the sink or using a baby tub, because they cannot fit in them any more...

Success! Splash time fun. Except for when J. splashed water up L.''s nose. They are learning to try to cry a lot in front of me when bro commits an infraction. They are learning this sibling rivalry thing pretty well.

L. is cruising and we''re waiting for J. to start pulling himself up on furniture.

The house is a disaster area and the dog dishes are like Six Flags to them.

L. has taken on his father''s trait of finding his own toots funny.

I walked in the nursery this morning and was greeted by two smiling babies who both smiled ear-to-ear, looked at me, and said, ''Dada!''

I couldn''t be happier!

LOL!

Do you free feed your dog Jas? We just put the food out at meal time.

We may have the only dog on the planet with an eating disorder. We usually keep the bowl out because he will eat a couple bitefuls at a time. He has a sensitive tummy.

I''m more concerned about taking the water away, but again, the upside is that I now have super-clean floors next to the dog bowls.

Hope you are all doing wel;!!!

 

[nycbkgirl]

Court- sorry about the baby weight

but u know it will eventually go back to normal...will just take a little longer!...going back to work is really tough and i hope u make the right decision for u...good luck! keep comin wit the pics

JAS- too funny...i cant wait to plop my 2 in the tub! sounds fun lol....is that their first word "dada"? ....omg i cant wait to hear something


we had some night thank goodness dh was home and my sis was here.....they couldnt take a poop and was a disaster all day...MIL woke me up at 11 (when i decided to take a nap at 10...i open my eyes and shes standin over me with jon and jackie is cryin outside..ugh!...the powder gentlease is a disaster its too liquidy and they cant poop../..so after a night of holding 2 crying babies..we changed to enfamil lipil and jon finally pooped right away and fell asleep from 11pm-730am

...o happy day! but jackie still couldnt poop and didnt sleep well at all (sis took her thankfully)...she finally slep[t from 8am til...still) i will see how this plain ole enfamil with lipil goes (sis swears by it thats y i said ok)...i ordered the similac alimentum but will see how this goes first.

my cousin came over last nite with his wife to announce they pregnant!....is it bad that i looked at her and felt sorry for her

 

[mela lu]

I feel like I''m the WORST PS''er...I just cant seem to get enough time to read and post responses like I want to. urgh. Bear with me...I don''t know why I can''t find the time, Romeo is self-soothing back to sleep by himself, so it''s not like I''m having to rock him to sleep anymore. Maybe it''s that I''m becoming more inefficient in other ways. Things seem to take me forever to do these days. weird.

On the postive side, I''m done all my thank you notes for the baby gifts

Um, I''m now 4.5 weeks PP (and still a fatty fatty two-by-four

; I have 20 lbs to lose before I''m back at Pre-baby weight. whoa!
My question is, when will BF stop hurting? I''m still curling my toes and cringing every feed? Also, I only feed Romy one breast per feeding, and this is typically a 1/2 an hour session. He always seems satisfied. When will I know it''s time to start offering both boobs per feeding?

I''m totally being selfish right now. I wish I could respond to each and everyone.

Courtney - a job is a job is a job. If you can stretch it, stay home with your sweet sweet baby

. You too Blen

Mrs - good link on the breast mild expression. Always good to know. I massage with every feeding to get lots out. Sometime I choke him with with milk. hahaha. Poor guy. He doesn''t seem to mind though.

okay - off to prepare baptism stuff (which is this weekend)