June 2006 Mommies - Getting to know our new babies!

[Lil_Mrs_0702]

okay so I'm a couple of days late but Collin had his doctor appointment the other day. My regular dr is in Guatemala for the month on a community service project so we had this fill in dr and I have to say that I am not impressed.

First of all Collin is 70% for height and 90+% for weight. Well then I don't know if she had him confused with a 6 month old half the time or what. She had my DH feeling like crap. She told him that Collin should be crawling by now but kids his size typically seem to be lazy and unmotivated. Then she asked about his sleep habits and Collin is usually pretty active but this week he has been sleeping a lot- My common sense/ parental instinct tells me that means another growth spurt in the works but instead she told DH that Collin is probably tired from tryign to support all of his weight. She also gave the okay for Cheerios and told us that we need to get him started on those ASAP- And get this- It will help with his hand eye coordination since it doesn't seem to be up to par!!!

Does anyone else here have a doctor giving them the okay to do Cheerios? About what size objects can your child grasp? I didn't think at 4 months that they should be able to pick up Cheerios with their finger. Are anyone's children crawling?? I am so confused!! Is he behind? I thought he was pretty on track.

[Baby Lust]

Lil_Mrs, I think what the dr told you is completely insane!!! Do you get handouts with each visit that tells you what your baby might be doing at this age? We do, and they don't say anything about crawling, and these go all the way up to 6 months!! And I would say it is FAR too early for Cheerios!!! Does Collin have the pincher grasp down? If not, he would probably just grab a handful and shove them in his mouth (which I know you wouldn't let him do) and likely choke on them! I would say don't pay any attention to what this dr said!!! If you are unsure of something, wait until your dr is back or read some of the posts in Parenting. They will make you feel much better!! {{hugs}}

[excitedbride]

lil mrs: that dr. is on crack! don't listen to her. they don't even start cheerios til about 9months or so!

i don't know any babies that are crawling by this age.

[jbenny75]

lilmrs I think you're right-she had him confused with a much older baby. There's no way he should be crawling by now or eating cheerios!! Be sure to fill in your regular doctor when he or she returns, that is so not cool.

[maryanne]

back from 4 mo wbv. with no shots!!! :):):)

14.4 pounds and 25.5 pounds!

[Lil_Mrs_0702]

Thank you!!! I knew that lady was nuts!! Of course now I have to convince my dad that she was crazy because he already bought a toy that dispenses Cheerios. I tried telling him that I think she had him confused with a 6 month old then he went on and on about how we should start treating him like a 6 monthy old because he is soooo advance... I love my lil guy but I'm not giving him that much credit. I don't think he is at all ready for Cheerios- he's barely ready for baby food.

Babylust- We usually get those handouts but ofcourse this quack didn't give us one this time. I'm pretty sure that the percentiles are correct because another mom mentioned that her child is 25 inches and in the 75th percentile. I think the doctor just forgot his age 5 min into the appointment.

[maryanne]

I have a question...did your doc tallk to you guys about the flu shot?

Mine told me that both DH and I definitely should get the shot (especially me, if I go back to work at the spa) and that db should get one at six months.

[steviem]

Lil Mrs: Ditto to what everyone else said. That doc is nuts. Cheerios and crawling at 4 months??

Owen is very strong- the ped has commented on this at each of our visits and we noticed it ourselves right away. He was holidng his head up at 2 days old (granted, we hand our hands there to support him), and he absolutely loves to stand up and has no problem putting weight on his legs. He is also pretty good about sitting on his own, once we prop him up. Eventually he will fall over but his balance is really good. Keeping that in mind, I am surprised that he has in no way made any attmepts to rollover. Is this strange? He is 17 weeks as of yesterday. Are most of the other babies rolling over yet?

In other news, we are having O Christened on Saturday. We are having a bbq at our house afterwards so I have been cleaning like crazy trying to get the house and backyard ready for the party. It's amazing how much longer everthing takes with a baby. It took me 3 hrs yesterday to mop the kitchen floors and wood floors. I had to stop every 5 mins or so to hold O. He was not content playing on his own yesterday..... of course, when mommy isn't busy he is fine to play on his own but when I need to get something done, he refuses to!! :)

[Mystikal]

stevie DD is not even attempting to roll over yet and she was holding her head up on her own at days old as well. She also loves to sit up and if we have her in a reclining position she will propel herself forward by pushing off the pillows or whatever she is propped on with her elbows. The doc didn't seem worried at all.
lil_mrs that doc is a kook!! :p

[gina73]

stevie - our little guy (5mo now) just started rolling over from his back to tummy about a week ago. He rolled over from tummy to back at around 3months, but now that he's got the back-to-tummy down, he's forgotten how to reverse himself. It's pretty funny actually.

[amurphy]

steviem, D is very strong as well but, like your son, isn't too psyched about rolling over. He has done it a handful of times but it isn't consistent. When on his back, he'd much rather scoot around. He'll turn himself 180 degrees so that his head is where his feet were when I put him down. But flipping on his belly? Not as much fun! I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your DS will roll over when he is good and ready!

Lil_Mrs_0702: That doc is nuts! You should definitely let your regular ped know what the back-up doc told your DH.

[ruby]

Rolling Over-Chase can get from his back to belly but not reverse. So, he cries for me to flip him in the middle of the night when he's no longer comfy......so even though he's not nursing at night now, he's still not really sleeping through. Oh how I long for a full 8 hours of sleep.....someday:rolleyes:

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

Hope everyone is doing well. We're all sick, the boys both have colds and I have a very sore throat. There is tons of snot here :/ Poor Troi hates it when I have to aspirate him or wipe his nose, he screams.

Lil Mrs You should complain about that doctor to someone. What if she was prescribing medications, she would be giving the wrong dosage, it could literally be deadly. Or what if she tells a parent that doesn't know better what she told you, the child could choke on the cheerios. I know people make mistakes, but when it comes to doctors, they're making mistakes with someones life.

adores his big brother. He absolutely lights up when Colton just stands in front of him, no one makes him smile more. Sometimes I feel like my heart is going to burst....Love those guys so much

Ruby I could have written that same post. I've come to tears a few times watching Troi watch Nikolas or when Nikolas interacts with Troi. Nikolas will randomly go to Troi and hug him or say I Love You or do something sweet, I love it :D

MaryAnne We're all doing flu shots. I did it with Nikolas with no problems at all. We'll actually be doing them at Troi's 6 month WBV.


Solids We've only done rice cereal a few times. It's not helping him sleep and he seems to be good on BM so we'll wait.

Rolling Over He's been rolling over both ways for a while now. It makes life interesting when we're trying to change him. When we all lay in bed in the morning, he rolls on Nikolas and Nikolas gets mad. I try to explain that he's just a baby, but he doesn't care, he doesn't want to be touched.

What does your little one enjoy doing? Brian will hold Troi over his head ans shake him and Troi will squeal and laugh out loud. He gets upset when he stops. They were doing it the other night for about 20 minutes and Troi just kept laughing.

What does your baby do that melts your heart? There are 2 things. When I'm nursing, Troi will hold my breast with his little hand like he's holding the bottle and he'll fall asleep like that. I love seeing his little hand there holding me. The other is when he falls asleep on my shoulder and I see his little face. I love when he does that.

Are you still amazed at the fact that you made that little person? I still look in wonder at Nikolas and now Troi and am amazed at the fact that Brian and I created these little people. It puts me in total awe.

What is the baby going to be for Halloween? Troi will be a catepillar and Nikolas will be Bob The Builder. Mommy is just not going to be PG this year :D


As for Troi, he has started rocking on his hands and knees. The other night Brian had him on the floor and left the room to get Nikolas juice, when he came back he said Troi was in a completely different spot. I am so not ready for major movement, I just started to put stuff back low again :D

In other news, Brian has been approved for lap band weight reduction surgery and I'm going through the steps for a breast reduction. We have to wait for a date for Brian's surgery, he should hopefully find out on Halloween what it will be. I have to go through all my pre approval steps, but the doctor said it looks good for approval.

Well I have to run. Nikolas is done with breakfast. Take care all and stay well.

[connorsmommy]

What does your little one enjoy doing?
he enjoys breastfeeding. All. The. Time.
And he enjoys playing with partially filled water bottles. He just LOVES grasping them in his arms and hugging them...and gumming the tops :) I can't drink water anymore while breast feeding... at least, not drinking from a water bottle, because he will hear the swish of the water or the crinkle of the plastic and he will be mesmerized.


What is baby going to be for Halloween?

Dawson will be wearing the costume I made in 2003 for his big brother... Here's Connor wearing the infamous Garden Gnome costume (yes, I love posting this picture whenever given the chance!!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/knmerrick/DCP_1549.jpg

[Baby Lust]

Rolling over: Lucas has been rolling both ways for quite a while now. It was back to tummy first, then tummy to back. He does tummy to back more often now because he normally doesn't like to be put to sleep on his tummy so he will flip himself over. Definitely makes diaper changes tough!!!

Halloween: We celebrated Halloween at work today because the Executive VP of the company will be in our office on Monday and Tuesday so Lucas was an elephant! It was so cute! I'm working on uploading pics now... then on Tuesday he is going to DH's work as a horse. Also very cute! I'll have to get pics!

[Lil_Mrs_0702]

OMG Connorsmommy!!! That gnome costume is adorable! That is the absolute cutest costume ever!

[Mystikal]

Love the costumes! :D
Lorraine good luck to your DH and you with the BR! Mine was the best decision I ever made!! If you ever have any questions or anything feel free to PM me. Also, if you haven't already, check out www.breasthealthonline.com for lots of good info. :)

[maryanne]

I am really bummed right now. We had big plans for tomorrow (today) and it is supposed to be absolutely horrid out. 100% chance of rain and iwnd up to 60 miles an hour

It was supposed to be a day of OUTDOOR Halloween celebrations starting with a parade in the shopping area where my MIL's store is and then we were going to head into Central Park for a Halloween Haunt at the Zoo and a Jacko'lantern release at the boat pond. None of these events have rain days...

Halloween is my favorite holiday...I really wanted to do this :(

******

Her costume is almost done. I just have to figure out the best way to attach the ears to the costume itself. Would you believe that I can not find any needles in my sewing kit?? or in my first aid kit??? It is 3 in the morning and I want to sew the ears on and I have nothing to do it with, I am fighting the urge to go to the 24 hour drugstore in the gale force wind and rain to buy a sewing kit...how crazy do you think the drug store employees will think I am? lol!

I am just too wired right now and I know I have two hours of peace before mel wakes up for her next feeding.

***

which brings me to the next issue. She has been acting really strange lately. For the last week or so, she has been so clingy. She won't even let Josh hold her. The hardest part is that she will only sleep if I am holding her. She will wake in a howl if I even move her beside me where she is still touching me.She wants to be in my lap ONLY, I feel so bad for her. She keeps going into hysterics -full gasping for air-turning bright red screaming. She settles as soon as I move her back to my arms.

what to do? I think that she is teething, so hopefully the anxiety will lessen soon. I am so worried about leaving her next sat for the wedding. his family doesn't respect her boundaries at all and I am not going to be there to enforce that naptime means don't **** with her ;) they all crowd her space and loudly approach her---ofcourse the idea of naptime is probably wishful thinking anyway,..b/c I doubt she will even sleep with them around... after last weekend's incident when I left her with her dad, I am so worried what she will be like with others. and we will be an hour away and it is an event that I really shouldn't leave early from....uugh!

[IzzyJune2006]

clingy baby

I swear those babies must be chatting online too, having such similarities!! Annabelle did that last week. It started a few days after I returned from my 4-day business trip. I assumed perhaps she had missed me and didn't want me to leave again (a mom can wish!). She was also acting a little different when I would pick her up from daycare. Like she wasn't even happy to see me, almost mad at me I'd say. Things are more or less back to normal. But she does seem to now have preferences about people. She favors the older teacher at daycare (it's a mom/daughter team) and sometimes even cry for her when with the other.

[sarahncraig]

http://posh-tot.com/album/large/219_2706.jpg
I call this shot, "Is that a banana in your pocket?" ;) I couldn't get him to smile.

Then he fell asleep at the party.
http://posh-tot.com/album/large/219_2364.JPG

We're dressing him up again so hopefully he'll smile.

[sarahncraig]

And for those of you who had trouble seeing our birth announcement a while back, here it is. We sent it out in color - blues and yellows - on a glossy, laminated large postcard. They looked really great! And the drawing looks JUST like him. Our friend is so talented!!!

http://posh-tot.com/album/large/219_2709.jpg

[connorsmommy]

Sarah - that's the same costume we have for Connor this year! :)

and love those announcements - very cool!

[sunshineab622]

Bailey has rolled from back to front but does not do it too often.

We are still waiting to start her on cereals or food. She is still doing well & sleeping all night.

here is what she is going to be dressed up like
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c251/sunshineab622/and_bail_hallo.jpg


here are some pro pics I got done when she was 12 wks
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c251/sunshineab622/bailey2_bw.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c251/sunshineab622/bailey_bw.jpg
she was really asleep.

[shaqangel]

sarah and sunshine great pics - love the costumes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Javan is is trying really hard to sit up. on saturday i just sat him up on his changing and he stayed that way for a little bit. today he actually sat up for a little bit until he swayed to the side and flopped over. he's also been scooting alot and is moving in circles - its so funny!!!

i'll try to post a pic in his costume t'row.

[maryanne]

all I gotta say is this teething thing sucks!!!

and everyone's costumes are great! and sunshine , I love the pro pics!

I can't wait to take pics of melody :) tomorrow is going to be fun!

here's my fav pic of melody so far...

http://lh4.google.com/bearlyanne/RT2DPVmVABI/AAAAAAAAApI/blbcCSU_o00/IMG_9427.JPG

[amurphy]

Love the pictures, everyone!

Sarah: That is an awesome birth announcement. I had every intention of sending an announcement but never got around to it, which is really awful since DH is a graphic artist. OH well. We'll do something creative with our Christmas cards. Looks like our sons thought the same thing about about the office Halloween party:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/ecallie/octopus.jpg

And here's a picture of DS in his bumbo. He is getting pretty creative with this thing--leaning as far back as he can, leaning forward to play with his toes, etc.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/ecallie/bumbo1.jpg

[maryanne]

Happy Halloween!!!

http://static.flickr.com/107/284663674_36504189e8.jpg?v=0

[maryanne]

so we just went trick or treating in some of your journals! please bring your kids by mine!

[gina73]

HAPPY HALLOWEENY everyone!

LOVE all the little costumes I'm seeing....VERY cute indeed.

And now to add my little critter to the mix:

http://jonandgina.blogs.com/photos/our_brady/boo_brady.jpg

[connorsmommy]

Happy Halloween!!!

my second little garden gnome!!! :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/knmerrick/IMG_2910.jpg

[shaqangel]

love all the babies in the costumes. here's my little one to add to the mix:

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q289/veryll/Halloween2006057-1.jpg

ETA: sorry its so big - first time using photobucket and i'm not so sure i like it. i tried resizing and its so tiny.

[amurphy]

Cute lion, gnome, and peapod! :D

Shaq, You can choose to resize the picture for a Web site (50% reduction in photo size). That is what I typically use to post pictures on this thread. With that said, half the time the resize doesn't work and I end up posting a gigantic picture. What can you do? :rolleyes:

[IzzyJune2006]

Here's my little cowgirl to add to the mix (a little late).

http://www.winkflash.com/photo/imagew2.aspx?i=89148859&c=2481437&z=0&v=xrlztjc68fs1slaytzwyqdmta8dtxttxlu5jivmisp0bkl2e rcq08lgurasmvou6xdc7mbrjxfujbs3u

QOTD: Who does your DC most resemble, you or DH?
When Annabelle was born, she was ALL daddy. We compared his baby picture and they looked almost identical. As she is growing, the resemblance is less striking but I'm still not sure that she looks anything like me. :(

[shaqangel]

DC resemblance we get mixed reviews - some people insist (rather empathically which irritates me to no end) that he looks only like dh. others insist he looks likes me. dh says he looks more like me and my mum, bf and i agree that he is the perfect mix of both dh and I. sometimes he favours my dad and grandfather! he definitely has my eyes and lips. and when he smiles dh says there's no mistaking that he's mine.

amurphy thanks! i'll try that next time

izzy cute cowgirl:)

[Dan's*Girl]

Just popping in to drop off some pics of our big boy.


At his baptism 10/22
http://static.flickr.com/105/286553739_1c162b6340.jpg?v=0

Playing in his crib after a nap
http://static.flickr.com/114/286553726_e64c02c15d.jpg?v=0

World Series Champions fan!
http://static.flickr.com/99/286553730_bba3bdb621.jpg?v=0

I hate this hat, but darn it im cute
http://static.flickr.com/119/286553735_6a48af2fcd.jpg?v=0

[kaelynsmom]

here's my little red hot chili pepper:

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/dadd.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/chili.jpg



And she's also laughing up a storm!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4igj4vbOa0

[steviem]

Hi ladies,

Such cute Halloween babies :)

We had a very busy weekend. Owen was babtized on Saturday. We had a bbq at our house afterwards. It was a lot of work, but great fun!

O dressed up in his costume (Scarecrow) on Sunday at my SIL's house. We took tons of pictures of him and his cousins. It was really cute. On Halloween day, we dressed him up again but didn't take him out trick-or-treating. We just let him "help" us hand out the candy in his costume.

He had his 4 month WBV yesterday. He did really well with the shots. 4 shots plus the rotovirus vaccine which is oral. Are any of you electing to give the roto vaccine? My ped talked us into it.

He is 18 lbs and 26 1/4" and is in the 90th percentile in both height and weight :)

I was nervous about telling the ped that I already started O on solids when he was 16 weeks. Thankfully, he was totally fine with it. He confirmed that with breastmilk, babies do not need solids yet but it was fine to start him when I did. He said that starting solids, is more for the parents than anything.

I made homemade baby food on Tuesday. Ladies- it was so darn easy!!! I made pureed butternut squash, peas and applesauce. My next batch will be sweet potatoes, pears and prunes. It took just about an hour to make all 3 things. It's amazing how bright and vibrant the food is compared to the jarred stuff.

QOTD: Who does baby look like? When he was born, everyone said he looked like both of us but I saw more of DH in him. Now, most people say he looks more like me, which I know makes DH sad :(

Hope everyone has a great week! Kiss those babies!!!

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

Really quick post...


kaelynsmom I love the video :) I hope you don't mind, but I looked at another video you had there and saw that Kaelyn is already crawling and pulling herself up? Am I seeing that correctly? That is amazing that she was doing that at 4 months. She's going to be an early walker :eek:

I'll be back later, Troi is almost done nursing :)

[maryanne]

I just came in to report that rolling over front to back has begun here too!

and a strange spiral scooting pattern that moves her 180 degrees in about 3 turns to reposition herself so her head is by me (unfortunately I think it is so she can see the tv eek!)

Leaving Melody with her grandparents for the day yesterday while we went to the wedding went real well. I had a little talk with her, explaining that she shouldn't give them any trouble unless she was prepared to hear about how she acted at every holiday for the rest of her life She must have listened, because she never even cried! She dropped her morning nap b/c of all of the excitement but still was thankfully in a good mood.

The separation was too long on my part. Another family brought their baby unannounced/invited. she was the exact same age and I was so jealous of them dancing and snuggling togethor.

[Baby Lust]

Are any of you electing to give the roto vaccine?
Yes, DS gets it every time too. He hates it though. He gags on it every time. Might be how the nurse is giving it to him too though. :rolleyes: But we figured why not give it to him? If it helps prevent it, then it was worth it! :)

[steviem]

Hi ladies,

I hope everyone had a nice weekend :)

We were busy here. Had tons of errands to run, including a trip to BRU.

Owen had been pulling the blankets up near his face/head (even though I would tuck them tightly under him) and it was making me very nervous. So, we purchase a sleep sack. So far, so good. Now I don't have to worry.

We also bought him a bebe Pod. It is very similar to the Bumbo seat. He loves it!

Owen still has not rolled over, however, he is scooting and turning his body 180 degrees (like Maryanne had reported for her DC as well). He is also rolling onto his side and touching his toes, but not a complete roll over as of yet. (It seems like he just discovered his feet this past week).

Babylust: Owen gags on the rotovirus vax as well. In fact, he spit it out completely the first time. They had to read the directions to see if they should give him another dose or not. (Turns out, you aren't supposed to redose.) This last time, he gagged but kept it down. Poor baby!

[Mystikal]

Who does DC look like?
When she was born she was DH's mini-me. EXACT REPLICA. Now people are starting to say she is getting some of my looks, but I don't see it. The only thing of mine I see that she has is my eyes (and maybe my ears, poor kid! They stick out! :p) She does have my temper, though. lol.

Roto-vaccine
I've never even heard of it before, so, needless to say, DD has not received it.

Is anyone's DC teething yet? I am not sure, but I think DD may be getting ready to start teething. She used to drool a lot, but as of Saturday it's increased by about 50%. She's also been shoving her hands in her mouth, and my finger as wel, and just biting down hard. I haven't felt any swelling or noticed any redness, but just the way she's been acting makes me wonder. Yesterday DH and I stopped for lunch before going to his parents and she was in her carseat with the first two fingers of each hand in the corners of her mouth just gnawing away. AND she slept HORRIBLE last night. Down at 9:00pm after having cereal w/applesauce, and 5 ozs of formula, then up at midnight, again at 4:00 and then again at 5:30. She wasn't overly cranky this weekend, but she would go from smiling and happy to cranktastic in 0.2 seconds...

[shaqangel]

Javan turned 5mths yday!!! gosh time is flying :eek:

http://www.totsites.com/totimages/2132/167641-100_0981.jpg

and here's my jailbird!!!
http://www.totsites.com/totimages/2132/167614-100_0936.jpg

Roto-vaccine also have not heard of it.

teething might possibly be starting - he was gnawing pretty hard on my fingers yday and the drool has more than doubled AND he seems to be shoving his fingers further into his mouth thus gagging himself and spitting up - very annoying!!!

kaelynsmom love the pictures and video - she's so cute!

dansgirl too cute! love the curious george pics.

[sunshineab622]

Who does DC look like?She looks alot like my ds .... but she has my dh nose. When she was born she looked alot like me as a baby but she has changed so much.

Rota-vaccine She has had 2 doses

Is anyone's DC teething yet? Yes and has been for 2 months ... she already has 2 teeth on the bottom.

Such cute baby pics. Wow these babies are growing up so quick.

[IzzyJune2006]

teething We've been thinking that we see signs for a while now, but no teeth yet. MIL said she feels something in the gums but I don't feel anything different (I've been checking for a while now).

We've been experimenting with food, letting her taste different veggies. I went and bought this on friday.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000BXAI08.16._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS384_.jpg
I'm really happy with it so far.

Annabelle is becoming more independent and SOOooooooo energetic. OMG I was freaked out last night. I thought she must have been high or something. She would just flail and be happy all by herself, no toy, just lying there for like 2 hours straight, kicking and laughing away! Anyone else had something like that happen? I wouldn't have minded so much except that I really wanted her to go to sleep (really, I wanted to go to sleep).

So here's what peas look like on Annabelle. :) (sorry the pic is kinda dark)
http://images.costcophotocenter.com/3485%3A67%3A5%7Ffp68%3Dot%3E2327%3D543%3D%3B59%3DX ROQDF%3E2323638%3A%3A7496ot1lsi

The book I use to keep track of her progress said she should be experimenting with drinking from a cup. She's started go get used to the sippy cup. Anyone else tried those yet?

[Graffy]

So great to see all these gorgeous babies growing before our eyes!

Who DS looks like: pretty much everyone thinks Micah is the spitting image of his mommy.

Teething: I HOPE that's what's happening! He's been waking so much at night in the last couple weeks, and his drool output has increased tenfold. So many cute baby outfits, but they all have to be covered up by bibs! I've seen a white dot on his gums for the last few days, but I didn't see anything this morning.

Solids: Not yet. I planned to hold out 'til 6 months, but I think I might start him soon. He's OBSESSED with our food. I was eating a pear for breakfast about a week ago, and he was watching every move I made so I held it in front of his mouth and he started sucking away. Every time I'd move it away he'd grab me and pull it back and start sucking again. I think he's ready. I think I'll start with Nature's Best rice cereal since it's whole grain, but I plan to make my own purees. I'm planning to buy a Cuisinart mini food prep this week at some point. New kitchen appliances. :D

Sippy Cup and water: Haven't introduced one yet, but plan to when we start solids. I've heard the Nuby is a good one, so I'll try that.

Question: Filtered tap water or bottled water? Does anyone know which should be given to baby? I know they have nursery water at Wal-mart, too, but I'm not sure what that is. Sometimes I feel like I'm flying blind with this whole parenting thing...

Here are some pics: For Halloween we dressed as the Cleavers, so here are Ward, June and The Beav:
http://images.photo.walgreens.com/3485%3A68%3A8%7Ffp69%3Dot%3E232%3B%3D658%3D357%3DX ROQDF%3E2323582588279ot1lsi

And here's a cute one of Micah from a few nights ago in his bumbo seat:
http://images.photo.walgreens.com/3485%3A68%3A8%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E232%3B%3D658%3D357%3DX ROQDF%3E2323582585%3A93ot1lsi

[IzzyJune2006]

Question: Filtered tap water or bottled water? Does anyone know which should be given to baby?


I asked the peds about water because I keep coming so close to not having enough EBM and having to use formula. She said that filtered water or boiled water is most important for newborns. I think she said that it's after 4 months or so, it doesn't really matter as much and tap water is fine. (I asked at the 4-month WBV and we were clear at that point).

[Baby Lust]

Question: Filtered tap water or bottled water? Does anyone know which should be given to baby?
Tap water has the flouride kids need, so the nursery water is filtered with added flouride. That would be the ideal water to use.

Solids: DS is so into what we eat that I decided to start cereal on Sunday. He is awesome with a spoon but didn't like the taste of the cereal too much. He ate about 10 spoonfuls and then didn't want anymore. Once I know he is not allergic to it, we will try oatmeal with fruit, then veggies. Wal-Mart has Gerber veggies on sale for 25 cents a jar! I will be making my own purees as well but these were such a good deal and the only ingredients were the veggie and water so I bought 2 cases. :)

Teething: Drool has increased a ton here too so possibly teeth are coming in!

[kaelynsmom]

Kaelyn turned 5 mos today...can't believe how time flies!

Niko&Troi:DD is nowhere near crawling and pulling herself up yet. You must have seen another video with the same name as her!

Teething:SHe is definately teething and drooling all over the place. I have to replace her bib at least 5 times/day!

Solids:I haven't started her yet, even though doc gave us the okay. I think I'll push it for another month until she's 6 months old.

Milestones: She has rolled over in both directions, and especially back to tummy since she was 4 mos old. She also started grabbing glassess off of people's faces just recently. She also makes razzy sounds all day long. Of course, she laughs up a storm all the time!

SLeeping issues: I've been having problems with this a lot lately. She's been waking up 3x/night recently! I don't know if she got thrown off with the time change or because she's teething, but it's been a problem lately! Poor DH who has to watch her at night while I'm at work!

Hope all is well with all your junebugs!

[shaqangel]

She also started grabbing glassess off of people's faces just recently

this made me laugh:0 yday DS was looking at me so intently and then reached up to me and i thought he wanted to hug me -NOPE! he pulled my shades of with lightening speed and wanted to throw them :rolleyes:

Baby Lust thanks for that post about the Gerber. i'm also planning to make my own foods but i might go ahead and get some of those jars too - thats an awesome deal.

QOTD: we're starting foods at 6mths but for those of you that have already, what veggies did you introduce first? and also if you started with rice cereal, how long did you wait til you introduced oatmeal?

sippy i havent tried that yet but he does have a good handle on my water bottles and his own bottle:) when we start cereal then i'll give him a sippy cup.

[steviem]

Shaq: DS has been eating solids for almost 4 weeks now.

I started him on Earth's Best organic rice ceral for the 1st week. He became constipated (which often happens when solids are introduced) so I switched him to organic oatmeal, since I read it does not constipate as much. He now eats oatmeal for breakfast and rice ceral for dinner.

As far as fruits and veggies go, I started with the following: bananas, apples, peas and sweet potatoes. I have now added butternut squash, prunes, peaches, pears, carrots and zuccini!! (At his 4 month WBV last week, the doc said that people typically introduce rice ceral and yellow veggies first, but he said that I could do what I wanted.)

For the first few weeks I was really good about waiting for 3 days before introducing a new food, but now I don't! (He doesn't seem to have any food allergies as of yet, and DH and I don't have them either.)

As I've mentioned is some previous posts, I've been making my own purees for the last 2 weeks. SO SUPER EASY! I made zuccini, pears and sweet potatoes today. I just peeled the squash and pears and boiled them, then threw them in my cuisnart food processor. I baked the sweet potatoes and scooped it out, then pureed them as well. It takes no time at all.

Teething: DS has been drooling up a storm for the past month and he also can't keep his hands (or toys) out of his mouth. He used to shove his whole fist in his mouth, but now he prefers the first 2 fingers on each hand. He also tends to gag himself..... silly kid! Although thses seem to be teethng sings, I don't feel any "bumps" on his gums and they don't appear to be swollen.

Sleeping: I've given up on the idea of DS ever sleeping through the night :( He was going down at 7:30pm and getting up once in the middle of the night. Now, he gets up 2-3 times and this has been going on for about 6 weeks or so.

Have a great week :)

[gina73]

Teething - I definitely think so. Drool is all over the place, all of the time. He's constantly chewing on something, really gnawing at it. His poor hands at times are red and cold from having chewed on them for such a long time. We've given him a cold teething ring, which really seems to help. I don't see any teeth yet, but his gums feel bumpy and look a bit sore.

Who does DC look like? - when Brady was first born, DH thought he looked just like me, as did everyone else. Now that he's gotten bigger and more filled out, he's looking more like DH, especially in the shape of his eyes and forehead, but he still has my mouth and nose.

Solids - I know this has been asked before, but I can't seem to find the answer on this thread: Is there a thread that explains or gives suggestions/recipes on how to make your own baby food?

Brady will be 6mo by Thanksgiving, so we're waiting to try the fun stuff until then. Our ped said we could start trying out rice cereal, which we've held off on but will start this weekend. He's been extremely interested in what we eat, watching us intensely and mimicking our chewing. He even grabs for my water bottle or anything I put up to my mouth. I think his first non-cereal thing will be squash. Am I the only one that gets kind of sad thinking about starting my baby on solids?

sippy cup - not yet. Don't even own one...but he seems to want to hold up his own bottle...

sleeping - Brady's doing pretty well at night - about 10-12 hours at a time. We're steadily working on naps, and he's getting better about it. They're getting more consistent and longer, thankfully.

[steviem]

gina73: There is a thread on making your own babyfood under the Parenting section (0-18 months).

I also suggest you go to www.wholesomebabyfood.com which has tons of good info, recipes, etc. I heard about this website from the other thread.

And yes, it did make me a wee bit sad to think my DS would be eating solids. He is getting so big.... time is flying, just like everyone said it would.

Good luck :)

[kmmommy]

Threadmistress ~ Please remove my info from the first page (including the weight and length). Thanks!

[amurphy]

Hi, everyone!

Who DS looks like: Everyone thinks he looks like me (I think it is the chubby cheeks), but he actually looks a lot like my DH's baby pictures. I think he has DH's mouth and nose, but my face shape, eyes, and coloring.

Teething: If we were placing bets I would say that DS is teething. His gums look bumpy, he bites hard on my finger, shoves everything in his mouth, and his sleep has been a bit unpredictable lately (some nights sleeping through and others waking once).

Solids: I'm a bit hesitant about solids. I'm not so sure DS really needs solid food yet so I've not been consistent with it. I have given him rice cereal (he is not a fan), oatmeal, bananas, mixed w/ BM, and pear mixed with BM. I boiled the pear and just peeled the banana and put them through a food mill. Super easy. DS is definitely a bigger fan of the banana than anything else. Actually, he is a bigger fan of BM than anything else.

Sippy Cup and water:Haven't even thought about it. DS has taken to grabbing my water/glass but I haven't attempted to share it with him. When are we supposed to be offering our babies water?

We went to a wedding this weekend. The plan was to bring DS for the first couple of hours and then send him back to the B&B with my Dad and his wife. But DS feel asleep in his stroller after the cocktail hour and woke up only when we moved him into his infant seat when the wedding was over! He makes my life so easy! We went back to the B&B, I nursed DS, put his jammies on, put him into his pack n' play, and left him in my Dad's care while DH and I met up with the wedding party at a local bar. We had such a good time!

[amurphy]

Stopping by to update my comment about teething. DS has two teeth! I can't believe it! :eek:

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

kaelynsmom I saw the name and thought she was yours :/ All I could think was that you were going to have your hands full very early!!

Sippy Cups We haven't started yet. We'll probably soon though.

Sleep Troi is still getting up 1 - 2 times a night to nurse. He's only up for about 10 minutes each time though.

Who does he look like? I'm really not sure. I believe that he looks like Brian, but Brian insists that he doesn't. Although this morning he said he has his eyes.

Solids We're still doing cereal but he's only had it 3 times. It doesn't really fill him up so we're just going with BM for now. I'll start it more regularly in the next few weeks.


I'm loving all the pictures everyone is posting. They are so cute.

I have 2 videos to post, now that I finally know how to do it :D Nikolas is literally throwing himself on the floor to make Troi laugh.

http://www.dropshots.com/photos/202655/20061103/101304.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/videolink.php?userid=202655&cdate=20061103&ctime=101304&showVideo=1)

http://www.dropshots.com/photos/202655/20061106/191758.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/videolink.php?userid=202655&cdate=20061106&ctime=191758&showVideo=1)


Well I have to go and do some housework. Take care, stay well and give those babies kisses from us.

[gina73]

Niko&Troi - Those videos are adorable!!! Looks like Troi is almost ready to crawl?

[amurphy]

Niko&Troi:I can't see your videos. Darn. I'll have to try again from my home computer.

I do have a question for the group....
Anyone planning on moving DC out of the infant seat and into a car seat soon? DS is over the length limit and just a pound or two under the weight limit on his Peg Perego. His feet have been over the edge of the seat for a couple weeks and now his head is getting closer to the top of the seat (he sill has about an inch of seat above his head but that won't last long). Plus, it is a struggle to get him into the seat if he has more than one layer of clothing on. (We have a BundleMe on his seat but that won't be warm enough soon. )

[Niko&Troi]

Hi again :)

It's an early Christmas here, they're both napping at the same time :)

Gina He's just rocking back and forth. I'm so not ready for crawling yet, that would mean he's growing up :(

amurphy If you can't see it at home either, let me know and I'll send you the link :)


Car Seat We actually moved Troi out of his 2 weeks ago. He was at the limit on height. We purchased Nikolas his booster seat and moved Troi into his old seat. It is so much more difficult now to go out alone. I have to get Nikolas in the car first so he doesn't run off (while holding a squirming Troi). I then buckle Troi in and then go back and buckle Nikolas in. Luckily it's been *warm* enough not to have to bundle him too much, but when the winter comes I'm dreading it :/

[jbenny75]

Speaking of Christmas....I'm going to do DS's Christmas shopping today! I'm so excited. I have a list of what I'd like to get after looking around online, but I'm not sure what I'll end up with- depends on what's available in the stores. I guess this will be the last year that I can take him with me to do his Christmas shopping. I figured I would start out Xmas shopping by getting his stuff finished so that when the family asks me what to buy him, I'll already know what we've gotten him.

car seat I have the big boy car seat out, straps adjusted, and ready to go, but I just can't bring myself to do the actual change. :( He's just growing up too fast. I need to do it soon, though, b/c he's such a chunky baby that when I put him in the infant seat wearing a coat or his fleece snowsuit, he can barely move. That does not make him happy and he's never been a big fan of it to begin with. I'm no longer taking the seat out of the base, though. He's too heavy in it. I'm taking him in and out just like the big carseat anyway, but I'm just having trouble letting the infant seat go.

teeth Something else I'm not ready for. I love the big, gummy smiles. I don't think it's going to be long, though. He's been drooling like crazy for months now.

sippy cups We gave it a shot for the first time last night. He wants to use it really badly, but is having trouble sucking from something different than he's used to. He also wants to hold it and is frustrated when he can't. I think the drinking while sitting up thing is also throwing him for a loop. He did well for his first time, though. I want to check out some different sippy cups. Mine are Gerber and were a gift. What kind of sippy cups does everyone use?

who does he look like? One of us or both of us, depending on the day it seems. I tell people that he looks like himself.

solids We have started and are having fun with it. DS has had rice cereal, baby oatmeal, sweet potato, green beans, and applesauce. Just yesterday, he opened his mouth for the spoon for the first time.

sleeping I've also given up on DS STTN. He had been sleeping from 7pm to 5 am, eating, then going back down until 8 am. That was a great schedule, but it's a thing of the past. For the past month and a half or so, he's been up many times a night and wants to go to bed super early (5-6pm). I've been joking that he thinks he's a newborn again. Just in the past few nights, he's begun going to bed about 5-6 pm, waking to eat at 9-10 pm and 3 am, then sleeping until 7 am.

[Mystikal]

jbenny DD hates her coat, too. DH and I found something called a "Bundle Me" at Baby Depot that goes right into the carseat and it's like a little sack that you zip them up in. Works great and keeps them so warm!!

sleeping ugh. She's still waking up at least once a night most nights. Tuesday night she surprised me. Fell asleep at 6:30 after drinking not even half an ounce and refusing cereal and slept straight till six the next morning!! :eek: Normally she goes down between 6:00 and 8:00 (keeping her up any later she will have a meltdown) and then will be up again between 3 and 5 to eat and then gets up between 6 and 7. I guess I can't complain, but I know she could sleep all night long, so why doesn't she? :(

Who does DC look like? when she was born she was DH's mini-me, but lately she's starting to look more like me. She has my eyes and my ears...did I answer this already? lol.

[jbenny75]

mystikal Sorry, I didn't write that very clearly. It's the infant seat that he's not a fan of, he's okay with his coat and snowsuit. I think the Bundle Me is great, though. I did consider getting one, but I know he's not going to be in the infant seat for much longer.

[amurphy]

jbenny: You and I are in the same boat. There is no way DS would fit into his infant seat wearing a coat. At the most, I can put him in there with a sweater or light hoodie. Thank goodness for the BundleMe. With that said, I'm going to make the switch to the car seat w/i the next couple of weeks.

[steviem]

Hi ladies,

Owen will be 5 months on Wednesday. Where does the time go??? I still feel like I just found out I was pg!!

He rolled over for the first time last week. He's done it a few times since. He rolls from his back to his tummy. Once he's on his tummy, he can't quite figure out how to get back to his back.

We also introduced the sippy cup this week. He LOVES it!!! Especially the water. I'm not sure if he likes the "taste" of water, or, if he just likes the coolness of it in his mouth. He hasn't figured out how to suck on the sippy cup to get the liquid out. So, we took off the plug thing and tilt the cup up. He knows how to lift his chin up. As soon as he sees the sippy cup, he opens his mouth wide and tilts his head back with his chin up..... it is so cute! I am thrilled the sippy cup is working out since he still has never accepted the bottle. This will make it easier for me to leave him with a baby sitter.

He continues to eat solids for breakfast and dinner. He loves to eat. He opens wide for each spoonful :)

Jbenny: I think our boys have the same sleeping schedule!! DS has been going down earlier and earlier each night. Tonight I put him down at 6:50pm. He normally wakes up at 11pm, 2:30am, 5:30am and then gets up for the day at 7am. I am starting to think he will never STTN. He has only done it once since he was born.

I am in my BF's wedding this coming Saturday and am very nervous about DS. He is invited to the wedding which is great, but, I am worried about the morning, and early afternoon. I will be gone all day, getting ready for the wedding (I am a bridesmaid.) DH will watch DS and bring him to the wedding. DS has never gone that long without the boob...... I am sure hoping the sippy cup works out. I have been stressing about this day since before he was even born. Fingers crossed it all goes well.

I hope you all have a wonderful week with your little ones :)

[Niko&Troi]

We need lots of prayers. Brian has had this constant headache for weeks now and the past few days he's been complaining of blurred vision. The headache is right around his right eye. Well last night he calls me into the room, he's looking to the right side and asks me if his eye is open. I said yes and ask him why and he tells me that he can't see out of it when he looks to that side. Brian was an EMT in the Navy so he has some medical background but not too extensive. He keeps thinking it's either a tumor on his eye or brain.

I don't need to tell you that I'm scared to death. I'm pretty much breaking down whenever the boys aren't looking. No matter what it is, it's not good that he's loosing his vision.

I've always said that in life you're not given more than you can handle. I am very far from being a strong person so I'm hoping that this turns out to be an extreme tension headache or something like that. I could not handle anything worse.

I'm asking that you please keep him in your prayers. He has to be ok, he needs to see his sons grow up. Please pray for him. We have a doctors appointment at 4 today and they're probably going to send him for tests. I'll update as we know more.

Thanks so much.

[jbenny75]

lorraine I will says some prayers for Brian. I can't imagine how worried you must be. Please come back ASAP and let us know how you are both doing.

steviem Wow! They do have almost the same schedule. Cross your fingers for me...the past two nights have been: bed at 5-6 pm, feeding at 8-9pm, then sleeping all the way until about 4 am!!, then up at 7 am.

Today I am going to try to get myself to take care of getting the big carseat installed. :(

P.S. steviem What a good idea to take the valve thing out of the sippy. DS is having the same trouble sucking the water out, but wants to use the sippy really badly. I'm going to try that. Thanks!

[kaelynsmom]

Niko&Troi: My prayers are with you and your family. PLEASE, PLEASE....request for an MRI right away. Dont wait for the doctor to schedule you, just get an MRI right away. If it's a tumor, it could be impinging on his optic nerve or something. Sometimes brain tumors occupy so much space in the brain, that it herniates the brain towards the brain stem which controls our breathing mechanism. Request an MRI STAT!

We took DD to Las Vegas this past weekend to see her grandparents. We drove for 3.5 hours from orange county to vegas. We decided to leave at 10 pm so that DD would be asleep. Luckily she slept through the whole car ride!

She also started sitting up on her own:
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/DSC03795.jpg

[ladyjg]

I'm way overdue for an update, and I can't do one right now, but I wanted to let Niko&Troi know that I'm praying for her family.

Niko&Troi -- I know I don't know you IRL, but I believe you're a much stronger person than you give yourself credit for. Whatever this is, you'll get through it. I hope you get some answers very soon. (((((HUGS)))))

[amurphy]

Lorraine--I posted in Emotional Support as well but wanted to tell you again that my family is praying for yours. You ARE a strong wife and a strong Mommy. You will get through this.

[Niko&Troi]

First off, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your support and prayers. Reading each post has had me in tears all day. It means so much to us to know that so many people care and are there for us.

We went to the dr and we sorta knew that they wouldn't be able to tell us anything at all. Brian has an MRI at 6:30 tomorrow night so we probably won't get the results from that until Wed sometime. I also have to get him an appointment with an optholmogist ASAP.

Since my post this morning, things have gotten worse. Now whenever he moves his eyes in any direction except straight he looses his vision, just in the right eye though. He has also started seeing flashes of light.

So now we just wait, the hardest part of all. I tend put the cart before the horse so my mind has been going in all sorts of directions all day.

Well I'm off to try to get some sleep. THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, and I will post when we know more.

[kmmommy]

Lorraine, I'm sorry. Please know that you, Brian and the boys are in my thoughts and prayers.

[gina73]

Oh, Lorraine, I'm so sorry to hear about Brian's vision. I hope that you get some answers soon and that his vision returns. I'll be thinking of you all tomorrow night.

[shaqangel]

Niko&Troi lorraine so sorry to hear about whats going on with brian. will definitely be keeping your family in my prayers (((HUGS)))

[Baby Lust]

Lorraine, I'm so sorry!!! I hope everything turns out fine!! You all are in my thoughts and prayers!!

[maryanne]

(((((lorraine)))))))) I have been offline for a few days and just saw your post. I am holding you and your boys close and praying for the best!

[Mystikal]

Lorraine saying prayers for your family. ((HUGS))

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All.

I want to thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers. We really need them more than ever right now.

I wish I had good news, but I don't. Brian saw the optholmologist today and he wanted him to see a neurological opthomologist immediately but get this, they are all at a convention in Vegas.

Anyway, when Brian told the dr that he had an MRI scheduled for this evening, the dr didn't think Brian should wait that long. Brian asked him if it's fatal, and he told him he's not sure, but when Brian asked if he's going to loose his sight, he didn't say anything.

Brian finally pressured him for some straight answers and the dr finally said he thinks it's a tumor. He said it could be either a brain tumor or a pseudo tumor. The pseudo can be dealt with via meds, the other with surgery. If the MRI doesn't show anything then it's neurological, which can be a whole different ballgame.

He has the MRI at 6:30 and unless it's an immediate emergency, we won't have results until tomorrow morning. The dr's office opens at 8:30 and we'll be calling at 8:31.

My stomach is in knots right now. We need tons of prayers right now. I'll update tomorrow unless we hear something tonight.

Thank you all again for your prayers. We really need them right now.

[IzzyJune2006]

Thanks Lorraine for the update. Your family is in my thoughts and prayers. ((HUGS))

[mar5195]

I just read your first and last post and I am sending my prayers with you.

Just try and relax, easier said than done I'm sure.

[kmmommy]

My continued thoughts and prayers are with you, Lorraine. Please PM me if you want to chat privately.

[jbenny75]

Lorraine Thanks for updating us! I'm praying for Brian.

[Baby Lust]

Continuing to pray for you and your family Lorraine! I hope it all turns out well! {{{HUGS}}}

[Niko&Troi]

Hell all. Thank you all again for your support and prayers, it really does mean so much to us.

We finally heard from the dr and it's not a brain tumor. She said it may be an aneurysm and he will need a seperate test for that. As for the pseudo tumor, the opthomologist will have to read the MRI scan for that. She also wants him to see a neurological opthomoligist asap and supposedly the convention was over yesterday.

The dr is great and being very proactive for us. She's going to call and get him the necessary appointments hopefully today.

I just spoke with Brian and he is literally on his way to the store to get baby aspirin and start taking them on his own in case it is the aneurysm.

So although we're no longer on edge for the brain tumor, we are still on edge in regards to everything else. I'm still worried, but a small weight (about 1%) has been lifted off my shoulders.

The condition itself hasn't gotten worse, but the eye appointment yesterday started to show that the same thing that is happening in his right eye, is starting to happen in his left. Whatever it is, we need to get it remedied asap.

Thank you again so much for your prayers and support, it means so much to us. I will update again once we know something.

[Niko&Troi]

Thank you all again for your support and prayers.

So, it's like we're on Monday again. Brian saw the neuro optho, had a bunch of tests run, and he has no idea what it is. He wants him to take an MVR but we have to wait for ins to approve that cause supposedly it costs thousands of dollars.

Brian has asked every doctor he has seen if he's going to die and not one has told him no. I'm so scared right now. I just don't know what to do anymore. All I know is that I can't loose him, our boys can't loose him.

[IzzyJune2006]

Lorraine... hang in there! No point in expecting the worst until you get some answers. Try to keep the faith.

Any news on the MRI results? I would think that would answer the main question! My only advice is to get a second opinion. Perhaps go to a different ophtalmologist if it's only his eyesight. If the headaches are not getting better, probably see other doctors as well. Keep asking and insisting for answers...

Keeping you in my thoughts.

[amurphy]

Lorraine: I know it is hard not to imagine the worst, but please remember that physicians are often leary of giving definitive answers, especially before a diagnosis is reached, for liablility reasons. Keep the faith and know that your family is in our thoughts and prayers.

[IzzyJune2006]

QOTD Is your DC starting to recognize its name? Does he/she cry when you leave the room?

We think Annabelle has started to recognize her name but we're not sure if it's the voice intonation or the actual name. She's not very consistent in turning to respond.

Very frequently if I'm playing or taking care of her, I might leave her to play in her gym or her exersaucer while I do laundry or dishes. The minute I move away (usually still within sight), she'll start a usually brief whimper or cry. Most time after a few seconds she goes back to playing.

Daycare has started to make her do the "indian" (tapping on her mouth while she's making sounds). Apparently she likes it a lot! :)

[shaqangel]

Niko&Troi keep us posted. i know its hard but you have to keep positive for brian and the boys.

QOTD Is your DC starting to recognize its name? Does he/she cry when you leave the room?


DS does recognize his name and he will look at your and smile whenever you say his name. and he started that whimpering/getting upset last night every time i left his sight. it was pretty funny. he loves sitting up and patting everything with his hands.

[Niko&Troi]

hello all

I actually have a few mintues here because there are no updates today. I have been on the phone most of the past 2 days making sure the insurance company doesn't try to weasle out of anything. The primary dr's office knows my voice. I stopped in there today to pick up the order for the CT scan and blood work and the lady up front told me that all of the doctors in the office (approx 20) are now all involved on his case.

We have a CT scan for the anuresym tomorrow at 1. There will also be a full blood work up first thing in the morning to screen for diabetes, thyroid, and other things. The neuro optho is still trying to get approval for the MVR. Not sure if I mentioned, but he's also going for a chest x-ray and a lumbar puncture to see what's going on with the spinal fluid.

I had asked about taking him to the ER to get faster results and the dr said they would have stopped at the MRI and then referred him to a speciailist.

My father in law is coming up either tomorrow night or Saturday to see us.

I want to thank you all for the support and prayers, it means the world to us.

So tonight Brian will come home hopefully on time and we'll try to relax as much as possible. We're both mentally and physically exhausted. This is really taking a toll on him. He's very worried about loosing his vision and how he'll support us. I keep telling him I don't mind living in the poor house as long as he's alive.


Troi had his 6 month WBV today. He's 28" long (94%) and 18 lbs. 2 oz. (74%). The dr said he's doing good. He got all of his shots and his first flu shot. Normally I don't cry, but I started balling when he started to cry, all of the emotions are getting the best of me right now.

Anyway, thank you all again for all of your support. I am trying to stay as positive as possible and I know they can't tell me what I want to hear, I'm just a what if person. Well Troi is waking up from his nap so I have to run. I will update again as soon as I know something.

[Niko&Troi]

I was hoping not to have to visit with any news until tomorrow, but such is life right now. Up until this evening, Brian only lost his vision when he turned his eyes to either the right, left or up. Well approx 8 tonight, his vision started getting blurred when he looks straight ahead.

We called our regular dr and they said we should call the neuro optho. We called him and another dr was on call. He left it up to us if we wanted to go to the ER or wait until the office opens in the morning. Brian being stubborn as he is wants to wait until the morning. I just hope he still has his vision in the morning.

We fought back and forth about him needing to go tonight but he just won't go. I told him that they could do the MVR as an emergency, but he said the test costs $50k, our ins wouldn't cover w/o a pre-approval.

So now we wait until 9 tomorrow morning to call the neuro optho and see what he wants us to do. It's going to be a long night, again.

Thank you all again for your support and prayers. I'll update sometime tomorrow.

[jbenny75]

lorraine Thanks for updating us again. Since it is the morning now, I'm thinking of you and hope you are getting some answers. I'm also saying more prayers.

Has anyone been away from their baby overnight so far?

My stepmother was missing DS b/c we didn't need her to babysit since back in October. She volunteered to take him overnight tommorrow night so that we could do something together. We made plans to go to dinner. Now I'm thinking that I'm not sure I want to do it. I have left him with her a lot of times and she's taken care of him overnight a couple times when we've been out late, but we were always in the same house. She stayed over here or we were staying at her house. This time he will be an hour away from me overnight. Just thinking about her car driving away from the house with him and then coming back into an empty house is making me crazy already. I'm not sure how to deal with it.

[Niko&Troi]

Well the insurance company FINALLY approved the MRV (I've had the wrong initials from the start). I pretty much called them this morning and told them that if Brian went blind waiting for them to approve this test, they would have a HUGE problem on their hands. I never came out and said lawsuit, but hinted at it and low and behold the test is approved w/in 1 hour. The test is scheduled for Wed at 8, that's the earliest they could see him.

The neuro optho isn't in until the afternoon and we should hear back from him later about the blurred vision.

Brian just left to go to his CT Scan and to get his chest x-ray. We're pretty much going to be in limbo the whole weekend.

I really wish the neuro optho would get him in sooner for the MRV. Maybe to the referral lady him loosing his vision isn't a big thing, but it is to us. Hopefully the dr will say he can't wait and he'll go sooner.

So now, once again, we wait, the hardest part of all.

[maryanne]

hang in there.

[Baby Lust]

Has anyone been away from their baby overnight so far?

Yes, my mom has taken Lucas overnight a few times and he has done just fine. They have had a blast! The only stressor for me is making sure I send enough milk for him. I say go for it! Enjoy your night and get a full night's sleep! :)

Lorraine, I'm so glad the ins co approved the test!! Continued prayers are being sent your way!

[jbenny75]

babylust Thanks! I'm making myself go through with it. Although, I have changed the plan to me dropping him off. I think that will be easier on me than watching him drive away.:o

lorraine I'm so glad that you got Brian's test approved. I can't believe they're making you wait until Wednesday. :( Hang in there!

[IzzyJune2006]

Just wanted to share a happy picture with everyone!

Cheers!
http://images.costcophotocenter.com/3486%3A%3A%3A89%7Ffp66%3Dot%3E2327%3D543%3D%3B59%3 DXROQDF%3E2323662%3A%3B343%3Aot1lsi

[steviem]

Thinking of you Lorraine. Sending lots of good thoughts your way.

Recognizing Name: Yes, DS definitely knows his name. He gets this wide-eyed expression on his face when we call his name. It's very cute :)

Overnight Stay: Not yet, but, I was away from DS for the longest time ever this past weekend since I was in a wedding. My parents watched him from 1pm-9pm on Friday and again on Saturday from 9am until 9pm. I felt so bad leaving him that long. The longest I'd been away from him previously was 3 hrs.

According to my mom, it went very well. He is eating solids now, so that helps and he is starting to drink from the sippy cup. She said he was absolutely fine. Of course, she gave him some ice cream :rolleyes: and a bit of apple juice, two things which I had not planned on giving him for quite some time. But I guess that's what gradma's are for, right?

Anyway, I feel so much better now about leaving him for long lengths of time in the future (possibly even for an overnight stay at grandmas!) I know that he will be okay without me, even though I miss him terribly when I am away from him.

On another note, DH and I were so annoyed with this couple at the wedding we were at. They brought their 8 wk old twin babies to the wedding (that's not the bad part). There was a band at the reception and the music was VERY LOUD as I am sure you can imagine. They had the babies right next to the band.... I seriously was ready to approach them and ask them what they were thinking. The music was hurting our ears..... I can't even imagine what it was doing to those babies' ears. Poor things...... okay, vent over.

I hope everyone has a great week.

[MrsBrownie]

Hello there...boy it's been awhile since I've posted. I have been reading along though, just not posting often.

Lorraine ~ I keep reading your updates and wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. Wishing you, Brian and the boys all the best during this trying time. I can't even imagine what it's doing to your nerves.

Work I am very lucky and haven't had to go back to work yet (my mat leave is 12 months long) but I am at work today, for the first time since May. I'm only working on a special project for a week or two, then I'm back home with Ethan until the beginning of August (9 more months.) It's been wonderful being home and I wouldn't change it for the world and eventhough I've been approached about coming back early, I'm just not interested in leaving DS before I have to. This time is just so precious and Ethan is learning new things everyday.

Ethan is just about 5 1/2 months old. He started solids just last week (despite wanting to wait until 6 months.) He IS NOT sleeping through the night and is waking every 2 hours. I had such a wonderful sleeper in the beginning and that has just been thrown by the wayside.

Overnight ~ Ethan has not spent a night away from us yet despite my mother and MIL begging to take him. He is not sleeping through the night right now, and I just feel bad leaving him or asking someone to get up with him. We do have a party to attend mid-December, where I am debating leaving him overnight with my mom. Not so sure about it yet.

The longest I've left him with someone so far (much like Steviem) has been 6 hours...today will be the longest I've left him. We are only three hours in and I'm already freaking out.

Recognizing his name ~ I like to think that DS recognizes his name, but it's still pretty hit or miss. He could be turning towards the sound of our voices just as easily as turning to us calling his name. But I think he's starting to get it at least.

Personality ~ Ethan's little personality is really starting to develop...not that it wasn't always there, but we are really starting to notice some changes to it. We always said that DS was going to be a 'go-getter' and not be a shy boy but he does have a bashful side to him. Often, when I'm holding him (I think it's only when I'm holding him) he will smile at someone, wait for them to smile back and then turn his head or body into me and play shy. It's so cute to watch. He also loves to smile and laugh, especially with women. He hates his car seat, loves his exersaucer and is just starting to get the hand of solid food.

QOTD ~ Anyone else thinking about having more children yet? I can't remember if this has been asked already, but anyone have thoughts of getting PG again?

With living in Canada, I don't have to go back to work for a year (actually next August) and while I would love to be PG right now, I don't want to take anything away from DS. I would have to leave him early to get enough hours in at work to go back on Mat leave and I would feel guilty doing that. As such we are currently discussing getting PG again sometime between next July and next Christmas (depends who you ask.) I can't wait to have another child and experience pregancy again, but I can wait long enough to spend as much time with DS as I can.

Anyways, back to work for me...have a great day everyone and [b]

[Niko&Troi]

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers.

Well Brian had the MRV and the dr's office told Brian to tell them they needed a verbal reading immediately. When Brian was done with the test they gave him the films so Brian called the neuro optho's office and they told him it could take up to 3 days to get the results. I was so angry that Brian didn't insist that they find out any sooner. We got into a little bit of an arguement, I told him to them, he's just another patient so they don't care, but to me, he is the father of my children and I care.

Well we came home and about 2 hours later I got tired of waiting so I called the dr's office myself. I was then told that it would take up to 3 days, and I told them that 3 days is much too long to wait when you're loosing your vision and you have small kids. They said they'd call the place to see about getting a verbal reading done immediately.

They called back around 4:30 and they didn't find anything on the MVR :( Sothe next step is a lumbar puncture. That will tell if it's a pseudo tumor or not and hopefully relieve the pressure behind the eye.

It is getting more intense though. As I said, last Thur his forward vision was just getting blurred, well now he's starting to loose it. It's still only in the right eye, but we think it will just be a matter of time before the left eye starts.

He has to go for more blood work before the lumbar puncture, but when I call them with a fax number to a lab, I am really going to stress that this test needs to be done this week, hopefully by Friday.

So, yet again, we wait. It seems like that's all we can do now, is just wait and pray. Thank you all again for your prayers, knowing we have so much support really helps.

I'll update tomorrow after I talk to the dr's office.

[Niko&Troi]

I am so frustrated right now. The neuro optho called this morning and told me that "Teresa" from Dr. Andrews office will call me today to schedule his appt, in the mean time I need to get a pre-auth from my primary dr.

So I call my primary and they call back needing more info, i.e. phone number, name of practice, date he'll be seen, etc. So I call the nuero optho to get that info and then call my primary.

I still haven't heard from the dr doing the puncture, so I call them and low and behold, Teresa doesn't do scheduling and they don't have Brian's info. So I tell them the story, they register Brian and the earliest they can see him is Friday December 1st. I asked why it couldn't be sooner, but she tells me that they only do them on Thursday or Friday, and that they are closed this Thur & Fri due to the holiday.

Um hello, so being they only do these on Thur & Fri my husbands emergency should stop? I called the neuro optho back in tears and she told me that I can find any neurologist and he could go there. So I sat with the list of providers through our insurance and started calling.

I finally find one that will skip the initial consultation as long as the nuero optho calls him directly. So I call the nuero optho again, explain the situation and they are going to call the doctor to get him pushed through. So hopefully the dr's office will get him scheduled right away. If not, I'll have to argue with Christiana hosp too to get him in right away.

I am so freggin frustrated right now, to tears. I coulnd't help it, but I called Brian in tears. I've always knew that it's happening but never exeperienced how much people in the medical field just don't care anymore, they just care about how much the ins co will pay them. Brian keeps saying he's just a number, but he's not, he's my husband and the father of my children.

So again we're just waiting and we probably won't know anything until tomorrow.

[MrsBrownie]

Lorraine ~ Still in my thoughts and prayers... I must say your patience is amazing and the fact that you are so persistent has to pay off in the end.

All my best to you, Brian and the boys. Try to stay positive and don't let up on all the health care workers until you get the service and the care that you deserve.

Work ~ So I spent my first full day away from Ethan yesterday and it was SO HARD! I give all you mother's that are back at work all the credit in the world. I guess if you don't have a choice, it's one thing...but I chose to come into work for this next two weeks (it will elongate my maternity leave in the end though) but it's making me feel horribly guilty and I'm not enjoying my time away from him.

And to make things worse, as soon as I saw him last night, after spending 9 hours away from him, he just looked at me like I was a stranger. It took about an hour and a bit for him to warm up to me...to be his usual smiley, playful self. That just about broke my heart...I just hope he's not the same way tonight...I just may not come back next week if he continues this way.

The only good thing is that I have been able to pump every three hours and been getting a good milk supply. I've always wondered how much DS is getting at each feed (I always feel like I'm starving him) but it seems that I'm able to pump at least 5 full ounces from the breast he feeds off of. So that makes me happy...at least he's not starving.

QOTD ~ Does your child ever play strange with you after you've been away from them for an extended period of time. Would love to hear that it does get better and that he's not forgetting about me when I'm away from him all day.

Goodness, this parenting is so much harder than I ever thought it would be. I seem to be constantly worrying about one thing or another.

[Niko&Troi]

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.

As this day goes on, I'm getting so much more frustrated. I called the neuro this morning to see if the nuero optho called and suprisingly they did. However, the neuro that they spoke with said he couldn't get the puncture w/o an office visit first.

I again tell the nurse of how important it is and how he may be blind by next week and she says she'll talk to the dr in charge of the practice. She also tells me that the nurse up in the neuro's office told her that if it was that much of an emergency Brian could been seen at Wills Eye to do an emergency puncture. WTF :mad: :mad: :mad: Why couldn't they tell me that yesterday? Why must another dr's office call them to get the point across? Why can't they take my concerns as an emergency?

Anyway, the nurse from the nuero's office calls me back and tells me that the dr in charge doesn't think he should wait until next week (of course they are closed for the holiday) so the dr called the neuro optho and told him that they need to make some kind of arrangements for him soon.

So I should be hearing from the neuro optho's office some time today. But of course, being it is a holiday weekend nothing will be done until Monday. Now I just have to hope and pray that he doesn't go blind while he's waiting.

I can swear though, if something happens to him while we're waiting, someone's head will roll.

[sarahncraig]

Lorraine, I haven't been in here in a while and just spent a few minutes getting caught up. I am so very sorry you have been going through all of this. I want you to know that you, Brian, Troi and Nikolas will be in my every prayer. I hope that God gives you strength, support, healing and love as you go through this struggle.

[Niko&Troi]

Thank you so much Sarah for your prayers.

I am absolutely LIVID right now. I am so angry I could literally kill someone. I called the neuro optho's office at 4 to find out what the plan they have is, and they are gone for the holiday. I can't believe they did this to us.

I told Brian that after the puncture, if they don't find out what's going on, we're chaning doctors. I'm also going to contact the AMA, the head of their department and anyone else that I can.

I'm over it and they have f'd with the wrong person.

[maryanne]

((((((lorraine))))))))) kick some assss!

do you know any lawyers that can start making the phone calls for you? Is there another ER that you can go to? Have dh lie and say that it is getting worse--anything to get the care you deserve TODAY not next week

geez, these friggen docs were just partying last week in vegas--now they exect you to wait over a holiday! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr

[jbenny75]

lorraine:mad: :mad: :mad: Isn't it amazing how freakin' useless people can be at their jobs? WTF are these people thinking? Keep on them until Brian gets what he needs. Still thinking of you.....

P.S. This neuro optho-do they have any sort of emergency line or contact? I'm sure if they did, you'd have already called it, but maybe there is some way to track the doc down or something and make them get you taken care of.

[maryanne]

http://www.dearauntnettie.com/images/macy.jpg


HAPPY TURKEY DAY

[Baby Lust]

Happy Thanksgiving Mommas and Babies! :D

[IzzyJune2006]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Are you planning to get baby's picture taken with Santa?
I'm planning to go next week before her WBV visit. I'd like to have a nice Xmas print to send to the family. Hope I'm not too late!

[Niko&Troi]

Hope everyone had a good holiday. We enjoyed it as much as possible but there was that tension in the air.

When I called the office on Thur to find out why they hadn't called me, the on call dr was the same dr that is just as flaky as his dr. When we called last week when the forward vision was blurred, he was the same dr that said, "oh you can go to the ER or wait til the morning, it's up to you". When I told the office about it, they lied to me and said he was probably a resident on call. Um hello, he's the head of the neuro optho department at the hosp and the lead dr in your office, how could you not know who he is?

Brian doesn't want to go to the ER and be rushed through the puncture and them screw up.

So today our phone rings and it's our primary. She's calling us cause she hasn't heard anything from the neuro optho on his progress. I can't believe they haven't even called the referring dr to update her. Brian tells her all that's going on and she's going to make some calls and see if she can get him in either this weekend or first part of next week for the puncture. She also told him that he would be safe in the ER, they do them all the time to rule out certain things.

I know she'll get whatever she can done to help him but at least now if he needs it before he can be seen, he'll go to the ER. Hopefully she'll call soon with a date & time.


ETA: The primary dr just called and Brian has a puncture scheduled for Tue at 1:30. She said if anything gets worse before then to go to the ER, the hosp has his info so he'll be good to go.

Now we just have to hope nothing else gets worse before then.

[jbenny75]

Lorraine I'll be thinking of you this week. All crossables will be crossed.

What baby items have you put away and are you sad about it?
I just can't believe how much time I spent when I was pregnant arranging DS's clothing, putting together his bouncy seats, swing, getting the infant seat installed, etc. and now I'm already putting things away! Now all the clothing that I so carefully washed and folded (and rearranged everyday while waiting for the baby to arrive:rolleyes: ) is already packed away. I've retired the FP Ocean Wonders bouncy seat :( and the infant car seat. DS wasn't using his swing at all anymore, so I moved it to his room. I never have a place to put him while I get his bath/bed time stuff ready, so I figured he could take a relaxing swing while I do that and get a little more use out of it. Funny how the first time we used it, it seemed like it was going way to fast for him on the lowest setting and now it barely moves on the highest setting b/c he's so heavy! I had the PNP set up in the family room to use the changing table and for naps. Now I keep it packed up for trips to Grandma's b/c we don't use it anymore. It makes me so sad! When I took the convertible carseat to the state police barracks to be installed, I actually cried on the way home. The infant seat was gone and DS was in the big car seat. I cried b/c it was the same route that we had taken to bring him home from the hospital and here we were taking the same drive with him in the big carseat already! Is anyone else going through this?

[steviem]

Jbenny: I can totally relate to your post about putting things away.

This weekend, I went through all of Owen's cloths and boxed up us 0-3 and 3-6 month sizes. It mad me so sad :( My little boy is getting so big, so fast.

We moved him from our room into his crib 3 weeks ago. That really made me sad, but I now realize that I sleep better because I do not wake up at every single noise he makes.

I am cracking up at your comment on the swing!!! I remember thinking how fast it went on the lowest setting when DS was just born. Now, it barely moves!! DH and I kept thinking the batteries were running low, so we keep changing them. It never occurred to us that it barely moves because DS is so heavy (18 lbs!) DUH!! I can't believe we didn't think of that.

We saw several new babies at chruch today. They were so tiny....... My little guy looks so big compared to them. Gosh... where is the time going???

[Pink_Converse]

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack! Finally got a new computer! I have to get wireless internet installed, I'm picking up someone's else's right now. I can't even imagine what all I have missed here. Should I even attempt to catch up? Did anything big happen while I was away?

[maryanne]

hiya pinkie, been wondering where you have been!

Another one having a eureka moment on the swing. I thought that I have been going thru alot of batteries...lol!

I was really bummed yesterday. I had the carter's holiday bear sweatsuit for mel in size 6-9 that I was waiting until thanksgiving to dress her in...and it is TOO SMALL!!! I didn;t even consider trying it on her before I ripped the tags, the pants are about to her kness!

[amurphy]

hope everyone had a good thanksgiving!

Lorraine: Ugh. I can't believe all you've had to deal with these last few days! I hope you get some good news soon.

Putting baby stuff away: The FP papasan seat hasn't seen much use in weeks. I think my DH puts DS in it when they are home together on Friday, but only for a few minutes. The swing barely moves....not sure if that is because DS is so big or because the batteries are going. But that will likely be packed away soon. I have been putting off moving DS to his Britax. He is probably too big for his infant seat but I just can't seem to make the move to the "big boy seat." The thought of it makes me so sad! And all those teeny clothes--all packed up now. I can't believe how small his "coming home for the hospital" outfit is!

Christmas/Holiday pictures: I ordered my holiday cards from Shutterfly last week. I put DS on our bed one morning in his diaper, gave him his stocking and some ornaments to play with, and took a ton of pictures. I got some great ones and we used three of them for the card. I may take him to see Santa just for fun though.

[kaelynsmom]

I had DD take her xmas pics when she was 4 months old because our photographer was all booked up during november and december. I'm the one in the santa suit!!

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/xmaskaelyn.jpg

[shaqangel]

kaelynsmom i cant see the photo (though it sounds cute!)

putting away stuff also making me so sad...i wish he were still tiny. i've packed away some stuff that i want to have as keepsakes. and the rest i am sending to botswana and keeping some for a friend who is pg now.

christmas pics havent ordered any yet. our photographer came over last night and just shot a few pics for our christmas card. they were very informal. i'm trying to figure out what to do with these and will spend the week-end working on it and then will order them.

here's a few of what i am working with:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q289/veryll/DSC_0066.jpg?t=1164659682

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q289/veryll/DSC_0090.jpg?t=1164659713

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q289/veryll/DSC_0136.jpg?t=1164659734

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q289/veryll/DSC_0146.jpg?t=1164659772

[amurphy]

Cute pictures, Shaq!

[Ryan]

Hi girls !!!!!

I know I have missed so much but I am now back at work and I can chat with your gals...when I was home it was so hard to find time...I must catch up on you all...

I must say packing things up.. so darn sad...so many things still with tags on them.... :(...

Holiday Photos... SO CUTE!!! Amurphy I love the first one! And shaq I love the one w/ the xmas lights... We took our photos this weekend too... when I get them ready I will forward them along.

Amurphy: In Declan's photo (by your name) he is in an infant seat... is that combi? If so do you like it?? We have a combi infant seat and I am not a big fan....

cannot wait to catch up with all of you!

[amurphy]

Hi, Ryan! Nice to see you! It is such a coincidence that you posted today. I just got an email that our Zapp was delivered this afternoon! I can't wait to go home and check it out.

Actually, Declan is sitting in his Chicco Polly highchair in my avatar picture. And we love it. We have the Peg Perego infant seat, which will likely be put in storage shortly, and the Britax Roundabout.

[Ryan]

Amurphy: you are going to love the zapp.. we got ours back in Sept. I am super excitied about it... the only down fall (which I knew about) is the fact it does not have storage underneath....but that is about it. But I will say it rides so nice!!!!

[Niko&Troi]

Brian had his lumbar puncture today. We got to the hosp at 12:15 and we were able to sit with Brian in the lobby for a while. They took him back at 12:30. Nikolas and I stayed in the hosp as long as possible before we had to go due to his needing a nap meltdown. I guess all the emotions of the past few weeks caught up with me, I had a breakdown in the car. I sobbed all the way home.

Brian called me at 2:30 to tell me he was done, they didn't get him in until 2. He said it was the most painful thing he's ever experienced. He wanted to cry but there were residents in there and he wanted to be brave. The tech told him the range for normal fluid pressure is 0 to 20, Brian's was 25. The tech couldn't tell him if that was indicitive of a pseudotumor.

I called my dr's office to talk to the dr covering for my doctor. She wasn't in the office so they are going to contact her and ask her to call me. When I was talking to the nurse, she couldn't give me the results, but it seems that some of the tests from the fluid are already back.

I asked if she received a faxed copy of his records from the neuro optho's office and she said no. Again, they f'd up. I was so upset that when I hung up with her, I called there and spoke to the office mgr up there. I told her everything that has happened to us, day by day with them. From them lying to me twice to being nonchalant about his care. All should could do was apologize. She tried to cover up a few times, but she couldn't cause I called her on it. Like when we called in 2 weeks ago and his vision got worse. We were told by a nurse there that it must have been the dr on call and it was actually the head of their practice. She said, there must have been a miscommunication. I informed her that when we call in, the dr that takes the call gives the info to the office and they call us back. We didn't call them, they called us, so they knew he was the one who called us and she knew who he was so we were lied to. Again all she could do was apologize.

Brian has to now see a neurologist either way, but we decided if he has to see a neuro optho we're going to someone else.

And get this, Jefferson neuro who was supposed to do the puncture this Fri, called to tell us they had to push it off until next Fri. It seems the dr who was going to do it was going to be out. Um hello, you only have one dr doing them? I'm so glad we didn't wait on them.

Anyway, so now I'm waiting to hear back from the dr covering for our primary in regards to the test. I've searched all over the internet but can't find if his pressure is considered a pseudotumor or not. They told him that if it was the pressure causing the problems, then releasing it would help. However, he now has a spinal headache so he can't tell in that aspect and the vision wouldn't clear up for 24-48 hours after so we wait,again.

I'll update as soon as I know more.

[IzzyJune2006]

Thanks for the update Lorraine. I'm glad to see that you have not been reporting that Brian's condition is deteriorating, which is probably the only good thing about the way this is going. Hang in there!

I'll have to post our Holiday card soon. Love seeing the Holiday babies! Keep posting those pictures!

How are you little ones doing? I don't know if it's a girl thing, or simply my girl's thing... she seems to be having more attachement needs nowadays. She often (most of the time) cry when I leave the room. Often times she gets over it quickly but other times she will keep crying and crying. It breaks my heart! She does it even when she is with DH. She seems to do that only for a few people (me, her main daycare teacher, and MIL). I think she would be happiest if always in our arms. (that's just not possible!) Anyway, I think she must be going through a phase. I tend to her needs and follow advices from a book (explain to her where I'm going, talk to her when she cries while I'm "away" yet still in sight).
Anyone else going through this? On the plus side... when I picked her up from daycare the other day, she was crying as I walked in. I went to pick her up and I swear she gave me a hug. It was her first hug! I was so excited. I really want her to learn to give kisses now. :)

Putting away baby stuff
My sister sends me a box of clothes every other months from her daughter who's 6 months older than DD. So I always have way too many clothes and have been putting stuff away regularly now (we have very limited space at the IL's, can't wait to move!). Last week I went through everything, making a box of what I'll be returning to my sister when I visit at Xmas. I get comfort in thinking that those favorite items may be worn again by the next baby in our family.

[kaelynsmom]

Ok...let's try this again.

This was taken when she was 4.5 months old. I'm the one holding her in the santa suit!

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/acardEMAIL1.jpg

Can't believe DS is almost 6 months! Yes, she is very attached. She cries whenever DH and I leave the room. Sometimes I have to sneak away from her when she's distracted by something else...out of sight, out of mind, right?

DD got her ears pierced two weeks ago, but I might remove them since they are a bit uneven. What else....she's taking three 2hour naps during the day and sleeping through the night!!! I will start solids next week after our 6 month WBV.

Milk supply...I've been having issues with this lately. Since AF visited this past month, my supply has been really low. I've always been on the low side, and I supplemented her with formula once a day. But now I find myself supplementing 2-3x per day, and DH cries whenever my let down has finished whenever she breast feeds. Whenever she sees a bottle, she whines as if she wants more! It's a tough issue from me since I don't want to stop breastfeeding yet, because that was my bonding moment with her. I'll just have to keep going until I completely dry out.....SOOOO SAAADDDD!!

Not much time to post since gotta a lot of stuff to do while DH is napping!

[shaqangel]

kaelynsmom thats a really great card! kaelyn is so cute!

ryan so happy you're back!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

what am i doing wrong????
so javan has slept through the night consistently since he was 3.5wks old...he started with 5 hrs and by 7wks old he was up to a full 8hrs and then that went up to 12 for quite a while. well i returned to work when he was 4mths/17wks old and he dipped back down to 9hrs. now he's waking up at least once (or like last night 2x) a night. he seems to be eating fine. but i dont know why he's doing this. i'm beyond exhausted today and so is dh. last night i didnt know this but he was up for an hr from 1am-2am. dh gave him a bottle of EBM and then put him back down. he woke up at 5am, ate and then slept with me and then ate again at 7:15am.
i need help!!! i really want him to get back to his old sleep habits. he has started to fight sleep sometimes and i dont like that cos it frustrates both of us.

any suggestions on what i can try to help improve this situation?

ETA for those of you bf-ing how many ounces of EBM are you giving your babies?

[kmmommy]

shaq ~ My guess is a 6 month growth spurt. M has been doing the same thing.

[amurphy]

Shaq: I agree with Kmmommy. And actually, Declan was doing the same thing right around the time he got his first two teeth. It was so awful being up in the middle of the night after months of SSTN! I'm happy to report that he is back to his normal sleeping schedule! As for EBM, I send three 5 oz. bottles to daycare. He has a morning bottle, a lunch bottle, and a late afternoon bottle. I'm still nursing him when we are together.

kaelynsmom: Beautiful card!

Ryan: Have you put Emily in her Zapp yet? We put Declan in his the other night and he loved it. He was smiling like crazy. I think he likes the new perspective. And DH and I really like it to. It isn't quite as small as we imagined it would be, but it seems very portable and it "drives" great!

Attachment: I hate that my baby gets sad when I leave him, but I love the smiles and hugs (more like face- and hair-grabbing) when I pick him up from daycare. He does whimper when I leave him in a room alone for a second or even when he feels like I'm not paying him enough attention.

[IzzyJune2006]

Well... my baby girl has not yet been consistenly STTN. (I've read that the definition of STTN is 6 continuous hours). It has been due to a variety of factors, runny noses, dry throat, cold nights. She gets the best sleep (and so do we) when co-sleeping. These days she wakes up about twice per night to eat, and she eats a lot (it seems). She has been more consistently now going to sleep early ~8:30, which is a good improvement over the previous 10pm.
It's really tough to get her to sleep consistently because we are living at the IL's and DD doesn't have her own room. I'm hoping that at 9 months when we move into our new house, it won't be too late to sleep train her in her own room.

Shaq, All I have to say is that you are so lucky to have so much sleep! I'm sure this phase will be over before you know it.

We are still breastfeeding (and tasting solids periodically). She gets EBM only at daycare and BF when at home. I feel like she has been pretty steady for a while. Earlier this month I couldn't keep up with her demand and supplemented with formula, but she has leveled off now. So between 7am and 5pm, she gets about 4 bottles of 4oz. She's not feeding on a schedule, so it varies depending on the time of the morning last feeding and the time I pick her up. I would guess that she gets a total around 30oz per day. Her daycare teacher thinks she doesn't eat enough because of the distractions. She LOVES looking around at everything, new or not.

From what I read and the babies that I see, I think it might be hard to compare between boys and girls. There seems to be a big difference in their size and eating.

I'm loooking forward to her 6-month WBV next week to get the peds ok on regular solids feedings.

Any girls get their ears pierced yet?

[Niko&Troi]

Wanted to update in here...

We head from the dr and the fluid from the lumbar puncture did not show anything, thankfully, it could have been very serious. I also want to cautiously report that the meds to lower the fluid may be helping the vision. Brian said the blind spot he's had facing forward seems to be getting smaller. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that we didn't get it too late and everything can go back to normal for him.

He's still in A LOT of pain from the puncture. He can only be upright for about a minute or so and laying down still hurts. He has found some relief in hanging his head over the side of the couch, but then the blood rushes to his head, but he said that's tolerable. He's resting right now.

We called the radiology nurse and asked about the blood patch and she said to just take fluids and rest. I told him if it isn't better later this evening, I'm calling 911 to take him to the ER. I'm hoping it gets better for him though.

So we're keeping our fingers crossed that he's started his recovery and this pain goes away quickly. I'll update as soon as we know more.

[Niko&Troi]

OMG, so right after I posted the last message the neuro optho's office called and the nurse said the dr wanted to speak to Brian. I about died that the dr actually wanted to talk to him.

He confirmed that it is a pseudotumor. We finally have an answer. I can't tell you how happy I am to finally know something. He wants him to stay laying down until he feels better, take his meds and to have me take care of him, like I wasn't doing that before.

So now we can treat him for that and like I posted, hopefully the damage can be reversed.

Of all the websites I've visited, this one has the best and most understandable terminology: PseudoTumors (http://www.nanosweb.org/patient_info/brochures/PseudotumorCerebri.asp)

Let the healing begin...

[steviem]

Lorraine: I am happy to see you finally have an answer. I will continue to think good thoughts for your DH to get well soon.

Shaq: I wish I had suggestions for you with regards to the STTN situation. Unfortunately, my little man has never STTN :( He does go down at 6:30pm each night, and sleeps until 11pm or so. He then wakes up at least 2 other times throughout the night. I've tried keeping him awake longer in the evening, but he gets so tired and fussy and just wants to sleep.

amurphy: Do you like the Chicco highchair? We need to get DS a highchair soon since he's eating solids. I've been feeding him in the papasan chair with a pillow behind him so he sits more upright. We have the Chicco stroller and infant seat and love it! I would assume the Chicco highchair is good as well? On another note, what's the zapp? I probably should know what it is, but I don't :)

This has been a really rough week for us. DH's mom passed away late Tuesday night. It was sudden- a heart attack. She was relatively healthy and onlhy 68 yrs old. So sad...... She had not been feeling well for about a week or so. She started getting aching arms/armpits. She went the doc and he said it was the aching flu. She still wasn't well a week later, so she went back. Again, he said flu. Turns out, it was heart problems. She had major hardening of the arteries and an enlarged heart.

Apparently, heart problems/heart attack symptoms in women do not present the same way they do in men (i.e. tightening of the chest, hard time breathing, shooting pain down the left arm, etc.) In women, you sometimes get aches (back aches, arm aches, etc) and because of this, the symptoms often go undiagnosed as they did in my MIL's case. So ladies, pay attention to your bodies. If only she would have known this, perhaps she would have pushed her doc more to check things out further and not just chalk it up to "the flu." That's all for my public service annoucement.

We've been spending lots of time at FIL's house helping organize the funeral, etc. DS has his first cold, so he isn't feeling very well. I feel bad having him out of the house so much, be we have to to plan the funeral, etc. I've been trying to stick to his schedule as much as possible, but it's still not he same as being home... know what I mean?

Sorry for the LONG post!!!! Hope you are all well.

[maryanne]

so sorry to hear about your mil. my thoughts are with your family.

[shaqangel]

niko&troi glad you guys know whats going on.

steviem so sorry to hear about your MIL. my condolences to you. hope ds gets over his cold soon.

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since most of you seemed to think it was a 6mth growth spurt that ds was going through, we upped his intake of EBM during the day and then when i got home i fed him every 2hrs and we gave him a little cereal too. he did great. went to sleep at 9pm and only woke at 5:30am, ate and went right back to sleep til 7:30am. i hope it keeps up like this. i expect that he might have some off nights cos i do believe he is teething but dh and i both feel much better today.

how you ladies get your babies to go to bed so early? if we put ds down anytime before 9pm he will not sleep for such a long stretch.

[jbenny75]

lorraine I'm so glad you have an answer and I hope that Brian gets well soon.

steviem I'm sorry to hear about your MIL.

sleep We had a short time period where DS slept from 7 pm to 5 am, ate, then went back down until 7-8 am. So that would be STTN, but other than that, he's always been up multiple times a night. Now, some nights we are only up once, but more often it's twice. He has always wanted to go to bed early o