Nov-Dec 2006 Mommies - They're Here, Now What? The First Months.

[tinkerbelljenny]

Franni-Went to the site but there was nothing listed for my area. Ha! Oh, don't you just love your MT? I still haven't got mine yet in the mail but it should be coming soon.

warmer weather-I am getting so sick of this weather. I really am starting to get depression from this yucky weather. We usually take a warm vacation during the weather to help me out, last year we went to Palm Springs during the winter but being very pregnant and having a baby in Dec, we were not able to go anywhere warm. It has been in the 50s but today is only 29. I can't wait to be able to go outside and push the stroller around the block without getting frostbite.

Rosa-So jealous of your 70 degree weather, how nice!

mobox-Yeah for Sam sleeping so much at night! I wish Trever would sleep that long!

ellidew-Cute picture!

Trever turned 2 months on Tuesday! His 2 month appointment got cancelled but got rescheduled for Monday.

[polydactylcat]

mobox - I went through the same exact thing the last couple of weeks before heading back to work (Tuesday was my first day). Anticipating being away is absolute torture, I definitely lost it several times before the actual first day. However, when that first day came, it was not as terrible as it played out in my mind and keeping busy at work helped too. Good luck as you go through this next week.

Speaking of which, DS is doing pretty well in his new schedule at daycare. I guess I say that because when we dropped DD off (she was 2 and verbal by this time) we used to hear her as we walked away and that was really difficult to listen to. Work is going well, and the only difficulty I'm having is pumping and keeping up with my little chow hound. He scarfs down more than I pump in a day so I am literally spending every day I don't work adding a pumping session at night just to have enough for him to eat. There are a lot of things I can't eat right now and I suspect it is contributing to the low supply (in addition to no dairy, soy, and eggs I had to cut out oatmeal because it makes DS throw up chunks).

Rosa - my kid's a poor napper as well. At least they sleep well at night!! I think some kids are just like that - they don't nap well unless they are held/worn but they do fabulously at night. The ladies at daycare are amazed that DS sleeps so well at night because he is a cat napper there. He does seem to do better when he have his little white sound machine going (he is a big fan of the rain) but sometimes even that doesn't help.

I'm waiting for the warmer weather as well, but not holding my breath. It's usually cold through March and still rather chilly through May around here. I love the outdoor swing photo ellidew!

We are going to attempt some professional photos this weeked. Makes me nervous - trying to get both of the kids in a good mood at the same time is going to be a trip!

Franni which BH did you wind up ordering? I haven't ordered one yet because I can't decide what color/pattern I want and keep changing my mind!

[Rancid13]

I’ve mostly been lurking. Seems like every time I come here to catch up w/everyone, someone suddenly needs my attention so I don’t have the chance to post often. ;)

Sleeping~ Still doing good here! DS is going to bed at ~7:30pm, waking up at ~12:30am and ~4:30am to eat and is up for the day btwn 7-8am. I’m forcing myself to go to bed earlier (10-11pm) in order to get a nice stretch of 5-6 hours as DH gets the midnight feeding.

Rice cereal~ Haven’t even thought about it yet. I didn’t think solid-type foods were typically introduced until around 6 months?:confused:

Me time~ On days or evenings when DH is home watching DS, I’ll take off for a few hours and maybe see a movie, or go shopping w/out a baby in tow, get a much needed massage, or even just drive around for a bit and enjoy being solo. It’s been over a week since I’ve been able to do that though, so I’ll have to do that again soon. DH gets to take off once a week to go take pictures of my brother skateboarding, so it works both ways.

Colds~ I had a cold about 6 weeks ago but got over it after a week of sniffling, congestion and a sore throat. DH has been sick this week, but I’ve been forcing him take Tylenol Cold. My boss has been sick for the last 3 weeks. I stay away from him and Lysol the equipment (phones, computer keyboard/mouse, etc) as often as possible so as not to catch it.

AF~ Not yet, knock on wood. DS is almost 12 weeks. Tomorrow will mark exactly 1 year since the first day of my last period, whoohoo!

Husband~ He's been very helpful and takes over the first midnight feeding as he’s still up (he usually goes to bed btwn 1-2am, sometimes later). Also willing to help with anything if I ask or seem overwhelmed (like doing some household chores or taking over diaper changes/feedings for a couple hours so I can rest, etc).

Naps~ I’m still working on daytime nap schedule. His naps are still erratic though…he does have at least 1 morning nap and 1 afternoon nap but they can be anywhere from 20 min to 2 hours so you never know which one it’s going to be, unfortunately. Hopefully they’ll start to get more consistent with time. I’m in the middle of Dr. Weissbluth’s sleep book as well, trying to get some ideas as to how to get DS to nap regularly.

Weather~ Oh, I’m loving the “winter” weather!! Winter is my favorite season. Not that we have a lot of distinction btwn seasons here in SoCal anyways. But it’s nice having 50-60 degree days as opposed to 80+ during the day. And it rained almost all day today, which was delicious!! I love rainy weather. We actually had a couple of 80 degree days last week and I was NOT a happy camper. I had to turn on the A/C to get the indoor temp down b/c it was sweltering.

Catgirl~ I’m so happy to hear that the Zoloft is helping with your PPD, that’s great news!!

Rosa~ I think you’ve gotten lucky with a fantastic sleeper in Grady! That’s awesome! Wanna trade babies for a few weeks so I can catch up on my sleep? ;) Unfortunately Tyler is convinced that he MUST be fed every 4-5 hours during the night so the longest stretch he goes is 5 hours of sleeping, usually in the first leg of the night. Hopefully the ped GI specialist will be of help with Grady’s reflux.

Franni~ DS has always been a super-pooper. I’ve been jealous of people’s whose DC’s poop only every once in a while. Seems like every diaper I change has at least some poop in it. We’re going through wipes like no one’s business these days. I get excited if it’s just a pee diaper, LOL!!

Ellidew~ Cute picture of DS in the swing!!

Mobox~ Sorry to hear you’re bumming about having to return to work.:( Hopefully it will get easier for you as time goes on, as I know it will be difficult at first. Luckily it was a lot easier for me as I considered the days at work as sort of extended breaks from being at home caring for a baby all day every day. But then I’m only working part time, 3 days a week so maybe that had something to do with it. We’ll see how I feel if/when I go to a full time schedule again. With regards to the poop (or lack thereof), I read that there’s quite a wide range of what ‘normal’ is for babies pooping, anywhere from several times a day to once every 5 days. Hopefully everything’s ok with him though. I wish I could have a poop-free day with DS, LOL.

Couple pictures of Tyler...

Smiles
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/rancid13/JenniferPictures094-1.jpg
Baby in Black
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/rancid13/JenniferPictures219.jpg

[ellidew]

Miles rolled over last night!! Here's proof (http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e144/ellidew/Videos/?action=view&current=2007_02e003.flv) :D

Rancid- Adorable pictures of tyler! I thought your description of 'winter' was funny. I'll take 50-60. It's the 20 feels like -7 that really sucks ;)

polydactylcat- good luck with your pictures. Miles got a scratch on his cheek this morning just in time for his pics on Sunday. Hopefully it heals a lot between now and then!

[mobox]

RAncid-Adorable, where did you get the Johnny Cash onesie???

Elli - Love the video!!! Aw man, they grow so fast.

[Franni]

ellidew that is so great. Syd has rolled over a couple of times but it always seems more like a fall in the right direction. Miles is rolling around like a real champ.

Rancid Great shots!

mobox Like the others have said, work (and CC) will distract you. Not to say that you won't have moments when you just want to run home, but it'll be ok.

Me time I am in serious need of this. Since DH and I work alternating shifts, we only really see each other during the weekend. I used to be able to meet up with friends once or twice a month, but now the only "free time" I have is the weekend and that's family time. I am hoping things change soon.

[Franni]

polydactylcat I ordered a used one from the babywearing forum. It has natural (cream) straps with koi batik on one side and flowers on another. They're both batik. You should check out the forum over there for their for sale stuff. They're usually in great condition since these mommas are pros at this and it also minimizes the cost especially if you are just starting out and are not sure if your baby will like it.

[polydactylcat]

oh excellent! thanks for the advice franni - glad to hear that it is working out so wonderfully for both of your kids!

[rosa727]

Rancid: What great pictures! Love that romper - I am a huge Johhny Cash fan! At least Tyler has a reaosnable nighttime schedule, even if the stretches are not that long yet. I don't know how I got so lucky with the nighttime sleep. Grady has been easy in that way since day 1. I am definitely looking forward to going to see the specialist.

ellidew: That's great! So fun that you caught it on video. Poor Grady heaves his body up like he is trying to roll over, but he still hasn't :( But he can do "baby pushups" and does well with tummy time, so I am not too worried.

sleeping: Is it too soon to think this is going to last? We have had a solid week of STTN (9-11 hours). I still cannot believe it and feel more rested than I have since before I got PG. Napping is going better too. We have been rocking him and putting him in his crib. He has stayed down for an hour or more a few times. At least it's a start. The white noise CD set on ocean waves seems to help!

reflux: It was seeming better for a couple days. But he spitting lots today so who knows. But he has been less fussy overall. I keep hoping that maybe he is one of those babies that is not bothered by reflux and this fussiness has been colic. Because colic usually goes away around now but reflux can last a while. Of course, I really do think it is pain and not colic :(

rice cereal: When I supplement, I put a little in the formula or BM. We only do it because it is supposed to help with his spitting up. But he spits up just as much anyway, so I may discontinue it.

vaccinations: Grady just got his first two (late since he was starting new meds at 2 months) and he did very well. He had a very low fever the next day but was actually happier than usual. I was expecting him to be really fussy.

length and weight: Well little Grady is still on the small side (just under 11 pounds, which puts him in the 15th percentile for weight). But he is so much chubbier than he used to be. And he was in the 75th percentile for length. So maybe he will just be a basketball player! Oh, and his head was right at 50%, so I guess he is growing well. The doctor said the height spurt usually comes first and then the weight catches up, so maybe he is going to really pack on the pounds soon!

Oooh - I want to post a recent Grady picture! Just because I am a picture fanatic :)

On Valentine's Day:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a343/rosa727/Grady/IMG_0799crop.jpg

Oh, and how funny is this one? He loves baths but gets so sad when they are over:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a343/rosa727/Grady/IMG_0797.jpg

We call that the "I'm the saddest baby in the WHOLE world!" face ;)

[Rancid13]

Rancid- Adorable pictures of tyler! I thought your description of 'winter' was funny. I'll take 50-60. It's the 20 feels like -7 that really sucks ;)


You saw how I put the word winter in quotation marks? LOL! B/c to most of the country, our Southern California 'winters' are extremely mild. ;)

RAncid-Adorable, where did you get the Johnny Cash onesie???

My BFF said she found it at Hot Topic. :)

[rosa727]

Rancid: I definitely think you are lucky that your weather is so mild year round. We don't get TOO cold in the winter (although much cooler than you) but our summers are ridiculous. It was about 95 every day last summer with humidity in the 90% range. UGH! I'll have to either be at the pool or hiding in the AC this summer. You seem have great weather for playing outside all year. I'm jealous.

[acrane]

Hi everyone! It's so nice to see our babies growing and doing so well! Matthew turned 3 months this week, and here are some notes I jotted down about him:
*Eats 4-5 ounces about every 3 hours, going for a bit longer stretches in between feedings at night
*Has hiccups every single day, at least once
*Wears size 2 Pampers Swaddlers diapers
*Wears 3-6 month clothes, more toward the 6 month size than 3 months
*Still loves to take a bath
*Smiles, laughs and "talks" a lot
*Rolls onto his left side frequently - just a little more oomph and he'll be rolling from back to front
*Has some cradle cap
*Bats at an octopus and loves "talking" to his reflection from a mirror that hangs down from his activity mat
*Has a bald spot on the back of his head and a little flatness, but tummy time is helping
*Lifts his head when on tummy 45 degrees
*Holds his head steady, so he uses the Bumbo seat and little jumper toy (pictured below)
*Adores his big brother - whenever he sees Andrew his face just lights up with the biggest smile
*Doesn't seem bothered by noise, which is great with a very loud older brother

I cut off the top of his head (oops!) but you can see his cute smile:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/acrane/Picture037-2.jpg

Ignore the devil eyes please:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/acrane/Picture039-1.jpg

[ellidew]

aww, acrane. Your ds is adorable! Rosa, i love Gradys face! Miles sad baby face involves pouting his bottom lip out as far as it can possibly go and whimpering. lol. I hope i can get it on camera some day, i don't want to forget it!

Rancid- I knew what you were saying. I just wish i could say the same thing about our winter. Every year when it gets cold dh and i ask each other why we didn't move to Florida years ago before we settled in.

Miles had been teetering from side to side for awhile and then last night he just went for it. He did it 3-4 times and each time he got crabbier and crabbier because it was right before bed time. He's done it several times today. Once they figure it out they just keep doing it... like it's a new game!! So cool that all of our babies are growing and learning. Great idea making a list acrane. I wish i'd done that for each month. Miles is 16 weeks today so depending on how you look at it he's 4 months old. (according to baby centers 4 weeks in a month theory) ;)

[RubberSoul]

I am insanely jealous of the mommies with good sleepers. My DS wants to have a party every night from 1am to 7am. He sleeps great from 8pm to 1am, but after that all hell breaks loose. Oh, how I long for uninterupted sleep...

[Rancid13]

aww, acrane. Your ds is adorable! Rosa, i love Gradys face! Miles sad baby face involves pouting his bottom lip out as far as it can possibly go and whimpering. lol. I hope i can get it on camera some day, i don't want to forget it!

Rancid- I knew what you were saying. I just wish i could say the same thing about our winter. Every year when it gets cold dh and i ask each other why we didn't move to Florida years ago before we settled in.



Congrats on Miles rolling over, btw!! Cute video! Tyler does the lower-lip pout too, but without the whimpering. It's too funny, but we haven't been able to catch it on film yet. He sticks it out so far, everyone thinks it's so cute! I love the weather here...and MUCH less humid than Florida. ;) And we're within an hour drive of the mountains (so I can keep up my snowboarding habit), and 5 miles from the beach. Can't beat that!

[mobox]

Rosa - love the sad face...that's Sam when he gets out of the bath too. But the sad face quickly turns into screaming! He hates getting out.

Acrane - what a cutie! I can't believe he is already to 6 months clothes. And sitting all alone in the bumbo. I can't wait for Sam to do that too.

[rosa727]

acrane: Wow - I am so jealous of your big baby. We have had to WORK to get Grady gaining weight well. He is finally gaining (actually faster than normal) but it takes a while to catch up. He is about the same age as Matthew and he will still be in his 0-3 month clothes for a few more weeks (based on weight anyway). Actually, according to height he outgrew them a while ago - things with feet are not fitting anymore :p

napping: I think Grady may have decided to become a good napper too!! He slept 2.5 hours in his crib once yesterday (and had two other one hour naps). Today he has already taken 2 one hour naps in his crib and is down for another as we speak. With the last one, I just swaddled him and he was fast asleep - no rocking even required! Oh how I hope this lasts! He also slept through from 7:30 PM until 6:40 AM last night - WOO!

fussing: Grady is still fussing, especially around mealtimes. I really want to get this reflux fixed, but I am afraid it is his latest medication (Axid) causing the fussiness. He has only been on it for 2 days, and I really don't think it is helping, so I may just take him off it. A sdide effect is irritability. Who needs that with a baby who has reflux? The poor guy is already dealing with enough! We will keep him on the Prevacid though, at least until we see the specialist.

[acrane]

Sorry if I was confusing in my last post about Matthew's size - I didn't word it very well. He isn't a hulk baby ;) but size 0-3 month clothes don't fit, and things marked size 3 months also don't fit. He's comfortably in size 3-6 months now. His brother was a little chunky monkey at this age too and is now a string bean, so I guess Matthew's just following the same growth pattern. His next WBV is at the end of March (4 months), so it'll be interesting to see how much he weighs and how tall he is.

[AmyE]

I'm still here! Sorry for being AWOL for awhile. Cute pics everyone - don't have time for shoutouts at the moment but I had to drop in to say rubbersoul EXACTLY! Mine don't sleep well at night either. Julia slept from about 9 to 2am last night. Ben slept from about 8 to 10pm, woke up again at 2:30. Then both were up from 2:30 tol 4am, slept for an hour, and were back up at 5am. GAHHH!

Smiley, growing, etc etc, but not good sleepers. We're working on it.

[Teresita]

All the babies are just adorable! I love this age--still new and cuddly, but smiling and more interactive. Finn is so smiley I can't get enough of it! Now, I just need to catch it on camera. Whenever I take out the camera he just stares at it and stops smiling. We seem to have figured out a good treatment for his reflux (the prevacid seems to be doing the trick), and he's like a new baby.

His sleep is fine. He's not STTN, but he does go back to sleep pretty easily after nursing, so I am not complaining. He usually sleeps well during the day although sometimes he will have an off/cranky/no-sleep day. His sleep seems to be organizing a bit. He usually goes down between 7:30 and 8:30 pm. Then will wake between 1 and 3 am to nurse, then sleeps until 6 or 7 am, naps around 9:00am and again around noon and again around 3. The length of his naps varies from day to day. He usually nurses every two hours during the day. He's pretty much out of 0-3 month clothes and into his 3-6 month stuff, so he seems to be growing pretty well. My DD was always so thin that I am a bit surprised to actually have a chubby little baby, but I am lovin' those thigh rolls!

Older Siblings and Regression Are any RO's having issues with their older child regressing? My DD has been talking in complex lengthy sentences since before she turned two, but now (at 2 1/2) she will sometimes just imitate Finn and make grunting baby noises. It is a PITA when I am trying to get her to answer a question. We've tried lots of different ways of encouraging her to "use her words" with little success. I know having a baby brother is a major transition for her, so I am trying to be patient. It is driving my DH nuts. Oh well, hopefully this too shall pass.

I am a bit behind on uploading photos--here's a picture of Finn from a few weeks ago:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/402502995_e0d4b417ca.jpg?v=0

[sandy]

Hi ladies! I'm still here, just having a hard time finding the time to post when I want to.

DS is doing great. He's 11 weeks old now (I think, I'm losing track I'm such a bad mom!) He's 13 lbs 3.5 oz, 24 inches long. He's well into his 3-6 month clothes, wearing a size 2 diaper. For pants he can actuallywear 6-9 months in some brands. It's crazy! We moved him into his own room two nights ago and it's going well. He's not STTN yet but he's getting close. During the day he's still nursing every 2 hours but today he went 3 hours between feedings so we'll see if he's turning the corner on that. I'm trying to get him used to using a bottle since he'll be in daycare in a week. :( I'm not ready for him to leave me yet but I have to go back to work. He's so happy and sweet which makes it harder to go back to work.
http://knottalot.com/Photos/ThirdMonth/preppy21707.jpg
http://knottalot.com/Photos/SecondMonth/2months_21407.jpg

[Franni]

sleep OMG...an amazing thing happened last night, Syd slept for 8 hours straight. It was truly unbelievable. I actually bolted up at 3:30 sort of dazed and then realized that I hadn't heard her at all. I checked in her room and she was still asleep. Of course, like a crazy worrywort mom, I decided to sleep beside her and that woke her up within a few minutes. I felt better when she did, fed her. I was afraid that she wouldn't fall back asleep since 3:00 is within her usual party time. She ate and promptly went back to sleep. WOW. I know one night does not a trend make but I am hoping that I can get something like this nightly

Teresita My first daughter has shown some regression also. I blogged about this recently...

I was hoping that we had escaped the whole jealousy issue with g. She had been very good with s, always wanting to help. She is also very affectionate. However I am beginning to notice little things that might be a precursor to trouble ahead. Last weekend in the midst of play, g took her boppy pillow and put it around my waist. Till now she had always used her boppy as a regular pillow. Since we stopped breastfeeding years ago, I don't think she had a memory of it being used as a nursing tool. This time though she had placed her boppy on my waist and position herself as if to nurse. I know she has seen me do this for s and she had been imitating me, feeding her dolls with bottles or from her "chest". This is the first time that she took the position of baby rather than mommy.

I also noticed that she is starting to imitate s's "speech" which consists largely of grunts and noises.

Today after I had put s to sleep, g took her boppy again and asked to be put to sleep on the couch while she "grunted". I am not sure how to handle this now. I tried going the route of telling her that she is big girl now and s is just a baby. s grunts because she doesn't know how to talk yet, etc, etc. I don't know if that got through to her though.

Anyone out there with any suggestions?

I try to give DD1 as much attention as I can possibly, but its hard because DD2 does require more care.

[mobox]

So we are having poop issues over here. Sam didn't poop from last MONDAY night until this morning. Can you say "freaked out mommy?" Last Thursday I called the pede and the nurse said to basically use a rectal thermometer to massage the rectum and then also to give him one ounce of diluted apple juice before his bottle. I started the that all on Saturday morning because we had to go out and get both.

Has anyone else's DC been on a "poop strike?"

The nurse said if his BM pattern doesn't return than I have to bring him in.

[richards2]

Just wondering if I can join you guys. I gave birth to our second daughter Isabella December 6, 2006. She was 8 weeks early but is doing great now. I have one other daughter named Lilianna who is 18 months old. Life is hectic at our hose right now. We are still trying to get back into our routine.
It is so nice to come here are see that many of you are going through some of the same things we are going through.

acrane: I was wondering if you could tell me where you got the activity seat your son is in in the picture you posted. I am looking for something similar. Also if you could tell me who it is made buy that would help.

[acrane]

Welcome richards2! The activity center is made by Fisher Price and called Take-Along Hop n' Pop. Baybcenter.com has the Hop n' Pop for $29.99 right now - http://store.babycenter.com/product/code/4937.do?scid=SSE:GOO
I just noticed Babycenter has the recommended age as 6 months and up, but that is incorrect. The manual that came with the toy says, "Use only for a child who is able to hold head up unassisted and who is not able to climb out."

sandy - hey you! :)

[Franni]

mobox Both my daughters were rare poopers. DD1 used to go once every 7 days and DD2 used to go every 4-5 days, but recently we had a poopy explosion.

DD1 didn't start going regularly until she was well into solid foods. My ped had told me that UNLESS the baby's belly is hard and that they are showing real discomfort or pain, the poop will come in due time. This is especially true for breastfed babies. I did the thermometer thing and corn syrup. I only resorted to infant suppositories when DD went around 10 days without a bowel movement. Also by then she was on solids so there was a real chance for constipation.

[ellidew]

I was told something similar to Franni. However, ds was in constant pain with constipation and gas. It wasn't until we switched to hypoallergenic formula that he wasn't constipated anymore. Now he goes regularly every morning. Or at least he has for he last week or so.

[rosa727]

I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. I can still remember exactly how I felt taking him home form the hospital - so scared and excited. I felt like the world would never be the same, and it sure hasn't been. I am so proud of how DH and I have done over the past three months. We have had so many challenges, but we have really come together through them, rather than fighting and growing apart. Grady has brought so much joy into our lives - a type of joy that I had never known before. He makes me smile and laugh no matter how hard of a day I am having. But I have also known some of the saddest times because there is nothing sadder than seeing your child in pain or scared. That has been really hard to deal with. I get so excited about what the future holds for Grady. I just cannot wait to really show him the world! But it is also sad to see how fast time goes. I just want to hold on to every second. As my mom always tells me "these are the days". The ups and downs, happy and sad, scary and calm moments - I would do it all over a million times just to have my Grady.

And a photo from the weekend (it's a little blurry, but I just love it anyway):

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a343/rosa727/Grady/IMG_0828.jpg

[Teresita]

richards2 Welcome, and belated congratulations to you on the birth of your daughter!

Sandy Your DS is adorable! Good luck with the transition back to work...I'm sure it will probably be harder on you than on him. But, it should get easier with time.

Mobox My DS has been on poop strike too. I think it's been at least a few days. For his first several weeks almost every diaper was poopy. Then he went down to twice a day and then one a day, and now this. I've ready that this can be normal, but I am still a little worried. Seeing those poops made me feel sure that he was getting plenty to eat, but now I am getting worried about my supply. DD always pooped several times a day until she was a year or so, so this is weird for me. Anyway, I would think that if it were constipation they would show signs of strain and discomfort. It's probably all fine, but I will be psyched when I finally see a poopy diaper again. Ok, that last sentence makes me realize I have totally lost my mind!:p

Franni Sounds like our DD's are going through similar issues with regression. My DD is also very sweet and affectionate with DS and always wants to help, but then I know at the same time she is probably yearning for more one-on-one time with me. That's interesting that your DD seems to remember nursing. I nursed DD til she was 19 months, but she has shown no interest at all in being nursed again. I've tried a variety of approaches. I've done the "you are a big girl and have lots of words, you don't need to make baby noises," I have tried just ignoring it and talking to her in a normal tone, and I have tried making light of it and laughing and making silly guesses at what the noises might mean. Anyway, nothing I have tried has worked since she is still doing it a lot.

Rosa Happy three months to Grady! He is such a cutie...I love the overalls. :)

[rosa727]

Teresita: Thanks! Are you still having good luck with the Prevacid? We are having some luck, but I think a higher dose would be better for him. How much is your DS on?

[bluebunny]

What adorable babies!! :) I can't believe how fast they're growing!

DD had her two-month check-up on Monday. She is 13 pounds and 23 inches!! :eek: I can't believe it!

She is sleeping okay; some nights she wakes to eat 3-4 times and some nights less. Honestly, I don't keep track. We co-sleep and it's just easier to nurse and go back to sleep. :rolleyes:

Reflux This has gotten SO much better. In fact, I took DD off her meds and she's doing fine. She still spits up a lot and needs to be burped quite often. I'm so relieved that it has somewhat resolved.

Older sibling No issues with DS. He's been a great big brother. He loves to give her kisses. The only time he really gets jealous is if I have to nurse her around his bedtime because he wants me to read books and do his bedtime routine. Most nights, I am able to nurse her first and then do the routine but there have been a few nights where she is screaming to eat and he has to wait. :( It is so hard to feel like I'm choosing her over him.

Bottles DD has been refusing the bottle since I returned to work four weeks ago. What do I do? I guess we'll keep trying different nipples. Ugh. My son refused the bottle and became an all-night nurser. I just don't think I can do it again.

[mobox]

That really is a cool saucer. I like that it folds up and is good for travel. Have to buy it I think.

Poop strike...well, he finally pooped after 7 days on Monday morning. Now he hasn't pooped since. I did take him in yesterday and the ped did a thorough exam and said he was fine and only worry if the poop comes out hard, bloody, mucousy, pebbly, or the like. We'll see how long he goes this time, but basically he seems ok...still eating like a champ with tons of wet diapers and also still smiling and having fun. In fact, he has way more urine now. Maybe his system is digesting the BM as urine and not as much as poop....just a thought.

Tomorrow is my first day back at work and I'm a WRECK tonight. It doesn't help that DH doesn't seem to get how upset I am. I don't even want to talk about it here because I'm starting to tear up. This sucks....I'm sure I'll get use to it in due time but I don't want to leave him.

[katmg]

mo - I hope your day today is going okay. This is certainly harder on you than it is on Samuel. <<Hugs!>>

I love the photos everyone has shared! Here's Charlotte yesterday at almost 8 weeks after her bath - she's supporting Momma's alma mater! Too bad Daddy went to our big rival school. :p He wasn't too excited to see her wearing burnt orange.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n33/katgalpin/Charlotte/Charlotte022807018.jpg

[ellidew]

mobox- It totally sucks! I hope your day today is better than last night. I cried for 2-3 hours the night before but the following morning i was better. Still not great but not sobbing like a crazy woman. Probably because i was so busy trying to get me and the baby ready and out the door on time. Just take it one day at a time... it's okay to be upset. Men generally don't understand.

Oh, Charlotte is so cute in her burnt orange! I just love those chubby little cheeks!

[sandy]

katmg Where did you get that Longhorn onsie? I was down in Austin at the Co-op a few weeks ago and didn't see a burnt orange one. DS MUST have one since my hubby is an aggie.

[mobox]

mobox- It totally sucks! I hope your day today is better than last night. I cried for 2-3 hours the night before but the following morning i was better. Still not great but not sobbing like a crazy woman. Probably because i was so busy trying to get me and the baby ready and out the door on time. Just take it one day at a time... it's okay to be upset. Men generally don't understand.

Basically this is exactly what happened. Last night I was miserable but this morning I just set my mind to getting everythign ready and enjoying my time feeding and dressing DS. DH picked him up and then when I got home I took him and burped him and he just started smiling away at me. So, it was a better day than I expected but I missed him like CRAZY.

[fms]

It's been too long since I was able to check-in. I started back to work and have made it through two full weeks. I'm not working full days yet b/c my DS is refusing the bottle at daycare (he eats about an ounce or so in the 4-5 hours that he's there) and I'm afraid he's going hungry. We sent different bottles with him today so, we'll see how he does(he doesn't drink from a bottle at home so, I need to start working on giving him one in lieu of the boob.) The upside is that I'm able to pump enough at work every morning to send him to day care with more milk than he can drink in the event that he does take his bottle. He's nursing every 2-3 hours from 1pm-8pm, once at 2am, and then at 6:30am, he poops like champ and he's growing like a weed so, I think he's ok with the bottle "snack." Hopefully, this will resolve itself in the near future. Brendon's daddy drops him off and I pick him up. I love this arrangement b/c the boys get bonding time and I am able to get into work early.

Rosa...your post made me tear up. It's almost impossible to describe to anyone how much a baby will change your life for the better. I'm so thankful for our happy/healthy baby and his effect on our relaionship. As a Mom, you end up doing so much for the baby (especially when you are BF) and I can say that I truly appreciate the little things my DH does to help out. I love watching my "boys" together.

Anyone have a front load washer? We got a new one yesterday and I'm wondering if there are any he detergents out there for the baby. BTW, my husband sat with a flashlight and watched a load wash...he's an engineer as and was impressed by the science behind the machine.

FYI...Comcast OnDemand has several baby shows under the "Kids" section. I have the *darn* eebee baby song stuck in my head. For those of us who can't remeber the words to nursery rhymes, the baby genius shows are fantastic to sing along to.

Have a great weekend everyone!

[katmg]

katmg Where did you get that Longhorn onsie? I was down in Austin at the Co-op a few weeks ago and didn't see a burnt orange one. DS MUST have one since my hubby is an aggie.

It was a gift from a coworker - she said she got it at the co-op. Aha! Here's a link to their online store - looks like they only have it in a couple of sizes...UT onesie (http://www.universitycoop.com/ePOS/this_category=597&store=108&item_number=380710&form=shared3/gm/detail.html&design=coop3)


Mo - Glad it was better than expected!

[Teresita]

Rosa Yes, the prevacid is working well. Finn takes 2.6 ml (we have the suspended form, 3mg/ml) twice daily. Although he hates the taste and tends to spit out quite a bit, so I am not sure how much of it he is actually ingesting! That dosage was prescribed over a month ago—at that time he was 13lbs 2 oz. On Monday we see the GI doctor again, and Finn will likely be weighed and have his dosage increased.

Bluebunny Way to go on DD’st weight gain! I hope she takes a bottle for you. My niece also never took a bottle and my SIL worked. Funny how stubborn they can be sometimes!

Katmg How precious—those cheeks are to die for! My DH and I have a rivalry as well—I am from Boston and a diehard Sox fan while he is from NY and a Yankees fan. We made an agreement prior to having kids that we wouldn’t purchase team gear for the kids since I think I would be disowned by my family if DD or DS were wearing Yankees gear. But, we never said anything about gifts, and so a good friend of mine keeps my kids well-stocked with Sox gear. DS even has a homemade Red Sox quilt from my friend’s mom. Drives DH nuts!:p

Mobox Glad to hear that things went better than expected.

FMS Sounds like your transition back to work is going so smoothly—that’s great!


I cannot believe my little baby boy is going to be three months on Monday! The time has just flown by…I think I am getting even more sentimental than with DD because he will probably be my last baby. He is so much fun and such a sweet, happy little guy. He loves to hang out on his gymini and bat at the toys we have hanging, loves to stare at his big sister (she gets right up in his face, so he really has no option!), and cannot get enough of his hair dryer CD. He also loves to “talk”—I swear it’s like we are having a conversation—he makes so many different sounds and has such cute inflections and intonations. One of his favorite noises that he makes sounds like he is saying “Hi”!:)

[katmg]

He also loves to “talk”—I swear it’s like we are having a conversation—he makes so many different sounds and has such cute inflections and intonations. One of his favorite noises that he makes sounds like he is saying “Hi”!:)

DD does this too! I love the talking - she especially tries to talk when my mom and I are together. Must be our two higher pitched voices that get her so excited. Also, one of her cries sounds like she's saying "Mama" - breaks my heart when I hear it!

[rosa727]

Teresita: SO happy to hear the Prevacid is working for you! I think it is FINALLY working for Grady too - he is so much happier. But we are still giving Maalox occasionally when he is obviously uncomfortable. It works like a charm - he is usually smiling in about 5 minutes. So did DS go off the Reglan? I took Grady off it because it scared me. We are going to a GI specialist too, and I hope he will up the dose of Prevacid because, while I think it works pretty well, I still see where he has "break-through" pain. I would like to eliminate that. He is only on 10mg/day, and he weighs about 11.5 pounds (pretty small for 3 months)!

katmg: CUTE photo!! Look at those cheeks!

fms: I agree that it is so much fun to see baby and daddy together! I feel so lucky that my DH is so involved. In fact, he's the one that puts him to bed each night! Since DS sleeps so well, we joke that DH is the "Baby Whisperer" :)

sleep: Grady has kept on his 7:30PM-6:30AM STTN schedule! He has been doing this for about 2.5 weeks, so I think it is safe to say that he will stick with it (until teething messes it up!). He also naps pretty well in his crib now, but only for 1 hour intervals. He usually takes 3-4 naps per day. It sure is nice to get some things done during those times!

[mobox]

Washers- I have a front load washer and I use METHOD BABY laundry detergent. I get it at Target.

[rosa727]

Just wanted to post my favorite professional photo from the ones we had done at 8 weeks. We finally got them. The quality is not great since it was scanned.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a343/rosa727/Grady/professionalphoto.jpg


nap question: I have been getting Grady to nap in his crib for about 4 one hour naps per day. But every time I start to put him down for a nap (by swaddling and rocking) he cries for a few minutes first. I don't think we are waiting too long, as we usually start the process as soon as he is no longer smiley when we are playing. I was just wondering, is anyone else dealing with this? Is it normal? I am OK with the fact that we need to rock him to sleep (for now) since he is still so little, but I feel bad that he gets so upset. Am I doing something wrong?

[Lizzie Beth]

Hey, FMS and MOBOX, we just got a front-loader, too, and we're still using Dreft. Will this kill the machine?

Regression Susannah is still doing pretty good - she's given up the binky regression, and only asks for the bottle occasionally. But every baby contraption (swing, exersaucer, etc.) she just HAS to try out. So far, nothing has collapsed under her 32 lbs. :rolleyes: But I'm really conscious that, at age 2, she's still "the baby", too.. That's what we called her up until Katie arrived, and we'd still be calling her that full-time if we didn't have Katie. And just before I had Katie, I was walking through the parking lot in front of Babies R Us, and there was a little girl screaming "But I'M THE BABY!!!!" and wailing at the top of her lungs to her parents. So DH calls Susannah "my big girl" and I call her "my baby Sannah" (Sannah is the nickname she gave herself) And I'm pretty indulgent with her whenever she regresses.

So far indulging her seems to help her get over it, she's great with Katie - always tucking a toy in next to Katie when she's in the swing. She even learned to press the reset button when the mobile above the swing shuts off. I am very impressed, Susannah LOVES that swing and I know she'd very much like to be back in it herself. But I drew the line at that, she tries every now and then to climb up into it and I'm afraid she'll hurt herself.

[roberta]

I am here and reading along.
rosaWe have the same fussing and crying at sleepytime too. It almost like he is having trouble settling down. But I know he is tired and he closes his eyes as soon as he gets in the swaddle with a binkie.

[civats]

Hello, All. I have some Nestle Good Start checks I will not be using. Send me a private message if you are interested. I can mail them to you tomorrow.

[sunshine0928]

mobox and fms - I am glad to hear that you did ok with going back to work. I go back in 2 weeks and I am a bit sad. Although, I keep telling myself that I will be a better mom if I am a working mom. I do need to go back for the $$ so I really don't have a choice at this point so I am really just going to enjoy my last 2 weeks home. Quite a few people have told me that the anticipation of going back to work is worse than than actually going back to work. I took Grace to vist my work last week so that made it more real. I know I'll be very busy when I get back so at leats I won't have much time to dwell upon it.

rosa - cute pic! We have our pics back from teh photographer, too, now I just need ot decide where to put them all.

sleep - we're doing well at night. Usually, at least 6 hours at a time but she slept I think from about 9:00 til 7:00 on Sat morning :). Grace naps a lot during the day but not in her crib. On other nice thing is she outgrew the smallest swaddle blanket so we tried doing without at night and she is doing just fine without it! It's funny because now she sleeps with her arms extended above her head or far out to the side.

[mayham]

Hi everyone! I have so much to catch up on, but I wanted to stop in and say hello.

sunshine0928 - I've been back at work for a month and things are going well. For me, the anticipation of that first day back and leaving dd at daycare, was the worst of it. My first day back/dd's first day at daycare was actually fine, and not nearly as traumatizing as I thought it would be. Enjoy your last two weeks! I started worrying my last month at home. But then realized that no matter what I thought about, I still had to go back to work, and dd was going to start daycare, so I just stopped thinking about it, and enjoyed my last few weeks at home. DD actually loves daycare, and even though she's so young, she likes to watch the other babies and "talk".

[ellidew]

Hi ladies! How is everyone? Things on our end are touch and go but WAY better than they were a few weeks ago. :) Here is a picture of Miles from over the weekend. He has a silly look on his face but i still think he's the cutest. ;) It's him in his very first baseball cap. He turned 4 months old last Saturday! ACK!

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e144/ellidew/milesgap.jpg

sunshine- I think the anticipation is worse than the actual event too. I've been back for 2 months now and it's not so bad anymore. I still wish i could spend my days with him but it's not unbearable like i thought it was going to be leading up to coming back. The first week was hard and then it got easier. Now we're in our routine and things are running like clockwork. Miles like daycare too and like mayham said he's too young to interact too much but he plays the cicuit, swing, exersaucer, boppy pillow, etc... He seems to like the commotion and noise.

Naptime: Miles kind of fusses at nap time too. We've found he actually prefers to be put in his crib to squirm and moan and he falls asleep within a couple of minutes. It's kind of sad that he doesn't want to cuddle and be rocked to sleep but it's better for everyone and i'm glad he figured it out on his own. Stupid catch 22's!

Adorable picture of Grady, rosa! We should have our pro pics back this week or next. I can't wait!! How did the ped gi go?

I cannot believe my little baby boy is going to be three months on Monday!

Tell me about it! Miles turned 4 months old on Saturday 3/3. Where the heck did the time go?

Milestones: It's so much fun watching Miles grow and learn. A few of his new favorite things are holding his toys with both hands and putting them in his mouth, throwing his toys off of his high chair, laughing, talking and trying to repeat sounds, rolling over from his tummy to his back, and he has sat by himself a couple of times for a short amount of time (15 seconds or so - with our hands within catching distance of course). His head is perfectly steady and he spends a lot of his time standing on our laps. He's also taken to putting himself to sleep without being rocked which is great!

ETA: AF: Af was due to arrive yesterday... I'm on bcp and I have had a period on time the last 2 months... actually both months i started 2 days before the last pill before it's due to arrive. Well, it was due yesterday and it's still not here. I don't know why i'm worried but i am. Send some af vibes my way!!

[sunshine0928]

mayham & ellidew - Thanks for your words of encouragement...you both did make me feel better! I am definitely going to enjoy my last 2 weeks at home. The funny thing is Grace is not going to daycare right away b/c we are still on the waiting list. This is after being on the "list" since about June! If I had any desire, I would open a higher end daycare in our neighborhood. There just are not many daycare options in our neighborhood or surrounding neighborhoods. So, we had to come up with a back up plan until we move up the list. So, my DH is staying home 2 weeks, my mom will do the next 2 weeks, then my boss' mom will do the next 7 weeks until my mom (a teacher) is out for the summer. At least this will be a good transition for me going back to work. I still can't believe the whole waiting list deal!! There are a few other daycare options, just not that I liked.

ellidew - sending AF vibes to ya!!

[katnbug]

Just a quick "hi"! I am trying to catch up. We haven't had our computer hooked up for over 2 weeks!!! We got new carpet and painted and DH took his sweet time getting all of the electronics hooked up - so I'm going to try to catch up if DD will ever nap for more than 15 minutes at a time.

On a non-baby note - we have skunks!!!! Living under our front stoop. When they spray it gets into our whole vent-system. Nice, huh? I called a "humane" wildlife place to set a trap and we've now caught 3 skunks over the past 2 weeks. UGH. My bil had skunks under his front porch a few years ago and they ended up catching 8!!! I sure hope we don't have that many.
***************

milestones- DD is still teething like a madwoman. Chews on EVERYTHING and soaks her clothes with drool. I think this is causing her to wake up from naps. On the good side - she is smiling and even giggles a little when she and I have a "conversation" of goos and gahs back and forth. She also loves to stand on our laps and sit up with our help. We got her a Bumbo seat for sitting, but she doesn't like it. She'd rather sit on the floor.
She's doing well with "food". Didn't like the rice cereal too much but seems to like oatmeal.

Gotta go... DD is awake from her nap... go figure.

[sandy]

I started back at work today and it was hard to leave DS at daycare but once I got to work, it was a lot easier. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed my job and being around adults! I did go see him during my lunch break and that didn't go so well. I was a bawling mess. I think mostly because I had been looking forward to going and nursing him during lunch, but i was a little late and daycare had already given him a bottle. I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day!

sunshine Please don't be discouraged by my experience returning to work. It turns out I'm a bigger sap than I thought I'd ever be! ;)

rosa Grady's picture is adorable!

katnbug OMG! Skunks!? I hope they catch them all!

[AmyE]

sunshine - I've been back at work for about a month, and it's not sooo bad. 9Easier this time than with DS1, actually, but that's because DS1 survived daycare just fine so I know it will work out. I cried the day I dropped him off, but also the day I took him out of that daycare when we moved because he loved it so much and just thrived there.

katnbug - good luck skunk-hunting! ugh. I don't envy you on the teething, although the sooner they come in, the sooner you'll be done with it.


ellidew and rosa - cute pictures! Look how big they are! And rosa - I think sometimes babies just need to let off a little bit of steam before they fall asleep. If it's only a minute or two, I wouldn't worry.

I've already posted this in a couple of threads, but thought I might as well vent here too: just in the last two days I've managed to get food poisoning, give my MIL - who I really like and is here to help with the twins! - food poisoning, blow out the transformer on my breastpump (now on the battery pack or manual until the replacement can get here), found termites in my closet, send my boss the completely wrong information on something that is super important to her, and oh yes, DH is on a business trip so I've had twin duty all night the last two nights, and Julia choose to wake up every hour from 12 to 5am the first night. At 2am my toddler crawled into bed with me, just as Julia started crying again. He's usually clingy at night, but we just lay there listening to her on the monitor then I told him "that baby needs her cork." He just nodded and blinked at me, and didn't complain when I got out of bed to settle her. (It was very cute, in retrospect.) Better last night - they were up til 10pm, then from 1-2:30, then up at 6am. So I got some sleep.

DH is back tonight, and I've already told him he's the duty officer all night. I intend to make myself an amaretto on the rocks at 8pm and go to bed, then pretend the last two days never ever happened...:rolleyes:

[mayham]

AmyE - :eek: Yikes! Sorry things have been so tough for you! I hope you're feeling better from the food poisoning, and that your DH can take over so you can rest tonight!

sandy - I'm glad things were okay going back to work for you. Sorry about the lunchtime visit and not being able to nurse. I hate it when that happens :( I went to pick up dd yesterday at my parents, and my dad had just heated a bottle 10 minutes earlier that she didn't end up taking. So I did get to nurse her, but then I was sad about the wasted bottle!

katnbug - I hope you catch all of the skunks! My dh was once sprayed in our backyard, and let me tell ya, it is no fun at all.

Washers- I have a front load washer and I use METHOD BABY laundry detergent. I get it at Target.
Ditto. I like the Method a lot, it smells great, and is a HE detergent.

sunshine0928 - That is definitely a great transition to have DH and your family care for your DS until the daycare spot is open. By then it'll be easier to send her to daycare, since she'll be much older!

ellidew - Miles seems very advanced! Sending AF vibes your way!

[katnbug]

just in the last two days I've managed to get food poisoning, give my MIL - who I really like and is here to help with the twins! - food poisoning, blow out the transformer on my breastpump (now on the battery pack or manual until the replacement can get here), found termites in my closet, send my boss the completely wrong information on something that is super important to her, and oh yes, DH is on a business trip so I've had twin duty all night the last two nights, and Julia choose to wake up every hour from 12 to 5am the first night.

Oh my! That's not a good 48 hours... want to borrow a couple of stinky skunks to top it all off?? ;) Good thing your DH is coming home today!

skunk update- Yesterday they filled the area the skunks dug out with dirt to see if there were any more down there. Lucky me - something removed all of the new dirt last night, so we can assume there's still more! Lovely.

[rosa727]

AmyE: Thanks! As for the napping, it is usually only about 2 minutes of crying (it feels like longer, but I often time it!). I think he hates being swaddled, although he does fine with it at night (falls right asleep). And I can't really stop swaddling him yet, because he won't really go to sleep without it. Oh well, guess he will have to "cry it out" in my arms for now!

sandy: Thanks! I really liked the photographer - it was just the style I wanted. I think I will go back to him for 6 month photos too.

ellidew: Miles is freaking adorable! What a little dude :) We don't see the pediatric GI until March 24. It would have been shorter, but his office is over an hour away (in another city). But on that date he is going to be in my city at another doctor's office, seeing patients. So that will be better. I really have high hopes because I have heard GREAT things about him. He has been recommended on several reflux chat boards.

It sounds like Miles is really doing well with his development! Sitting already!? That's great :)

sunshine: Thank you! We got lots of great ones, and we are currently in the process of framing and hanging the ones we bought too. I swear, our house is going to be covered in Grady's pictures before long. That waiting list situation is crazy! I have never heard of anything like that! Must be a great place though. And it's good that you have a plan for the interim.

************************************************** ********

weight: Well we went to the doctor and Grady is up to 11 pounds, 4 ounces. It was almost an ounce per day gain since his last visit, so that's great! He is still small, but gaining in the percentiles. Considering how much the poor baby spits up I am surprised he gains anything :( If we can get the spitting down he should really pack on the pounds! He is very long though so he is still starting to need his 3-6 month clothes.

sleep: It's still great at night (it is so funny how predictable he has become - STTN 7:30-6:30 almost every night). But his naps are a different story! He fights me every step of the way!

milestones: OK, I have to admit, I really didn't want to be one of those mothers that stresses about this, but it is bothering me that Grady has not rolled over yet! He has come to hate tummy time recently (he used to love it), so he doesn't spend much time that way. Therefore, he has not yet rolled from front to back. But he loves being on his back now - pulls his knees up to his chest, kicks, and waves his arms around. He keeps trying to roll from back to front - he'll probably do that first!

As for other milestones, he is doing great - cooing tons (even consonant sounds), laughing, squealing, smiling like crazy. He also grabs with both hands and loves to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. And he sits really well in his Bumbo seat. He loves when I pull him up from laying to sitting too - he holds his head steady when I do it. Also, the boy loves books. He will listen and pay attention through as many books as I want to read to him. He loves them so much he even holds them :) I never knew a 3 month old could hold a book!

[ellidew]

So, still no af… ACK! I’m considering poas just to get my mind off of it. I want more kids but I was thinking maybe 1.5-2 years from now if you kwim! Dh keeps saying it’s just delayed NOT late ;) lol.

Took Miles to the ped this morning for his 4mwbv and all checked out fine. He had a couple of vacs but took em like a trooper. I think he was more upset that they woke him up from his nap than anything! Once i picked him up and gave him his pacifier back he was fine again. I haven't heard from the school and i told everyone there to call me if he's fussy so i can bring them Tylenol. I gave him some before i left the school this morning. When i took him to school after the ped i stayed and gave him a bottle and changed him and put him in his crib before i left. It was nice to have that little extra time with him this morning since we're usually rushing. I miss those days at home.

He weighs 15 lbs 6 ozs and he is 24.5 inches long. He's nearly doubled his weight (15lbs 10ozs is double) which is right on the money for 4 months. This is despite him adding an additional 24 ozs of formula per day over the last 2 weeks. We've been giving him more because he's screaming again like he was before medication for acid reflux and after all the usual tactics fail we give him a bottle. This is the reason we are headed to the ped gi on Friday. Hopefully something gets changed around then. He's only gained 6 ozs over the last 2 weeks since he was last at the doctors office which totally surprised me because of the ENORMOUS amount of formula he's eating! Leads me to believe he really does just need something more so introducing rice cereal might be the answer but i'm going to wait to talk to the ped gi.

Sunshine- I hear ya on daycare options. We only needed part time care b/c my mil watches ds 2 days a week and I don’t work on Fridays and finding part time daycare is really hard. Finding part time daycare at a center you trust is even harder! It’s wonderful that you have so much help and don’t have to put your ds into a daycare. They have their pros and cons but I’d be happier leaving him with people I know and fully trust! Enjoy your 2 weeks.

Katnbug – Skunks? That just stinks :D pun intended. Lol. Yeah, so I’m not a professional comedian or anything ;) I hope you get them all cleared out soon! Miles chews on everything and drools all over everything too. The doctor commented on it this morning because everytime she tried to move him around he tried to eat her hand! Lol. Miles doesn’t like his bumbo seat either. Dh and I think it’s because he sits so well on his own (with our help of course except for the few times we’ve steadied him and let go.) that he doesn’t like the restriction of the seat. Our ped said we can try rice cereal but we’re trying to decide whether or not we should prior to his Friday ped GI visit. I’m leaning towards waiting and talking to the ped gi about it. I’m eager to start food and not at the same time! Lol.

Sandy- So sorry you had to leave dc at work but SO GLAD that you got back and enjoyed being there. That makes all the difference in the world. I hope you get the chance to nurse him tomorrow. It gets easier… man, I hated when people told me that and now I’m one of them! I hope the rest of the week goes easier.

Amy- Oh you poor thing! As if you didn’t have your hands full enough. I don’t blame you for making dh the duty officer all night. You need a break! I hope things get better for you!

Mayham- Miles has always been strong. His head control has always been top notch. I just hope he has brains to go with that brawn ;)

Rosa: Miles didn't roll over until he was 16 weeks old. He wasn't particularly fond of tummy time leading up to that point either. He just sort of did it one day out of the blue. It i hadn't been watching him do it i swear i would've just thought i put him on the floor on his back! He still hasn't made it from back to stomach though he's giving it his all! His arms always get in the way. lol. Has Grady started turning the pages in the book yet? Miles started reaching up and flipping the pages... usually in the wrong direction. I know he's not actually turning the pages but rather just grabbing and moving but it's so cute when he reaches up and turns the page (rather the board... i don't think he'd be able to grip a page but those board books rock!)

Sitting: Just want to clarify that we actually steady him and then let go. He's only holds the position for a few seconds. 15 tops! He'd just assume lean forward and play with his feet! lol.

[katnbug]

Rosa- DD will be 5 months on the 13th and still doesn't really roll over. We don't do a ton of "tummy time" though... I'm really slacking in that department. I'm not too worried - she is really strong - so I think it's just a lack of opportunity in our case. It sounds like Grady is doing great other than the rolling though! Try not to worry too much just yet!!!

ellidew- The "food" stage is fun and not so fun at the same time. DD is not as good at eating the cereal as her brother was. Most of the cereal ends up on her bib. I'm eager to try the fruits though... babies seem to love the sweetness of the bananas and applesauce. Barley just isn't as appealing.. unless it's in beer!! ;) And I thought the cereal at night was making DD sleep better, but the past few nights have proven that theory is wrong. I've had to add a late night bottle to the mix just to get her to go to sleep - and then she's been waking up around 3:30am anyways. :(

frustrated with clothing sizes- Can we just get manufacturers to make their clothing true-to-size?? I swear, DD is wearing everything from 3 to 9 months right now! I find a cute outfit in her closet that she hasn't worn yet, and it's already too small. I know DD is tall, but come on. I got some nice 6 month Ralph Lauren onesies that were hand-me-downs and she no longer fits in them. Yet there are other things that she's still in 3 months!!! Frustrating.

...no skunk in the trap this morning :)

[rosa727]

rolling over How funny is it that just yesterday I posted that I was worried because Grady had not rolled over and then today he just goes and does it out of the blue? I was doing tummy time with him (trying to be better about doing it at least once a day) and he just did it!! Then he did it twice more. I even got it on video :) He also rolled from his back onto his side, which is good. I'm sure he won't roll all the way over that way for a while, but he is starting!

infant massage: We have an infant massage class tonight. I hate that it is after Grady's betime, but I think it will be a good thing to do. Does anyone else use massage regularly? Do you find it calms your baby? I hope he likes it!

ellidew: That's great that Miles's weight is right on!! I know Grady's weight will definitely not be double his birthweight by 4 months. I cannot believe how much Miles is eating now - WOW! Good luck at the specialist - maybe he can help you figure out why he needs so much food.

Yeah, Grady "turns" the pages too! It's funny because it looks like he is trying to go back to see the last page again. He always turns them the wrong way too :)

I hope you see AF soon!!! 2 kids within a year of each other would be CRAZY!

katnbug: I agree about the "lack of opportunity" thing. Since Grady doesn't like tummy time anymore, I have been slacking on it too. But I guess my new goal of giving it to him once a day worked!

I hear you on the clothes. A lot of Grady's 0-3 month stuff was getting too small, so I pulled out his 3-6 month stuff and a bunch of it is only going to fit for a couple weeks. He's tall too, so I guess that's the issue. I also hate how different manufacturers do the sizes differently. Like Carters puts "6 months" when they mean "3-6". And Polo does the same. In fact, he is wearing a "3 month" Polo outfit today that no longer really fits :(

[RubberSoul]

I haven't had time to post much, but I have been reading along when I get a free minute (usually while pumping at work).

I have loved all the pictures of the babies - everyone has such cute kids!

Ian had his 4mwbv yesterday. He is 13lbs, 4ozs and 24 1/4 inches long. He is getting so big! Poor guy got 4 more shots, but we decided to skip the RotaTeq. He had a fever last night, but DH says he is in good spirits today.

I still need to post one his 3 month pro pics, but never seem to have time to get on the computer at home.

I have no down time during the week. When I get home from work I take over care of DS and he still will not sleep in his crib. So, after I get him to sleep I hold him until I go up to bed since he sleeps with me. He won't sleep by himself at all. The one thing saving my sanity at this point is my Yoga class on Sunday evenings. If I didn't have those few hours to myself every week I would probably be in the loony bin.

Must get back to work :(...play time is so short these days...

[mobox]

Things are good here...Samuel had his 3 month WBV on Monday. Here are the little man's stats:

23.5 inches (up 3 inches from birth)
11 pounds, 11 ounces (up 5lb, 1ou from birth)
Smiles, coos, reaches for toys, holds himself up on elbows.

The pede said the next stages of development will be high pitched shrieks, laughing, holding himself up on hands (like a yoga cobra), reaching and being able to grab toys in front of him (rattle, etc) and hang on to them, possibly sitting with head erect, possibly rolling from front to back.

He got his second phase of shots. He was quite a trooper! He cried for like a second and when I picked him up he stopped.

He's still developing this odd pooping schedule. He went 7 days, then 3 days, and then 5 days. It's odd to me but the dr said that with BF babies, the time inbetween can go up to 10-12 days and still be ok. She said his stomach felt good and it didn't seem like he was constipated at all. Right now he gets 3 BM bottles, 1 formula bottle and 1 mixed bottle. I'm hoping that the constipation doesn't get worse as I introduce more formula.

So, here is a cute pic of my rock star.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/412784824_ec3beeba21.jpg?v=0

**********
Amy - So sorry about your run of bad luck. Hope all is better with you now or well on it's way at least.

Rubbersoul - You poor thing, you sound exhausted. Good luck with transitioning him soon (if that's what you want).

OK<I'm off to brave the LA traffic and go home.

[rosa727]

mobox: Cute picture! It sounds like Samuel is developing really well. He has really gained well since birth! So you mix BM and formula? It's weird but my DS will NOT take a mixed bottle!

massage class: Grady did great, even though it was past his bedtime. He loved it at first - smiling and cooing like crazy. Then, as it got later, he got fussy. But he was hungry AND tired, so I can't blame the boy. His dad is putting him to bed right now. I think he will really like the massage, but you just can't do it for too long with a baby his age - I would say he probably would only like it for abour 15 minutes at a time.

[AmyE]

Thanks guys! we're all feeling much better, I must say.

In even better news, not one but both babies slept from 7-1am last night, then til 4:45. Woke up at 1, ate, went right back down. It look me less than 40mins to feed them and get back to bed. :D Amazing was a couple of nights of decent sleep will do!

I can't wait til their WBV - although it's at 2, 4, then 6 months for us. I"m considering taking them in for a weigh-in, just cause I"m so curious. They are 3 months, and I'm pretty sure they are close to doubling their birthweights.

rosa I"m the same way - keep forgetting the tummy time. We do remember occasionally, but not as consistently as we should. I'm trying to be better - Julia is very strong but Ben is still floppy-headed. Good for Grady for getting it so quickly!

mobox Sam is just so cute! and I love the cow print on his chair.

rubbersoul Hang in there. I hope things settle quickly.

[katmg]

Must have been the week for doctor's appts! We had our 2 mo. yesterday. Charlotte was up to 10 lbs 14 oz. and 22 1/2" long. We got her shots but we're still thinking about the Rotateq. Our ped is still recommending it, but I'm on the fence about it. I swear I almost had an anxiety attack thinking about her getting her shots yesterday. :rolleyes: Of course, she did fine. Cried when the nurse gave the shots but was easily consoled afterwards. Had some fussing that afternoon, but she's done great and is enjoying the extra cuddles DH and I have been giving her.

Blocked tear duct - Anyone else dealt with this? C woke up yesterday with a crusty left eye. I've always noticed that her left eye seems to stay tearier. Well, apparently it isn't draining and caused a small infection. She chose a good day for it though since we were already going to the doctor! I need to do tear duct massage on it to help it unblock.

Mo - great picture!

[mayham]

We're scheduled for a doctor's appointment this week too! DD's 4 month WBV is tomorrow. I am NOT lookin forward to the 4 shots :( I was so traumatized last time.

AmyE - That's great that sleep is going better for you!


rosa727 - DD loves her massage after a bath. But I agree, she only lasts so long! BTW, dd is 4 months and has only rolled over once, from front to back. It is hard not to stress over what they're doing and when, but I'm trying to just go with the flow!

mobox - Cute picture! We have an odd pooping schedule going on as well. She'll only have a bm every few days. I'm not worried because our ped mentioned at some point this might happen. It's a nice change from her previous 5+ times a day schedule!

RubberSoul - Ah, that is a good idea to have your "you" yoga time. I need to work something like that into my schedule... and soon!

[fms]

Like many of you, I am only able to chime in on occasion but tend to try to read during pumping or fedding sessions. It sounds like the babies are doing so well! I have resigned myself to the fact that I barely have time to write so, SOs aren't really an option. We do have a great group of babies who are very, very cute.

Clothing sizes: my baby comfortably wears 6mo. Ralph Lauren outfits. They fit perfectly right now but Brendon will be 3 months old on Monday...I realize that I have a giant baby but, this is a little ridiculous. Most of his onsies are labeled 3-6mo. and fit really well in both length and girth.

WBV: we are on the 2,4,6 month, etc., visit schedule. Anyone who asks how old he is feels the need to tell me how big he is...b/c I didn't know???

Development: no rolling over here. We do tummy time for a couple of minutes most days and he lifts his head off the ground. His neck is strong enough that I bought him a Jumperoo last weekend. On the lowest setting he is on his tip toes. He is still a little young for it but, seems to enjoy bouncing in it a little each day. Today he decided to grab the wipe I was using to cover him while I got out a new diaper. He peed all over the place while waving the wipe...darn funny.

Sleeping: Brendon goes to sleep b/w 7:30-8:30pm most nights. Generally, he falls asleep nursing. He gets up once to eat around 3:30 or so and then goes right back to sleep. We wake him around 6:30am to eat and leave for daycare. Out of shear laziness on my part, we still have him sleeping in the pnp in our room. He will sleep in his crib but, I hate the monitor. When he starts STTN, we'll move him.

My DH is out of town so, a friend and I took Brendon to an art event downtown last night. He hung out in the Bjorn and took it all in...I was such a proud mommy that he did so good. I have found that having a baby has altered the length of time we spend out but, we can still attend social events, etc. We are going with the theory that he will adapt to our lifestyle...that means he is going to be a social kid. This weekend we have plans to take him to an outdoor charity car show at the Ritz Carlton (living in Florida has it's benefits as far as weather goes!!!) I am so thankful that he loves the Bjorn!

Off to pump...

[RubberSoul]

Blocked tear duct - Anyone else dealt with this?

Ian had one for months. It finally cleared when he was a little over 3 months old. I was not the best at remembering to do the tear duct massage. There were days when I would do it several times a day and others I would forget completely.

[ellidew]

Phew... AF FINALLY arrived! Talk about a scare. 2 children within 12 months is not high on my list of things to do. Plus, i kept looking at Miles and I was kind of sad that he would have to share his first couple of years. Isn't that the benefit of being the first born? lol. I wonder why it was so late?

Miles threw up twice last night. Once at 1 and again at 6. Both times he drank some of his bottle and then just lurched it all right back up. He also had a horribly stinky diaper filled with lovely mucousy bm. That was a nice surprise when i found him talking in his swing around 6:30. Dh gave him 4 oz of formula at 7:45 and he didn't throw it back up so i took him to school and he was fine when i left. Could this be a reaction to the vacs? They say they can have a reaction up to 48 hours later, right? I don't recall him having any kind of a reaction except a little extra crabbiness when he had his 2 month vacs.

fms- Good for you getting the baby out to see the world. I'm a big believer in taking the baby out of the house. For several reasons but one of them is because he seems calmer when he's out of the house. I think babies get cabin fever too. My coworker never takes his baby out and we jokingly refer to her as 'bubble girl'. Everyone has to parent how they are comfortable. This was no easy task at first with our colicky baby! lol. We still did it because like i said, he seemed calmer in mixed in with the chaos, like at the mall!

Mayham- Good luck at the wbv. Try not to worry about the shots too much. It isn’t that bad. I used to be scared to death of getting shots until I found out I was anemic and had to get b12 shots once a month for the REST.OF. MY. LIFE. I considered myself lucky I didn’t have to have one everyday but after a couple of years it’s not a big deal anymore. I think the thought of it is worse than it really is… Now if I could just get over my fear of the dentist!

Katmg- Miles reacted about the same as Charlotte when he got his shots. I think he was mostly upset that it woke him from his nap! Good luck with the blocked tear duct.

AmyE- That’s great that the babies both slept so well! I hope it becomes a permanent thing! A couple of nights of sleep will work wonders.

Mobox- Aww, what a cute little man. You’re going to love it once he can reach out and hold toys. They start to entertain themselves more once they can do that. We have a car seat rattle now and whenever we put Miles in the car seat we give it to him and he stops fussing and plays with it. He doesn’t fuss much in the car anymore either because he’s playing with his rattle! It’s awesome.

Rubbersoul- We skipped the rotateq too. We decided that while it was off the market children survived without it so it wasn’t a necessity. Our ped said that Rotavirus isn’t normally fatal in the US anyway because we have access to hospitals and fluids, etc… I’m satisfied with our decision. Can’t wait to see the pro pics. We’re supposed to be able to view ours online in the next week or two. I check her website almost everyday! Lol.

[katmg]

ellidew - After having two poop blowouts today - with the first one requiring a new outfit, a bath and some major stain treatment on the onesie she was wearing, I'm thinking that it might be in reaction to the vaxs yesterday. The poops just seemed way more runny than normal (if that is even possible with her bf poops!). Hearing that you dealt with mucousy bm as well, makes me think it might be a reaction of sorts...

[ellidew]

katmg- I just called ds' school to check on him and they said he's his usual happy self so it must've just been some sort of a reaction because it came and went just as quickly. He threw up at 1 and then at 6. He had 2 bm's yesterday and he usually only has one and then this morning it was mucousy. He had his vacs at 8:30 on Tuesday. Our poor babies.

[euphorhea]

I am so behind on this thread. :( I try and peek in every once in awhile to see how my fellow November [and December] mamas are doing. Can you believe some of our babies are nearing the 4 month mark? [Mine turned 4 months on Monday!] She has her 4m WBV tomorrow which means more shots. Phooey.

Pssst, mobox - I see you. ;)

Are any of the November babies NOT rolling over yet? Because mine isn't. She handles tummy time well, holds up her head just fine - but it seems as if she's terrified to roll over. Or maybe even lazy to do so? I don't know. She turns on her side but won't make an attempt to roll over. Are they supposed to be doing this by 4 months?

[sandy]

katmg Tyler had a blocked tear duct for a month when he was born. My sister (an optometrist) said to put a warm compress on his eye a few times a day and then massage the area (kind of like the sinus region between the eye and the bridge of the nose). It should clear up after a few days.

I don't have much time to post but I'm reading along. I've survived my first work week!! T is loving daycare, though he decided to bring home some germs and had a cold this week (yes, after only 2 days at daycare!). Poor guy but he doesn't seem bothered by it too much so it's mostly just me being a worry wart.

Is my ped the only one who doesn't have a 3 month WBV? We don't go back until his 4 month appt.

[katnbug]

euphorhea- My almost 5 month old doesn't roll over much either. She will sometimes go from tummy to back on accident. Some kids don't like tummy time too much, so don't have the opportunity to roll as much. Don't worry too much just yet!

my little noisemaker- DD just discovered she can make a funny noise when she blows spit bubbles. Now she sits in her exersaucer and makes farting noises over and over and over... it's kind of cute!

sandy- We have monthly appt's thru 6 months then every other month up to a year. In fact, we have DD's 5 month WBV tomorrow. I'm anxious to see how much she's grown.

[acrane]

sandy - Matthew doesn't have another appointment until 4 months either (his last was at 2 months).

[pacificbliss]

sandy my ped skips the 3 month too. For babies that are doing well she does day after hospital discharge, 1 month, 2 month, 4 month, 6 month, 9 month, 12 month.

development DS will be 10 weeks tomorrow. He sometimes reaches for toys. He's grabbed them once or twice but mostly just whacks at things. He holds his head up when we hold him but he hates tummy time.

naps we're struggling with this one. DS isn't really napping well. On his own he'll stay down maybe 20 minutes. In a moving car, stroller or Bjorn he'll sleep as long as we're in motion. In a lap he'll sleep for hours.

katmg DS is still trying to get one tear duct working properly. We use warm cloths. I'm supposed to massage it with my pinky but he hates it.

ellidew congrats on AF.

[Rancid13]

I'm still around! I do keep up with reading but haven’t had much time to post…since I'm usually CCing while eating or holding DS or whatnot.

Sleep~ Still no STTN, but I don’t expect that to happen for at least a few more months. DS awakens twice a night to eat but goes back down right after with no problems or fussing. He’s in bed asleep between 7-7:45pm (it varies based on how tired he seems to be each day) and up for the day between 7-8am. Wake ups are around midnight and 3-4am. DH still handles the first one and I get the second one.

Naps~ Still struggling with this one. I’m on week 2 of trying the 2 hours of wakefulness thing, but DS is having none of it. He’s managed to cry through most of his naps when I put him in his bassinet (yeah, still haven’t put him in the crib yet). I can count on one hand the number of naps that he’s taken in his bed without 30+ min of fussing/napping in the last 2 weeks. He’ll nap in his swing, carseat, or with DH or I in bed or on the couch with no problem.

Work~ I’ve been back to work on a part time basis for 5 full weeks now and am loving it. I actually look forward to work days so I can have a break in child care. I probably won’t be able to work full time until May or June so I’m checking out day care centers at the moment to find one I’m comfortable with that’s also either near work or home. We’ll only need day care 2-3 days per week and all the day cares I’ve checked out so far have a flat rate per week whether your kid is there 2 days or 5 days per week. I’m having a tough time coming to grips with the fact that we’ll be spending $1000-1200/month for 2-3 days per week of child care.

Milestones~ Lots of cooing and smiling. Also a ton of drool still. Tyler’s been grabbing at things constantly, like blankets, burp cloths, my shirt/bra, toys, etc. He can hold things that he can get his little fingers around, like a couple of rattles and other various toys. I had to go buy some more toys b/c most of the ones he has are too big for him to get his fingers around. He can hold his head up pretty well, and loves to watch tv with mommy. Thank goodness Baby Mozart captures his attention so well, so mommy can get ready for work in the am after feeding him, with no fussing on his part. He also enjoys watching televised hockey games with me (I’m trying to make him into a fellow Dallas Stars fan so my mom, who is a Ducks fan, doesn’t try to force Ducks’ stuff on him b/c they’re our enemy and division rival!).;)

Clothing sizes~ We’ve recently moved up to the 3-6 and 6 month sizes as the newborn and 0-3 month ones were starting to get tight on him both lengthwise and around his big ole belly. I love when his clothes are just a little too big on him and he has extra room in his feet area to kick around, LOL!

WBV~ DS had a 2 week visit and a 2 month visit and the next is at just over 4 mos. I’m not sure what the others will be, I keep forgetting to ask what the frequency is so we can plan ahead. His 2 month visit was about 2-3 weeks late b/c I forgot to set the appt. :o From now on I'm just scheduling for the next visit before we leave the dr's office.

Rolling over~ Tyler was one of the ‘early rollers’ and rolled over several times a month to a month and a half ago, but we haven’t had much tummy time lately as he tends to scream the entire time, so unless he’s rolled over on DH’s watch I don’t believe he’s done so recently.

Birth control~ I was just curious what others have been doing with regards to birth control? DH and I have been using condoms for the last 4-6 weeks or so and I have an ob appt next Fri to get an IUD inserted (whoohoo!!). Since I’m still nursing, I’m pretty limited as far as what my options are right now, and I have NO desire to do the bcps again as they dried me up ‘down there’ and it’s a pain having to take them every friggin’ day. I did that already for 5+ years and I’m so over it now, LOL. :rolleyes: No AF yet, knock on wood.

Rosa~ Cute picture of Grady from a few days back! That’s great he rolled over!! Whoohoo!

Ellidew~ I can’t believe Miles is 4 months old already!! Cute picture! Glad to hear that AF finally decided to show up.

AmyE~ That’s great news about the twins being on the same page with sleeping/waking for that one night at least! Hopefully it’ll happen more often than not, and start to be a regular thing for you guys!

Katnbug~ Sorry to hear you guys have skunks! Hopefully that situation will get cleared up soon enough!! My dad had a run-in with a skunk last year, somehow it got into their garage but in the semi-darkness he thought it was their black cat and walked within inches of it to get to the fridge. Once he opened the fridge, the light shone on the skunk and my dad high tailed it out of there. He’s lucky he didn’t get sprayed.

Sunshine~ I hope your return to work went ok and wasn’t too stressful!


Grabbing his bib
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/rancid13/JenniferPictures179-1.jpg

Zombie? Or a new yoga pose?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/rancid13/JenniferPictures202.jpg

[rosa727]

Rancid: Good to hear from you!!! I was just wondering how things were going with you. Cute photos - is he sleeping in that last one? Too funny :)

So with napping, do you just put Tyler down awake and then let him fuss? Maybe I should try doing that with Grady. I have been rocking him to sleep, and I may be making matters worse. The few times I have "given up" and then just put him down, he has drifted off to sleep himself. Unfortunately, I don't have the swing to fall back on, as he will not sleep in it! But he will sleep with me easily.

I am on BCP, but I agree with you about the dryness issue. I'm not sure if I will stay on them or not. I am currently on the mini pills, which can be taken while BFing. But when I stop I better get on the regular ones because they are only 90% effective if you are not BFing!

I still cannot believe how early Tyler rolled - crazy!

[pacificbliss]

rancid those pics of Tyler are adorable. I love the zombie photo.

birth control I'm taking the mini pill with all of its associated problems.

work I go back at the end of the month but am hoping to cut my hours nd keep ds home with me until he's crawling.

[Rancid13]

Rosa~ Yeah, he had fallen asleep in his swing in that last picture, LOL! I thought it was so funny the way his arms were suspended in midair like that.

I try to follow the 2-hour rule with napping and usually can spot signs of sleepyness just before I put him down (yawning, rubbing his eyes, getting a little fussier while playing). Problem is, he'd much rather be up and playing/spending time with me than alone in his room even though he needs the rest.

Sometimes it works and he's out like a light as soon as I put him down to rest, other times he screams for a few minutes before falling asleep for a 20-60 min nap and other times he just flat out refuses to sleep. Those times I'll just get him and lay with him on our bed or couch and he'll sleep for 1-2 hours that way (and mommy gets a much-needed nap at the same time too!). :) His attitude towards napping seems to change every day so I never know how it's going to be.

Luckily he's really easy to put to bed at night, with no fussing (except for the occasional "I want my pacifier" whimper which ends immediately after it's put in his mouth). He occasionally falls asleep nursing but is more often than not contentedly full and in a milk coma by the time I burp him and lay him down awake but sleepy. We've been doing this for ~5 weeks now and had maybe 2 nights where he took more than 15 min to fall asleep (and one of those nights was when he was being babysat and they didn't listen to our instructions to give him the paci if he fussed a little bit and instead picked him up, turned his bedroom light back on, and held & played with him till 9pm! And he was to be in bed by 7:30!!).:mad: DH really let them hear it though. :D

[Teresita]

I've been reading along but every time I plan to post, I get interrupted. Anyway, life is good but chaotic here. Work for me is insane this time of year, Finn seems to have hit his 3-month growth spurt and is a nurse-aholic, my sister and family are visiting, so it's been fun but pure chaos between her kiddos and mine.

Rosa Way back you'd asked about the reglan. I stopped giving it to Finn as soon as I found out about the more serious side effects. We saw the ped GI again on Monday and he said it was fine for him to not be on it since he seems to be doing ok on just prevacid. I also asked the Dr. about when we should try weaning off the prevacid—I certainly don’t want Finn to go back to being in pain, but at the same time don’t like pumping him full of meds. The Dr. suggested we not increase his dosage this month and see how he does since he will soon outgrow the dosage weight-wise. So, I’ll keep you posted. Yay for the prevacid working for Grady! ETA: Also, last weekend I went walking with a friend and was chatting about reflux since her nephew had a bad case of it. Anyway, her nephew was put on reglan and had a seizure and stopped breathing and she thinks he may have long-term neurological issues (he has major drooling and he is almost 3 yrs old). Very frightening!

WBV Our Dr. doesn’t do a 3-month. We had one at 2-month and will have the next at 4 months. Finn did see his GI Dr. right on his 3-month, so we had a weight check—he’s up to 14lbs 14 oz (though that includes a wet diaper!).

Rolling Over Finn is sort of hit and miss with this. Some days when we do tummy time he is all about rolling from tummy to back, but other days he’s ok being on his tummy.

Clothing Sizes He’s in 3-6 month. I still have some 0-3 month stuff out for when we need to do laundry, but they are really way too small.

Birth Control I am really not thrilled with any of the options, but will probably start the mini-pill this Sunday. Up to this point I have just been hoping that I am not ovulating due to BFing, but I know that isn’t failsafe.

Work I’ve been working pretty much since Finn was born. I WAH, though, and just try to get as much done as I can when he naps, and at this age he is also content on his gymini so I can do quick email checks, and I get much of my work done when DH is home (evenings and weekends). I have a part-time nanny for my DD and will probably transition Finn to her care when he starts to get mobile and needs more full-on play and stimulation.

Sleep No STTN, but no complaints really. He’s all business at nighttime and just wakes to nurse and then goes back down without a fuss. He is also easy to get to sleep—nursing puts him in a milk-coma, and so I just put him in his bouncer with the hairdryer CD on and he drifts off. Naps--he is generally ready to sleep after 1.5 hrs wakefulness. Most days are fine, but he doesn’t sleep as well on the go as my DD did, so he does much better on days when we are not out and about. He does, however, love our jogging stroller, and seems to get quality sleep in that, which is good, so I don’t feel totally house-bound.

Post-Partum Weight Loss Is anyone else totally frustrated with lack of weight loss? (If not, please don't chime in or I might have to kill you!:p ). I have been running 4-5 times a week, have been doing some crunches, etc., am BFing all the time, and don't feel like I am eating a ton, and the weight is just not budging. I know I am not huge, but none of my clothes fit and I don't want to have to get a whole new wardrobe. Very frustrated. Especially since we are going to Hawaii in April, and I had wanted to be back in my old bikinis. Well, I could be back in them, but it will be one hell of a frightening sight! ARRRGGHHH!!!!

[rosa727]

Teresita: Ooh - scary story about the Reglan! I am so happy that I took Grady right off it too! It was partly due to the link you posted, so THANK YOU! The Prevacid works pretty well for Grady, but he is on the same dose as he started on, and he has been gaining weight like crazy (2 pounds in the last month), so I think he needs it increased. It was low to begin with - only 10mg per day. I also think it needs to be split up, but the doctor will not listen. That's why we are going to a GI specialist next week. I hope he is more helpful! So glad to hear it has been great for Finn!

Oh, and can I add that I am extremely JEALOUS that you are going to Hawaii next month? Are you taking the kids? We really wanted to go back for our 5 year anniversary this year (we took our honeymoon there) but it is too far. We won't be taking Grady, and we would have to go for too long to make it worth the trip. Way to go on all the exercise! I really need to get serious about that myself!

[Ilovemygeek]

Sorry I have not posted much, but I am following along. Daria had her 4 month WBV on Thursday and she is 15lbs 3oz and 25in long! I knew she was a chunky thing, but I did not expect her to be that large already. Where did my tiny baby go? She is doing great and sleeping for about 7 hours at night, waking up for a bottle, and going back down for a few more hours. Can't complain about that.

Rolling Over Daria rolled over for the first time this morning from her tummy to her back. She has been able to get onto her side for a while now, but her arm was kind of keeping her from making it the rest of the way.

Clothing Sizes She mostly wears 3-6 month at this point, but can still fit into some 0-3 month clothes.

Birth Control I back on the pill and have already been visited by AF twice. :mad:

Work I am back to work part-time. I wish I could be a SAHM, but it is not in the cards right now.

[Rancid13]

Post-Partum Weight Loss Is anyone else totally frustrated with lack of weight loss? (If not, please don't chime in or I might have to kill you!:p ). I have been running 4-5 times a week, have been doing some crunches, etc., am BFing all the time, and don't feel like I am eating a ton, and the weight is just not budging. I know I am not huge, but none of my clothes fit and I don't want to have to get a whole new wardrobe.

I was thrilled when I lost 30lbs (of ~42 gained during my pregnancy) within the first 2 weeks after giving birth. But since then, my weight has not gone down, in fact I gained a few pounds, and this was during the 3-4 weeks where I was walking 30-60 minutes 6 days a week and eating more healthfully!! I've since given up on the walking and have been eating like crap again :eek: but haven't gained but lost 2-3lbs as a result. BFing is pretty much the only calorie-burning thing I do these days. I was so gung-ho about being healthy and walking again, but when it bit me in the arse with a gain in weight, that pretty much got me depressed and lately I've been too fatigued and unmotivated to try it again.:( And thus, I'm still wearing my dreaded maternity clothes since I still can't find non-maternity pants to fit my waist.

[AmyE]

Just jumpin in to agree on the weight loss frustration. I"m not doing much besides BF either, despite very good intentions. I think I've hit they gym 5 times in the last few weeks. I'm actually within 5lbs of my pre baby weight, but an entire 5 inches from my previous waistline!!:eek: I seriously have no idea what to do - I've been this weight before, and most of my clothes SHOULD fit, but I have a volleyball under my belly button.

I keep having people congratulate my on my pregnancy or ask me when my due date it. :mad: I know some of it is because the muscles are all stretched out, and some of those pounds are right at the waist, but I fear I will be one of those moms who might eventually get back to "weight" but who never can get back into "those" jeans. Which would suck, since I do not like clothes shopping, am not very good at it, and sure don't want to spend the money on a whole new wardrobe, esp for work. Grrrr. And I can't even begin to describe just how sick I am of the few things that I can wear now.

And on birth control - on the mini pill, but want to go the IUD route. we're done, but too chicken to make that permanent. And I'm a bit chicken about the IUD right now too, but should just get it over with.

[mobox]

Don't forget that you won't lose the last 5-8 pounds if you are BFing. I hear that those last pounds can hang on as you need them for the milk production.

WBV - Am I the only one that has them every month? My pede really spreads out the vaccinations so he has to go every month.

Sometimes it works and he's out like a light as soon as I put him down to rest, other times he screams for a few minutes before falling asleep for a 20-60 min nap and other times he just flat out refuses to sleep.

OMG! That is totally Sam. He is so unpredictable with the naps, especially in the afternoon. In the a.m. it's so much easier to get him down.

[sunshine0928]

I could totally have written what the PPs have written about the lack of weight loss! I have not lost any weight for at least a month and have been eating well. It has been warmer here so hopefully the extra walking will help. One good thing about me going back to work on Monday is hopefully that will help regulate my eating schedule and I'll be more active at work.

Clothes - We're starting to wear some 3-6 month clothing. Some of the 0-3 fit and some do not.

WBV - Our doc did one at 2 mos and we go again at 4 mos. I can't remember the schedule afte that.

Rolling over - not yet here although she's doing better with tummy time so probably in the next few weeks.

The most exciting thing to happen is Grace is all about her hands. She's really been putting them in her mouth like crazy and was even sucking her thumb yesterday. As a result, I am really being careful with watching her hands during diaper changes since they tend to wander down there a bit during the changing process.

[mayham]

WBV -- ours aren't every month, we just had a 4 month one, and the next is 6 months. DD's stats are similar to ilovemygeek's DD. 15 lbs 5 oz, 24.5 in. If I have to hear another comment from a random stranger about how well I'm feeding DD, I'm going to scream!

Rolling over -- DD's done it only 3 times, from belly to back, but not the other way. When she's on her back, she can get on her side, or will rock back and forth, but doesn't have the momentum to roll over completely yet.

Clothing Sizes -- DD wears 3-6, and has outgrown all of her 0-3's for a couple weeks now.

Work -- Back at work for 6 weeks now, and it isn't too bad. BFing exclusively, so pumping at work, which is a pain, but doable.

Reflux -- Still dealing with this, and giving DD prilosec. It does seem to be helping, and it's good she's not getting worse on the same dose she's been on for a month now. I cannot wait until the day I can stop giving her medicine. We don't want daycare to give it to her, so we give it to her first thing in the morning, and first thing when I come home... not exactly what I want to be doing after not seeing my daughter all day long!

Sleep -- Overall this hasn't been too bad, but there are always those nights here and there where she'll just scream for an hour before going down. Mostly I'm able to nurse her anywhere from 8:30-10, and she'll fall asleep, then wake up around 2:30 to eat, and then again around 6ish.

How many times a day does your DC eat?
DD is at 4 months and eats about 8-9 times a day still. At daycare she gets 4 4oz. bottles and typically takes them all, unless she takes a long nap. Our ped said by 6 months, he'd like to see her going longer in between, and only eating 5-6 times a day. I'm thinking of trying out 5 or 6 oz bottles at daycare to see what that does. Just wondering what works for everyone else?

[lilo]

Hi everyone! Like everyone else has said, I've been trying to read along when I can but time is scarce these days. :) I can't believe many of our babies (including mine!) are 4 months now! It feels like yesterday that I saw the magical two lines on the pregnancy stick. :)

WBV -- DS has his 4 month appt. next week and I'm definitely not looking forward to it. Actually we've decided from now on to space them out a little more so DS will actually only get two shots next week and then the rest at the 5-month mark.

Rolling over -- Not yet. DS is not a fan of tummy time even though I try to do it with him for a few minutes at least twice a day. Actually he does great on his tummy for about 5 minutes and does not seem interested in the least to even attempt to roll over. haha. But when he is on his back he will roll over to his side now, which is super cute.

Clothing Sizes -- DS usually wears 3-6 months although 0-3 month bottoms still fit him (he's a long and lean baby.

Work -- I'm actually going back to work in a few weeks and although it'll be a hard transition, I'm looking forward to it in some ways. Hope that doesn't make me sound like a bad mommy. :cool: But I really miss the adult social interaction and just the overall routine of my day. We found a great daycare so I feel really good about placing DS there. I'm sure it will be tough the first few weeks but I think DS will strive at daycare as well because he loves constant interaction and social stimulation.

Sleep -- We're doing pretty well in this area. DS goes to bed around 7/7:30pm and is only up once around 4 or 5am to feed. He goes back down very easily so it's not too too bad. Although I am looking forward to the day that he STTN most nights. He's done it a few times, which has been heaven.

Naps-- This has been a hard one for us lately. We started to get into a good routine and he was taking 3 pretty good naps most days but I was also nursing him to sleep, which I obviously can't do once I go back to work. Long story short, I'm having to wean him now from being nursed to sleep for naps and it's hard. Plain hard. He doesn't like to swaddled anymore (actually he never really loved the swaddle but slept better in it) and doesn't like to be rocked on his back. So what's been happening is I will have to put him down in his crib awake and let him fuss a little until he falls asleep. It breaks my heart to hear him cry but I figure that it's better for me to do this than daycare. I hope over time he'll get better and better at going down for naps and putting himself to sleep.

How many times a day does your DC eat? DS gets about 5 6-oz bottles a day. He eats every 3 hours and seems to do well with that.

Other Milestones: Although DS isn't rolling over yet, he is doing so many other cool, new things! He loves to babble to me with goos and ga gas which is awesome. He has the best expressions on his face while doing this too. He grabs his toys on his gymini, shrieks, giggles when he's tickled and is just so much alert these days. He's a very curious boy so I try to take him out of the house a lot too so he can see new and exciting things. He loves different sights and sounds and looking at other people.

Question: Although DS will be in daycare soon, I am wondering how much independent play I should be giving him at this age. I try to let him play by himself on his gymini for 5 or 6 minutes but if I sit down next to him, of course he'd like to play with me instead. I love playing with him but I'm worried about spoiling him too much and not teaching him to play by himself for a few minutes here and there. I'm just curious to see what others do during the day in terms of letting the babies play by themselves and how much. Anyone??

Okay, I'm off to get DS who is just not wanting to take a morning nap. Luckily we are having great weather today so I'll take him for a nice long walk. :)

[Rancid13]

How many times a day does your DC eat? On days I'm home with him, he nurses about 5-6 times per day (two of those are close together, at ~6pm and again at ~7pm right before bed) and one 5oz bottle from DH at around midnightish. On days I work, he'll get nursed 2-3 times per day plus 3-4 4.5-5oz bottles from either DH or my mom. Generally he eats every 3 hours during the day, but will go for 4-5-6 hour stretches at night.

Play~ I have 2 different activity mats for DS and will lay him down on one of them if I need to get some dishes done or fix something to eat. Some days he'll play contently with the little toys that hang down for as long as 30 min before he starts to get bored/unhappy. Other days I barely put him down and he screams about it so I stick him in the swing instead, where he can stare at the little animals on the mobile above his head on that one. He definitely favors interaction with DH or myself though. We have this game that we play on the changing table where he'll kick his legs against my hands...he gets so excited about it, he cracks me up.

[rosa727]

WBV: We have them every month too. I just made the appointment for Grady's 4 month WBV today - I cannot believe he will be 4 months old in 2 weeks!

Rolling: Grady does it every time we do tummy time now! It took him a little longer, but it looks like he really got the hang of it :)

sleep: Grady is still STTN from about 7:30PM-6:30AM, and still resisting naps. Actually, he falls asleep for naps more easily now (maybe due to the new room darkening blinds?) but still only sleeps for about 40 minutes when he is in his crib. He sleeps for about an hour to an hour and a half when he naps with me.

playtime: DH or I almost always play WITH him, although he will contentedly "play" alone in his swing for about 20 minutes at a time. He will also stare at his mobile for quite a while - he loves that thing! But he loves reading more than almost anything, so I spend a lot of time reading to him. I also play on the playmat with him, making up songs about the animals or telling him the names of things. He also is loving when I carry him facing out in the Baby Bjorn. We take lots of walks outside like that. We just went to the park today. Thank goodness for the very warm weather - almost 80 today!

number of feedings: He eats 5 times per day. I nurse him 4 times and he gets a bottle for the 5th. He is getting about 5 ounces per feeding (and rice cereal in the bottle because of his reflux).

reflux: He is doing better but still spitting up like CRAZY! I am so hopeful that the GI specialist will be able to help him some more. We see him next week.

travel: I am getting a little nervous. In 2 weeks we will be driving up to New York City (about a 9 hour drive normally, longer with a baby) for Grady's baptism. We will be visiting with DH's family there. We are staying there for about 4 days and then heading up to the Boston area to see my family. We will be there for about a week (through Easter). I am just nervous about the long drive and the sleeping arrangements. We will be bringing the PNP, but I hope the travelling does not mess up his bedtime routine TOO much. We have such a good thing going that I would not want to mess it up! Anyone have any suggestions for the long car ride?

[tinkerbelljenny]

Hi everyone! I have been reading along but not able to post much. My MIL is visiting this week and saw Trever for the first time so that has been nice but stressful. Today I went to a BF support group. It was funny because Trever was the biggest baby there and he wasn't the oldest. I weighed him and he was almost 15 pounds! Everyone kept asking me how old Trever was and then would comment about how big he was.

Clothing Sizes-I started to put him in 3-6 now.

Rolling: Not yet but he seems close!


sleep: He wakes up once a night usually at 4AM then nurses and goes back to sleep and wakes up at 6AM. He takes one nap a day for a few hours and a few short cat naps.

number of feedings: I have no idea but he nurses a TON! Ha, maybe that is why he is so huge!

travel: Trever has been in the car for many long car trips already. Where we live you have to drive far to go anywhere. We are taking our first flight with him in May to Palm Springs....CAN'T WAIT! Dh won an all expense paid trip from his job so it will be nice and we will have a babysitter for the boys. We are also driving to Calgary in May which is like 9 hours away. I ordered Trever's passport and it should be here this week or next. I can't wait to see it, the picture they took is