January 2007 Mommies - Our First Baby Has Arrived!!!

[mommydearest]

I LOVE MY COLTS!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, if its a boy, I think he will be Peyton Becker Vance! I'm kind of surprised I didn't go into labor watching the game.

[wagsgirl]

mommydearest-We were pretty excited for the Colts, too.

la_bride-Congrats on Malcolm...He's adorable!!

Nylachi-Wow!! I hope this is it for you! WOOHOOO!!!

Well, tomorrow is the big day. C-section scheduled for 10am. We'll see if I get bumped ;) Hopefully not!! I wanna meet the little person in this belly!!! I can't wait to find out if it's a boy/girl...

Hmmmm. ButterlyJen hasn't posted at all in here today or her journal on LJ...hmmm....

[Winter Biscuit]

Good luck today wagsgirl!!!!

[Winter Biscuit]

Question - since I'm BFing, do the same rules of medicine apply as when I was pregnant? Or can I take cold medicine now? I'd really love to take a decongestant or Afrin.

Tera, I've found the kellymom website to be a good source of info for BFing moms. Here's a link with info about taking cold or allergy medicines while nursing: http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/cold-remedy.html

Hope you're feeling better soon!

[NYLACHI]

...still here. No more blood. I'm still having light contractions and DH is convinced today is the day but I think I could go on like this for a long time. So we'll see!

[mommydearest]

Wags Hugs and good luck!

Went to the doc this morning--I am now 90% effaced, but still no contractions. She thinks that a touch of pitocin will set it off since she could feel the head when doing my internal today. But I am a little person--5'2" and there isn't any more room in there, so she has to come out this week.

Hope everyone else is having a great day with their new little ones or a patient day without them. I'm going to go stock up on grocceries.

[Alegna]

Congrats on all the babies that have arrived. They are all so cute!

I'm sure those ladies that are still waiting won't have to wait much longer.

Things are going good over here. DH stayed home the first week. The first couple nights were interesting. DH would sleep and then get up and hang out with the baby while I slept. I had to convince DH that he couldn't hold her all night long. I'm having trouble getting her to sleep laying down flat. She'll sleep great if she's being held or sitting up. Guess I found a good use for a 6 year old infant car seat :) I got out the swing today. She seems to be enjoying it and went to sleep pretty quickly. Guess my kiddo likes movement.

Nursing is going ok too. For some reason the right side hurts a lot more than the left. It practically sends me through the roof when she latches on. I've switched to the football hold and it's helped. I'm trying to really watch her latch and see if something is wrong. If it doesn't get any better this week I'm going to contact the lactation consultant at the hospital.

But I know she's getting plenty to eat. I pretty much get a dirty diaper at every feeding. And I think her cheeks look fatter already. We go for our 2 week appointment Wednesday. It's really 2.5 weeks because it seems the doctor I picked only works Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. And she was on vacation for Megans first visit. I'm probably going to switch to a different doctor at that office. I can't believe a doctor would only work 2.5 days a week and still accept new patients. That's just silly.

DH doesn't really want to take the baby out in public for a while. He stayed home on Friday and I went to lunch with a friend. It was nice to get out of the house for a while. But it was also a little nerve wracking. I haven't started pumping yet so if kiddo woke up hungry while I was gone DH would have been out of luck. Well, he could have broke into the emergency stash of formula. I tried to hurry as much as possible. But of course that would be why we got the slowest service ever at the restaurant. ;)

[zhannushka]

wagsgirl - I hope everything went well today and you are already holding your little one in your arms!!! :)

[Alegna]

Oh and I forgot.

Megan is the loudest sleeper ever! She makes noises all night long. She's been keeping DH up at night so we've been sleeping in the other room.

Someday I'll get to sleep in my own bed at the same time as my husband again right? :rolleyes:

[jmvan74]

Let's see what I can do...

Welcome LA Bride! Malcolm is adorable!

Tonya, Good luck!

Margaret: Hope your appt. goes well and you can hold off on the induction!

Robyn: Hang in there! It'll be worth the wait. ;)

Kristen: You must be getting excited!

NYLACHI: hope you are feeling well.

Tera: Hope you find a med that works for you. I know I took an occasional decongestant while bfing Collin, but was careful not to over do it. The kelly mom site is great!

WB: Wow! You are all out front!

Angela: I can totally relate to the feeling of flying through the rough when DC latches on. Ugghh. I just keep telling myself...it will get better!

Those of you still waiting....hang in there!


Things here are chaotic. We are continuing to adjust to life w/ 2. BFing is not going so well, but we are pushing through.... through the pain and bleeding. :( I know that once we get past this horrible start, it will be so much easier for me than trying to figure out formula feeding. :o

[usafwife]

Just wanted to post and let you all know that our little one arrived on mommy's birthday. It was the best birthday present I could have asked for. We had a few problems (a couple of issues with me during the surgery - very sick, blood pressure issues, anethesia issues - and a few problems with DS. He spent 8 hours on Friday after his arrival in an incubator. We got to come home on Sunday. It was later in the day than we planned so basically after stopping off at a central location so all of our immediate families could see little one we headed home and to bed.

Alexander Thomas arrived on 1/19 at 1:39 pm. He was 7 lbs, 6 oz and 19 1/4 inches. However he is so tiny that even preemie clothes don't fit. We had lots of fun trying to find an outfit that would work to dress him in to come home in that didn't just swallow him up totally.

I'll post more later. I'm exhausted and have a few issues with the spinal (let's just say I'll never have another one of those EVER again) so my back is killing me.

[DansGirl]

Congrats usawife & welcome home Alexander Thomas!

----

Still here. Why do I say that? Well, because since 8:00 a.m this morning I've had no less than 38 different people ask me in person; email; or call me saying "you're still here?" :) DH just sent flowers to my office. The card said "Patience is a virtue. Love, DH" :)

[sunni76]

Hey everyone
Just wanted to let you know that wagsgirlhad her baby today!
She had a boy!!!!! he arrived at 12:16pm this afternoon, is 8 pounds, 12 ounces, and 21&1/2 inches long. Still nameless at this point....she didn't believe she had another boy, she made them take off his diaper and show her!! Everyone is doing great!

[Winter Biscuit]

Congratulations on your boys, USAWife and wagsgirl!! I hope you are both recovering well.

wagsgirl - it looks like you did get bumped if your c/s was scheduled for 10am and didn't have your baby until after noon! I am more or less expecting that to happen to me tomorrow, too.

she didn't believe she had another boy, she made them take off his diaper and show her!! Everyone is doing great! :D Too funny! My IL's had the same reaction when my DD was born 3 years ago. They were so convinced that I was going to have a boy that they didn't beleive DH when he told them it was a girl and they insisted that he show them her "parts"!

DansGirl - your DH is so sweet! What a lucky girl you are.

jmvan74 - hugs to you, I know how hard BFing can be in the beginning :( You're doing an awesome job - hang in there!

Alegna - my DD was a noisy sleeper in the beginning too! In fact, I still remember Dh would bolt straight up in bed several times at night, convinced that she was choking in her sleep. It turned out to be saliva in the back of her throat making a gurgling sound. Nothing we needed to worry about, but I can so relate to the noises and the hubby being unable to sleep due to such a small being make so much noise . It does get better.

I had my maternity massage and pedicure today - both were awesome and much-needed! The only thing that irritates me is that I let my toes dry for an extra 30 minutes after the pedi was over and the polish still got a little messed up when I put my shoes/socks back on :mad: It's not exactly easy to get a pedi in Michigan in the winter - it's too cold and snowy to walk out of the salon wearing flip flops! Oh well, in spite of the smudges my toes still look better than they did yesterday ;)

I'm waiting for DH to get home from work and then we're heading out for the "Last Supper." I have to start fasting at 10pm so I intend to eat a LOT between now and then! I cannot believe that I will get to meet Nugget tomorrow. I've been pretty giddy all day, but know I will probably freak out tonight. I still need to finish packing my hospital bag and see if DH and I can agree on a few names...I have a feeling this baby may be nameless for a while too!

Still no word from Butterly Jen...hmmm... ;)

Thinking of everyone that is still waiting and sending everyone (whether they have their babies in their arms or are still waiting to meet them) LOTS of happy thoughts!!! I probably won't be back until Friday when we are home - unless I can find a laptop at the hospital!

I AM HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!!!!! :eek:

[usafwife]

Thanks, ladies! We both had a few complications that made for an interesting time on Friday. My OB said it was a good thing it happened because my uterus was thin (not thin enough yet to cause it to rupture) but definitely showed I'd been contracting for several wks. DS was lodged into me pretty well and they had to use the vaccum to get him out. I'll never forget how that all felt (it was basically like someone sat a dump trunk on my chest and just left it there. I had to use my lamaze breathing to get through the pain). Once DS was out I had issues with being very sick (even though I'd been given two doses of anti-nausea meds prior). Then we had problems with my blood pressure and the spinal coming up towards my head more. That is so not a good feeling and one I'll never forget.

DS spent 8+ hours in an incubator after his breath. He was blue at birth but did try to cry (more of a wimper than a cry though). He had a lot of fluid in his lungs, his O2 sat was too low, and his respirations were not were they wanted them to be. It felt like an eternity until they brought him to us.

He is very small for being 7 lbs. Even preemie clothes do not fit him. 0-3 month and newborn just swallow him up.

Trying to get the hang of BFing. It's very painful when he latches on (it wasn't on Saturday but by Sunday it sure was). I scream bloody murder/use lamaze breathing when he latches on. If things do not improve soon I'm going to contact someone about it.

I've had the worst headache all day today. It's kind of got me concerned that it is a spinal headache but I thought it would happen sooner than 3 days later. And one surprising thing is that I have had hardly any bleeding. It's almost down to being clear/whitish.

Unfortunately while we were in the hospital we got word that a dear friend of ours who has been fighting cancer for not quite 3 years (won't be until June of this year) is basically at the end. They went in last week and found out that it's all over her body, closed her up and told them it's just a matter of time. She's given up as well so it's not going to be long. We're greatful that she was able to see her son graduate from high school last year.

Dan'sGirl ~ I went past my EDD with our DD by 5 days (though the 5th day was actually spent in labor so I don't really count that one). I got sick and tired of everyone asking me if I'd had the baby yet. So nice of your DH to send you flowers.

wagsgirl ~ Congrats on your little one's arrival! I was sort of surprised when DH confirmed that our little one was indeed a little boy. I had actually sort of convinced myself that someone was wrong. I'd wanted another little girl and but after seeing and holding DS I am so happy and thrilled.

Julie ~ I can feel your pain with BFing. Mine are so sore that I scream at the top of my lungs when DS latches on. I almost dread feeding time but we've already tried to supplement with formula and he won't even begin to take a nipple. If this all continues for another day we'll be calling someone and seeing what they recommend. I certainly do not want him to go hungry.

WB ~ Good luck tomorrow. Hopefully your c/s will happen as scheduled.

[Elenna]

I'm a January mommy!

My waters broke @ 3am on 1/17/07. Lee Edward was delivered via emergency c-section 1/17/07 @ 10:27am. His stats are: 6lbs 7.75oz, 19 inches long.

I'll be back later to post my birth story and photos.

[jmvan74]

Congrats Meri! So sorry you had so many complications, but glad to hear you and Alexander are doing well. The bfing is rough going. I'm going to a bfing support group tomorrow to talk w/ an LC. Hope you can get some helpful advice as well. Oh and Happy Belated Birthday!

dan's girl: I'm sure the comments are getting annoying at this point. I have friends who went overdue and stopped answering their phones. :p


Congrats Tonya! Can't wait to hear what your little one's name is!!

WB: I'll be thinking about you and nugget tomorrow. I hope you don't get bumped! We were the first c/s of the day and I know that the 10am c/s got bumped.

Hooray Elenna! Welcome to the world Lee! Our boys share a birthday!

[magdesilver]

Congrats Meri, elenna, and wagsgirl!

Julie is bfing going a bit better? Have you seen another LC?

I'm still here, sitting pretty. The m/w called me this morning to come in if I wanted but I decided to wait until Wednesday. Then, after thinking it over some more, I decided that since there is no medical need to induce me at this point, I don't want to go in on Wednesday since I'll be only 2 days overdue (DD was 5 days overdue). So, I called the m/w back and told them to change my induction to next Monday and I made a regular appt. for a check and NST for Friday morning. I haven't heard back from the m/w (maybe I will tomorrow?) but I'm assuming she's okay with that since I didn't hear from her today. I just feel like I need to give the baby a few more days to come on his own, but I know if next Monday gets here I will be ready to be induced since I'll be a week late and past the point of when I had DD- who I went into labor with on my own.
So that's my sitch in a nutshell!

[jmvan74]

Margaret: I just got back from a support group at the hospital that is staffed by LC's. It was very helpful. We'll see how it goes now that we are home, though.;) Good for you for waiting a few more days. I wish I had waited w/ Collin instead of being induced, but you live and learn.

I just went to a support group for bfing mom's and talked to an LC. She was very helpful and showed me a few tricks for getting Brady to latch correctly. It was the first time in days it didn't feel like I was being stabbed while feeding him. Even better news, is that through all of the pain, he is gaining weight. He was 7lbs. 14 oz at birth, 7lbs 8oz at discharge and at 6 days old, he is 8lbs, 1oz. He also ate close to 4oz in 20 minutes! (from the breast) Go boy! Hooray for a good supply!

[Alegna]

I got a coupon in the mail from Target today. 10% off anything left on my registry. Guess I'll have to do some thinking about what I still want/need.

I might have to get a new swing. The one I was using was a hand me down. For some reason it will only work for about 10 seconds. Then it shuts itself off. Not so much fun.

[ButterflyJen]

Congrats, Meri and welcome Alexander Thomas!

Congrats, Tonya! Welcome baby boy! LOL at having to see his boy parts to be sure. :D

Congrats, Elenna! Welcome Lee Edward!

Thinking of you today, WB! Hope everything goes/has gone well!

Julie, you GO with the BFing! I'm so glad you're getting the support you need. I SO feel your pain with the nursing. Ouch. DD and I had the same issues and it was no fun at all. Hope things continue to go well...and YAY BRADY for gaining! Woo hoo!!

Hang in there Margaret - good for you, too, for waiting a few more days. I'm feeling the same way; I'd love to be induced somehow, but I really do want to wait and see if Peanut comes on his/her own. Sometimes I wish my water would just BREAK already so I can go to the hospital...

Still here. Still pregnant. COME ON OUT PEANUT!! ;) Just fighting a really bad cold right now. I've been congested like nothing else since Friday and am coughing pretty badly now. If it stays this way all day today I'm going in to see someone. Anyone. I can't fathom giving birth while hacking up a lung!!

[GAmommy]

march mommy to be here and i wanted to say congratulations!!!! to all the new mommies and mommies VERY soon to be!!!! you all are making me SOOOOO anxious!!!!!! i love all the babies to pieces! they are BEAUTIFUL!!! i cant WAIT to see my baby in 8 more weeks more than ever now!!!!

congrats again and good luck to all the mommies due any minute!!! :)

[lindzgirl]

Wow! It is so quiet in here. Everyone must be off having babies or holding them.

I however am still here. I went to the Dr's yesterday and she said that they won't induce me till I am 42 weeks. The 1st of February at the earliest. I am still 1 cm dilated and only 50% effaced. I tried really hard not to be discouraged but I am going a little crazy just wanting this baby to be here. And then to find out I have another week and a half at the most was more than a little disheartening. I guess she will come when she wants too. I have to go in to the Dr's every 3 days now to monitor baby. At least it will give me somewhere to go and keep me a little busy. Whoa! Sorry for a me filled post.

I am so happy for all of you that are settling in to your life as Mommies and for those of you that are still waiting, the best of luck. Hope everyone is doing great!

[Alegna]

Just got back from Megan's 2 week appointment. She weighs 7 lbs 9 oz. That's more than a pound over her birth weight! Guess I'm doing something right over here.

The doctor said not to worry about waking her to eat anymore. She let me sleep for over 4 hours last night. Then of course the next time it was only 2 hours. Oh well.

I've got to work on the rest of my thank yous. People keep dropping gifts off at DHs desk. We got a handmade quilt Monday. But there was no card so we have no idea who left it.

[Elenna]

jmvan: Nice supply! I've been wondering about how much I'm producing. I've tried pumping right after feeding and I don't get enough out to even make it into the bottle. I'm hoping he's getting enough. He is having plenty of wets and dirties...sorry rambling.

alegna: Whoo-hoo for the weight gain. That's always good news to hear.


I posted my birth story and photos of Lee in the Feb boards.
http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1167610&postcount=27

[ButterflyJen]

I've been wondering about how much I'm producing. I've tried pumping right after feeding and I don't get enough out to even make it into the bottle. I'm hoping he's getting enough. He is having plenty of wets and dirties...sorry rambling.
elenna, if he's having plenty of wet and dirties, he's getting plenty to eat. :) Pumping output does not equal what Lee is able to get out of you, because he's way more efficient at draining you than any pump. Especially pumping after you've already fed him. I know it sucks, not knowing how much he's getting to eat, though! Trust me, he's more than likely doing fine. :)

[jmvan74]

lindz and Jen: Sorry you are still waiting. It won't be long now. The time at the end always drags on and on!


Elenna: We just have an estimate of his intake by weighing him before a feeding and then right after. It does make me feel better just to see something. You should see if your local hospital has a group. It sounds like Lee is doing fine, though.

[Sabriel]

Hello! I wanted to stop by and let you know that mommydearest had her baby at about 1 pm today! It is a little girl as expected, and she is 6 lb. 6 oz. :) Mommy and baby are doing great!

[ButterflyJen]

yay! Congrats Kristen on your baby girl!

[jmvan74]

Congrats Kristen! Welcome baby girl!

[GAmommy]

awwww congrats!

[Alegna]

I just realized there are no pictures of the 3 of us together. One of us had the camera and would take pictures of the other holding Megan.

I'm going to have to get at least one family photo before she gets too much bigger.

Speaking of photos.... when do people normally have professional ones done? We got a gift certificate to somewhere (I can't remember where right now) for Christmas and I don't want to miss out on a "standard" photo that everybody has.

I feel silly for not having one of the 3 of us together. I might have to set up the tripod and play with the timer feature on the camera tonight. This is going to bug me now.....

[robyn]

Congrats Kristen ... how exciting!

Angela - Glad to hear Megan is doing so well. :)

lindz and jen and magdesilver - I'm still pregnant right along with you girls! It won't be too much longer for any of us and then we can join in on the baby fun!

* * * *

So it looks like I am probably going to make it to my Friday induction after all. At that point I'll be 41w 3d and I am okay with going ahead with the intervention. It makes me sad that this is not how I planned things, but will try to just have faith that this was the way it was meant to be.

It's funny because I had a few strong-ish contractions last night and we were even able to time them to be about 8 minutes apart. This is the first time I've let on to DH that I thought something might be happening and he was so excited! We ran around the house straightening things up just in case it was time to go. Then I took a shower and that stopped the contractions. It was sort of frustrating, but at this point I can't even really comprehend what it would be like if labor actually did start, so I wasn't too shocked that it didn't turn out to be true labor after all. I am staying positive and reminding myself that all these false starts are still (hopefully) preparing my body to be ready to go on Friday and will make the induction easier.

[magdesilver]

robyn your contractions may just start up again and turn into the real thing in the next 24 hours or so. With DD (5 days late), I had contractions all during the day on Saturday, then they died out and I slept as normal Saturday night. Had some more on Sunday afternoon for a few hours, then those died. Started up again on Sunday evening and went in to the hospital at about 4:30 a.m. Monday morning in labor! Sometimes it takes a few tries to get your body going. Hopefully something will start up for you in the next 36 hours before your induction!

[mommydearest]

Abigail Grace was born today at 1:21 pm and was 6 lbs 7 ozs. She was 20 inches long, but has a cone head, so she will probably shrink some when it levels out.

We went to Mc Donalds about 5:30 and got our last meal--McGriddles. We checked in about 6:00 am and I was hooked up to pitocin about 6:30. About 6:40 the doctor broke my water and by 7:00 we were having serious contractions. About 9:30, I was pretty miserable and talked to the nurse about the contractions--they were about 2 minutes apart and a minute long. I decided that I couldn't continue like that for hours and opted for the epidural. By 10:00, the epidural was in and it was like a different world--I called some friends, played on the internet and watched a DVD for a while. By about 11, the epidural wore off on the left hand side of my belly, which made me really sad, but it was still numb on the right and on the cervix. They checked me then and I was 4 cm. But about 11:30, her heart rate was dropping with the contractions and I was 6 cm. They watched really carefully and I was ready to push by 12:30. The doctor pulled out the vacuum around 1:15 and said she needed to use it if I didn't get her out in 2 contractions. Luckily some super-human strength came over me. Her cord was really short and wrapped around her neck, so they had to cut it before her body was born and she was pretty blue. But they got her cleaned up and her second apgar was a 9.

So, now we are all doing well in our room and have had lots of guests. I love this computer that pulls over the bed. DH is working on getting pics up. I'll post when they are up.

Congrats to all the other new mommies!

[DansGirl]

Congrats to all the new babies!! Sounds like things are going well!

---

Its making me kinda sad to be at work and writing the date out ..."January 25th"...my due date. I feel like I should just go to the hospital with my bag and try to check in! :) Oh well, hopefully things start soon.

[Lucy Van Pelt]

Congrats on the new arrivals ladies!

I'm still waiting for something to happen along with lindz, jen, magdesilver, and DansGirl...

Today would be a great day for Katie to arrive - it's my favorite hockey player's birthday! ;)

[ButterflyJen]

Kristen, sounds like things went pretty well overall. Welcome to Abigail Grace! :)

DansGirl - ooooh that sucks, writing out your due date. :( I hope it's really soon for you!

Angela - we used to go to Walmart for pictures, but now I've got a friend who does photography as a side business so that's who we've been using. Walmart's pictures aren't bad and they're fairly inexpensive, too.

OK, so there's five of us (potentially) still pregnant...who's going next? I'm guessing it's not me. I've been having a few contractions off and on, but nothing time-able or anything. Plus, now DD seems to be coming down with something, so if Peanut does decide to wait a few days that would be all right. I've got my 40 week appt. tomorrow morning and I think we'll discuss induction (via breaking my water - the only way I can be induced) a little bit. I'm just so tired of waiting...I'm not terribly uncomfortable or anything, I'm just ready to get on with our life as a family of four.

[usafwife]

Congrats on the new arrivals.

Labor vibes to those still waiting. I know all too well what it's like to go past your EDD. I was feeling good so it wasn't so much that I wanted her out because I was miserable. I just wanted to be able to hold my little girl, see what she looked like, etc.

I'm having some swelling in my mid calf area on my right leg. I have no idea what is causing it but plan to discuss it tomorrow at my one wk appt.

Pictures ~ We got DD's taken professionally the first time at 2 months. I'd taken several rolls myself during the first two months though. With DS I hope to do the same and plan to take some tomorrow with DH's help. I'd also like to get a family picture taken very soon as well. We didn't get one taken at Christmas due to the weather. And I'd also like to have some new ones of DD (I feel bad that we didn't get her 12 month ones taken due to my mom being sick when we had scheduled them).

[GAmommy]

congratulations kristen!!!! :)

[wine_o_girlie]

Our baby has arrived - Griffin Todd on January 20th at 2:24 p.m. He was 7 lb 3 oz and is just the cutest thing ever. I had an amazing, amazing, amazing natural birth and we came home a short 25 hours after he was born. Griff is doing fabulous and we are busy working on breastfeeding. We are totally blissed out with our new little family and just so thankful about how well everything is going. I hope you all are doing well (no time to read right now) and babies are arriving! :)

Here's a pic of Griff getting ready to go to the Pediatrician - http://thegarnerfamily.smugmug.com/photos/125082903-M.jpg

[GAmommy]

congratulations!!! i love that name!! gosh he is beautiful!!!

[GAmommy]

btw~ i LOVE that sweater thing...where did you get it and can you get it in pink? i have a feeling we are gonna get a late winter here in GA.

[ButterflyJen]

Congrats wine_o and welcome, Griffin Todd! He is adorable, just as handsome as can be. :) I'm so glad your birth experience was so good and that nursing is going well! Hooray!

[NYLACHI]

Hi everybody!

Just wanted to pop in from the hospital and say that after 38 hours of hard labor, Asher Noah was born on 1/24/07 at 8:21 am, 7 lbs 15 oz! He's perfect, I'm doing great and I'm anticipating being up all night nursing since he is all of a sudden super-alert and awake.

I'll post pics as soon as we get home tomorrow afternoon!

[Lucy Van Pelt]

Congrats Wine-o! Griffin is just beautiful!!

GAMommy - That sweater looks like the one I have for Katie. It's from Nordstroms and it is sooo soft! I can't wait for her to wear it!

Here is a link! (http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2903125/0~2379292~2379293~6008493~6008504?mediumthumbnail= Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6008504&P=1)

[GAmommy]

NYLACHI~ congartulations!!!!!! oooh i am so jealous you all have your babies to hold!!!! i still have alost 8 weeks!!!! cant wait to see pics of asher! yet another great name!!

Lucy~ thanks so much for that link! how cute is that sweater?!?!? of course my husband may put me out in the cold if i spent that much on a sweater..maybe i will find something close at the GAP tomorrow! :)

[robyn]

Just wanted to pop in and say that at 41w 3d this little guy has still not chosen to make an appearance on our own so we are headed to the hospital for induction. I'll be sure to check in when we return!

Congratulations and good luck to all the new mommies and mommies to be!

[jmvan74]

Meri: I hope they figure out why you are having some swelling. I saw your pics in the other thread. Alexander is adorable! I love how Sarah is looking at him. :D

Welcome Abigail! Congrats again, kristen.

Congrats Wine_o! Welcome to the world Griffin!


Congrats NYLACHI! Welcome Asher!

Good luck today, Robyn!

Hope to hear more good news from those of you still waiting. ;)
Things here are going well. Bfing is getting better everyday. My sleepy boy is always falling asleep on the job, but he's steady gaining! His jaundice levels have subsided on their own so we won't need light therapy! Hooray!
Thinking about all of the other new mommies and hope you are all well.

[GAmommy]

good luck robyn!!!!! thats so awsome!!!!!!!

[PrincessCJ81]

Did I miss a post about WB? Did she have a girl or a boy?

[ButterflyJen]

Congrats NYLACHI and welcome, Asher Noah! What a cute name. There's a little guy in DD's playgroup called Asher and he is just so sweet and laid-back. Wishing the same for you!

Good luck Robyn! Smooth and easy labor vibes to you!

Nothing new here. Had my appt. this morning. No change from last week. :( I go in again Monday for a recheck and to discuss my options. As in - he can break my water manually, or I can just go ahead and do the repeat C. Ugh. To both. But at this point I just don't care. I'm 40wks tomorrow (or Sunday, I don't know which at this point) and I just want to see this kid.

Can you tell it's crabby at my house today....

[DansGirl]

I'll join you in the crabby club ButterflyJen. Just got back from my appointment. No progress. Cervix is soft but completly closed, no dilation. I haven't even had any Braxton Hicks contractions (or what I thought were BH contractions) since Sunday. Baby has remained dropped and is really low, but she dropped at 36 weeks, so I'm not really considering that progress.

We scheduled my next appointment for next Friday. That will include an ultrasound to make sure there's enough fluid. If so, the doctor said he'll have me go another week before we discuss induction (unless something else comes up that would necessitate one). I have a very matter-of-fact doc who doesn't rush to do inductions unless medically necessary. I would like to avoid one if possible, its just that I feel so crappy and tired and am just very anxious to meet our little girl.

Here's hoping something happens this weekend....

[Lucy Van Pelt]

Well, just got back from my doctor. I am dialated to "maybe 1", but Katie is still pretty high. My doctor went ahead and scheduled an induction for February 5th. We are all hopeful that I will go into labor on my own, but she doesn't want me to go too far past my due date. I have a non-stress test scheduled for February 1st.

[Winter Biscuit]

Hi everyone
just a quick drive-by post to report that Nugget arrived on January 23 at 10:27 a.m. and it's a girl!!!

Allison Grace
7 lbs .08 ounces (yes, that is .08)
20.25 inches

Lots of dark hair, dark blue eyes. She is absolutely beautiful! :D

The c/s went OK but I have been having horrible spinal headaches for the last few days as a result of the spinal anesthetic so I haven't been feeling well at all. :( This is some of the worst pain I have ever felt. Meds don't help - the anesthesiologist said to drink lots of fluids, caffeine, and lie flat. So...it kinda sucks right now. No, it REALLy sucks right now. It's hard to BF when my head is pounding and I feel like I am going to puke.

Congrats to all the new babies and mommies - I will come back and read this in more detail and respond when my head isn't throbbing so much.

mommydearest - I did catch that you named your DD Abigail Grace and I had to laugh because we were this close to naming our DD that same name! It wasn't until the night before that we settled on Allison Grace, with Abigail Grace being a close 2nd choice :)

[jmvan74]

Congrats Winter Biscuit! Welcome Allison Grace! So sorry you are dealing w/ spinal headaches. ugghhh. I hope you are feeling well soon.

[ButterflyJen]

Congrats, WB!! Welcome, Allison Grace! I'm so sorry you're dealing with the spinal headaches, too. :( I really, really hope things get better for you and FAST.

[magdesilver]

Hi all! Just wanted to report that Ethan George arrived yesterday, Jan. 26 at 8:21 a.m. It went very fast! From first contraction at home to delivery was about 5 hours, and I got to the hospital 45 minutes before he was born! It was pretty crazy and I didn't get any meds (no time!). Anyhow, I'll post the crazy store later when I have a chance. Congrats WB on your DD Allison!! One of my favorite names ;) .

[lindzgirl]

Yeah Winter Biscuit! Allison Grace sounds adorable. I am very sorry for you having to put up with the headaches though. I hope they get better very soon so you can just enjoy your little gal.

I went in to the Dr. for my 41st week appointment yesterday and everything looks good so they see no reason to induce me until my 42nd week at the earliest. So it looks like unless she decides to come out in the next few days on her own, I may just wind up having a February baby. Which is ok I guess, it is just hard to wait when you want to meet the person you have been carrying this long. I am sure that for those of you that are still waiting with me you can totally relate.

Hope everyone else is doing great! Have a fabulous weekend!

[Lucy Van Pelt]

Welcome Allison Grace and Ethan George!

WB - sorry about the headaches. I am so afraid I will have the same issue from my epidural! Allison is also one of my fav names...in fact, it's my best friend's name!

Mag - FIVE hours? Yikers, that's pretty dang fast!

Today is my due date and, like yesterday, nothing is going on down there! DH is taking me out for mexican food in the slightest hope it might help move things along. Personally, I don't think it will work, but I'm not going to pass up El Amigo!!

[ButterflyJen]

Yay! congrats Margaret and welcome, Ethan George!! Holy man, FIVE HOURS. That's scary fast!

lindzgirl - oh yes, I can TOTALLY relate to everything you said. I'm not technically overdue until after tomorrow, but I so thought this little Peanut was coming early. Tells you how good MY intuition is. ;)

Ginger, I agree, never pass up Mexican food. :D Hopefully it'll help you get things moving, too!

Still nothing going on over here...

[quest]

Congrats to all the new mommies and babies!

Good luck/labor vibes to anyone still waiting!

We're all doing good over here, but I'm having a tough time juggling my time between both of my babies. Is it considered a form of ppd when you're having major guilt about pulling time from your current DC to care for your new one? I'm sure it will all level out, but right now it's a major emotional roller coaster.:(

[richards2]

We're all doing good over here, but I'm having a tough time juggling my time between both of my babies. Is it considered a form of ppd when you're having major guilt about pulling time from your current DC to care for your new one? I'm sure it will all level out, but right now it's a major emotional roller coaster.:(

I went through the same thing. I felt really bad because we were away for three weeks while our daughter was in the NICU. We only saw our first born once a week. Then we come home and I can't figure out how to give all the time I want to my 17 month old when trying to take care of a newborn. It took a couple of weeks to adjust but we are doing much better now. I guess I am the one who had to adjust my daughter did not seem to mind at all.

Anyways it does get better as you settle into a routine. Which I hope happens for you soon.

[KRL626]

De-lurking for just a second for Winter Biscuit I had a spinal headache from my epi last year. It was debilitating so I know how you are feeling. Anyway, I'm not sure if your anesthesiologist mentioned this but I had a spinal patch done (they inject your own blood back into your spine where the puncture is and the blood forms a patch that covers where the spinal fluid is leaking and causing the headache). It was pretty easy and there was literally instant relief, headache gone for good. Just thought I'd throw that out there because my headache was almost the end of me!

[jmvan74]

Congrats Margaret! Welcome Ethan George!

[magdesilver]

Quick birth story:
I woke up at 3 a.m. on Friday morning to go to the bathroom and had a contraction. Waited a few more minutes and had another one, so I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. I went online and spent about an hour and a half timing them, and they were about 8-11 minutes apart. At around 4:30a.m. I woke up DH and told him I was having contractions and was going to take a shower. I did that and washed my hair. I think the contractions slowed down a bit in the shower but I wasn't timing them so I'm not sure. I got out of the shower and tried to lay down a bit but couldn't get comfortable. I dried my hair and had a few big contractions during that time. By now they were about 5-7 minutes apart. I woke DH and told him to shower and get ready to go to the hospital. At 7 a.m. we left to go to the hospital and I had a bunch of contractions in the car. When we left he house, they were a good 4-5 minutes apart pretty consistently and pretty intense, but in the car they were coming every 3 minutes. We arrived at the hospital L&D triage at 7:35 and I was having contractions every 2 minutes or so. I couldn't give them a urine sample because of the contractions! I kept saying I wanted an epidural- now! The nurse said I could have one after I had my bloodwork done and I said they better get started because I wanted the epi ASAP!! She checked me and I was 7 cm. I wouldn't let her put the monitors on me because I couldn't lay back in the bed. She said she would get things underway for the epi and be back. About 5 minutes later another nurse came in to get my labs and she asked me where I was feeling the contractions and I said on the bottom of my stomach. Then I had another one and said, actually I am feeling it in my bottom like I have to go to the bathroom. So she says well let me check you again and I was 9! So then all heck broke loose. The nurse opens the door and screams for help, puts the bedsides up, throws a towel on top of my hoo-ha (and shoves the clothes I wore in behind me to cover my backside, I was kind of on my side clutching the bedside for dear life!). Then a bunch of nurses come in and start wheeling me quickly to a delivery room, with DH running behind me with my shoes!
We get to the L&D room, they help me transfer to the bed and I remember feeling like I had to push. I thought I was peeing but my water broke. The midwife got there and saw that I was pushing and put on the gown. I did about 5-10 minutes of pushing and he was out at 8:21 a.m.!

Here are a few pics:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/nfowife/Picture299.jpg?t=1170006842
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/nfowife/Picture321.jpg?t=1170006865
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/nfowife/Picture323.jpg?t=1170006901

[ladybug777]

Just wanted to stop by a say a huge congrats to my friend magdesilver! Sounds like this delivery was quite an experience. Glad to hear that everything went well.

[NYLACHI]

Hi everybody!
Things with Asher are going great--he gets up twice a night to eat only and eats all.day.long, which is great with me. I'm feeling good, no stitches pain. My mom is still here and helping out thank god.

We're just so in love!


Pics!

http://www.itpaystobetheman.com/asher/

[Elenna]

Magdesilver: Amazing birth experience being so fast! Ethan is very cute.

Nylachi: Asher is adorable.

Congratulations Winter Biscuit! Welcome Allison. I hope the doctors can do something for your spinal headache.

[Chylynn]

Just stopping in to say Congratulations to my friend Margaret! Congratulations on the birth of your son. He is adorable! How is Allison doing with her new brother? You need to start a journal so your S FL friends can keep up with you!

[ButterflyJen]

NYLACHI, Asher is adorable!

Wow, Mag, that's one heck of a birth story. FAST!!! Ethan is just a cutie!!

Well, had my appt. today. No change since Friday (or the Friday before), so if things don't happen by Thursday morning, I'm going in to have my water broken manually at 7AM. Whee! I hope it doesn't come to that....and I am actually having a bit of bloody show right now, so maybe, just maybe, this is finally it for us. Fingers crossed!!!

[GardenGirl]

Long time no post - I've been taking care of my little eating machine, entertaining my in-laws and getting over a cold. Life is kinda busy!

Carter has hit that notorius 3 week growth spurt and is eating all.the.time. He is still the perfect baby though. He really is. He only cries when he's hungry and generally I can pick up on his hunger cues pretty early. Though lately I'd have to keep my boob in his mouth to get a preemptive strike on hunger now! He sleeps in 3-4 hour stretches at night though which is awesome. It's the early morning and late afternoon that he seems to be the hungriest. He's also started to stay awake for longer periods and become really alert. I love looking at his dark blue eyes. Though I'm sure they'll change to green or hazel eventually. At his two week WBV last Monday he was 6 lbs 14 oz, so he gained an ounce a day. Doc was quite happy with that. Though he is still long and skinny. He's in the 10% for weight and 75% for height.

The inlaws came in from Thursday to Sunday. The days were quite long. Trying to get a routine with a newborn and have people in the house at all times is difficult (at least for me). Someone was constantly holding Carter - except for me when I fed him. I was really trying to not to be jealous or get upset, but I wanted "Mommy Time" and wasn't getting it. DH realized that and did what he could, but you know grandparents - they can be quite demanding. MIL kinda bugged me (as usual) - things have changed in the 37 years it's been since you had your boys. I don't think a newborn cries to get exercise - she does. So when we were out walking the neighborhood trail and Carter got hungry, I walked home really fast with him crying the whole way and it broke my heart since I didn't pick up on his hunger cues fast enough. She kept telling me to let it go and let him cry since I just fed him 2 hours ago. Hello - it's called a growth spurt, he's hungry and my gosh - I'm his mother, leave me alone!

Enough of that ...

Congrats to all the new arrivals. I can't believe there are still January babies to be born. I also can't believe Carter is already 3 weeks old. Time is flying by. I made an appointment for him to have photos taken next week on his one month "birth day." He'll basically just lay there, but that's okay.

Okay, must go - sorry for no personal shout outs, but I should have more time later. Must feed hungry baby!

[DansGirl]

Congrats to all the new arrivals. I can't believe there are still January babies to be born.

And I can't believe I'm still one of them! Ha! ;)

I'm officially miserable and ready for this little critter to come out! I moved my next appointment to Thursday (didn't want to wait until Friday). I'll have an ultrasound and non stress test to make sure things are still cool. Then I'm gonna have the induction talk with Doc. His initial plan was to not talk induction until my 42nd week appointment (so if I had to be induced, it would be in the 43rd week!) I'm gonna ask to schedule an induction next week, hopefully I don't need it, but I just don't want to go into that third week - it would start messing with my work schedule & maternity leave. Not to mention this baby is getting huge and I'm getting more and more apprehensive about pushing her out. :p

[robyn]

Things have been crazy (of course!) so it's taken me a while to get in here to announce my little arrival ...

Baby "LJ" was born Friday, January 26th at 9:35pm. He weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 19.75 inches.

Labor was tough. I had wanted to try a natural childbirth, but ended up being induced ... I made it through about 9.5 hours of labor and finally caved into the epi because I just wasn't progressing. I ended up pushing for about 2.5 hours and had 3rd degree tear/cut - we finally discovered that his cord was around his neck and basically tethering him in the womb! Motherhood has been joy so far. He's a really good baby and a champion BFer. :) I was not expecting the recovery to be so hard ... I'm wondering if I will ever to be able to wear a normal pair of pants again. My poor girl parts are not happy. :(

Hope everyone is doing well. I will try to get back into keeping up with the thread as soon as we get the hang of parenting!

[magdesilver]

Well, we are back from the 1st visit to the ped and Ethan is jaundiced. His bili levels today were 17 so we are getting home health here tomorrow to set up the lights for 2 or so days. The nurse will come out and check hi bili level each day. Totally sucks! I'm so happy I don't have to go back to the hospital like I did with DD(plus we have the bris on Friday morning and are flying in a mohel so I certainly don't want to deal with changing those plans if I don't have to), but the whole thing is just so annoying. On top of that I asked the ped to check his tongue to see if he was a little tongue tied because my nips are super-sore and both have scabs on them (not unbearable but obviously I'd prefer not to be in any pain!). Turns out his tongue is freaky-short- she couldn't even see if he had a frenulum- so now we are seeing an ENT tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they can fix whatever is up with his tongue and nursing won't be so uncomfortable for me. Doesn't seem to be bothering him at all though- he's already back at his birth weight at 4 days old.

Congrats Robyn!
Hang in there Jen and Dan'sGirl!

[mommydearest]

Mags--Totally jealous about home heath! We have been back to the hospital now every day Abby has been home except today because of her bili levels. They let me have a morning to sleep since I really needed it and her levels aren't dangerous.

Yesterday they were at 13.3, but they are still going up each day. We have been sunning and she eats/poops like crazy at night, but nothing is helping. We have to take her back again tomorrow for another blood test. Her poor little feet are a mess! It is snowing and the hospital is about 30 minutes away, so it is miserable getting there. To top it off, her days and nights are mixed up, so her sleeping time is from about 6 am until about 6 pm with very minimial awake time (wake up, eat, fall asleep at the boob), but then wants to eat literally every hour from 6 pm til 6 am. So getting her to the hospital and doctor's offices in the mornings is just horrible for us. I have tried everything to wake her up more often during the day, but nothing works--not even taking her clothes off and the cool washcloth on the feet. The instant she sucks 3 times, she's out and her latch is so strong that I can only stand for her to latch 3 or 4 times in a row before I am close to tears. Luckily, after the first couple sucks, breastfeeding doesn't hurt. We had to supplement 1 oz. of formula after each feeding the first 4 days, but luckily all those bottles didn't mess up things. I was nervous the first few bottles!

I'm glad to hear all of the new mommy stories! Hope everyone has a great day!

[jmvan74]

Margaret: What a wild birth story! Wow! Sorry to hear about the jaundice and the tongue issues. Having the lights at home is such a nice option. I hope the bfing gets better soon. I can relate to having blisters. I am finally healed. I found some good suggestions at Kellymom for healing them.

Kristen: Hang in there girl! I'm sure you are doing a great job bfing despite the jaundice and initial latch issues. It does get better.

Robyn:sorry you had such a difficult delivery.

Tera: Glad things are going well. sorry MIL is being a pain.

Sending labor vibes out to those of you still waiting to meet your little ones!

jaundice: Both of my sons were jaundiced. Collin need light therapy and luckily Brady's levels finally went down on their own. I just wanted to share that many DR's will suggest giving formula if you are breastfeeding and that is noot thee only way to get rid of it. Collin was slightly yellow for near 3 months, but he was totally healthy. Breastmilk can cause it's own form of jaundice that isn't dangerous, so don't give up!

2 week stats:
Weight: 9lbs. 8 oz (90%) up 2 lbs from discharge
Height: 22 inches (90%) grown 1 inch!

[Winter Biscuit]

Hey everyone -
I have been lurking but haven't logged on to post at all. I still need to write my birth story down!

Just wanted to say hang in there to all the mommies who are still pregnant. My first DD arrived 11 days after her EDD, so I totally understand how miserable you must be feeling as each day passes by.

Spinal headaches - they finally went away. OMG, that was some of the worst pain I have ever experienced. I was in tears every day, and they even made me vomit. KRL626 I really appreciate you posting about your experience and having the spinal patch. It helps to know that someone else understands how horrible it was. (My anesthesiologist said less than 1% of people who have a spinal epi end up with the headaches...how lovely that I got to be part of that "less than 1%" club... :rolleyes: ) My anesthesiologist did say something about having to start another epi if they didn't go away on their own (she wanted me to try the lying flat, drinking lots of caffeine and fluids thing first), but my head was pounding so badly that I didn't even catch anything she said and really don't know what she was talking about. I assume she may have been referring to a spinal patch?? Anyway, they went away on their own after 3 miserable days so I didn't end up needing to do anything. I'm just so glad those are over. That was by far the worst pain involved with all of this.

Allison update - We took Allison to the ped yesterday to check on her jaundice. Her bili levels in the hospital were low, but she was looking pretty tan/yellow and the ped thought she looked more yellow on Friday when we got discharged so she wanted us to bring her in to get checked again just to be safe. She didn't think Allison looked bad enough to test her, and said she isn't concerned at all. However, they did detect a heart murmur while we were at the ped's yesterday so now we go back next week to get that checked out again. DD#1 was born with VSD (ventricular septal defect) - a hole in the lower chamber of her heart that caused a murmur. The hole closed up on its own by the time she was 2 and has caused no problems whatsoever. She just needs to go to the cardiologist every year so they can keep an eye on it. They do NOT think that Allison has VSD too. They think it might be PPS (peripheral pulmonary stenosis) - which apparently is common (according to the ped) in newborns due to all the changes and shifts in blood flow. The ped was not worried at all and thinks that if it is PPS, it should resolve on its own soon. But she still wants to keep an eye on things. So...we go back to the ped next week and if they still detect a murmur, it's off to the cardiologist we go. I am not worried - it helps that we went through similar stuff with DD#1 so at least I know what to expect if we do end up at the cardiologist's - and it also helps that everything I've read about PPS indicates that it is usually not serious at all.

Garden Girl - I hear you about it being hard to get into a routine while people are in the house. My parents have been here since Sunday and while I love them dearly and appreciate all the help they've been with DD#1, I am ready for them to leave. it would be so much different if they lived in town and could stop by for a few hours here and there and then go home. Instead, they are here 24/7 and it is a little suffocating. They are leaving on Friday and then my MIL wants to come next week. i think I am going to have to veto MIL's visit for a while - I really need some time ALONE with my kids for a change.

Bleeding - this is TMI and embarrassing, but I wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing this. I have not been bleeding at ALL. I realize most people wouldn't complain about that but it just seems, well, abnormal that I am not bleeding at all. I don't even need a panty liner. I haven't bled since we left the hospital. I am debating whether to call the nurse line at my OB's office just to mention it and see what they say, or if I should just be happy I don't need to deal with maxi pads.

Nursing -- Allison has a lazy latch. I think? Things started out really well and she was latching on with no problems. But in the last few days, it's like she forgot how to latch on. She'll latch on, take a few sucks, and then release her latch. Then she cries because she gets frustrated. It takes anywhere from 20-45 minutes to get her to latch on again, and then she does really well and drains the breast. I think I am going to call the lactation consultant for advice. I have tried everything and she is positioned correctly and does latch on properly - she just doesn't stay latched on. It's especially tiring in the middle of the night when I sit there for up to 30 minutes waiting for her to latch on and STAY latched on before she'll even drain my breast.

ETA - at our appt yesterday our ped was really pushing me to give Allison vitamin D, insisting that BF babies "need" vitamin D. She wants us to give her 1 drop of PolyViSol (sp?) every day so she gets Vitamin A, D and K (I think those are the 3 vitamins). Our last ped (different city) told me that as long as DD#1 was exposed to some sunlight every day for about 15 minutes - even if it was just from riding in her car seat in the car - she'd be just fine and he didn't see a need to give vitamin supplements. I am not a big fan of pushing supplements if they aren't needed. And DD#1 never got any supplements and turned out just fine. What have the rest of you been told / what are you doing?

[lindzgirl]

Hey everyone! Hope you all are snuggling with your darling babies. Can't wait to do that.

I hope those of you still waiting are doing ok. I didn't think being overdue would be this hard. I have been given a light at the end of the tunnel though. If I haven't delivered by Friday morning at my 42nd week appointment than they are going to send me next door to start inducing labor. I didn't want to induce but I am glad that it will soon be over. Hopefully!!!

[Lucy Van Pelt]

What's more fun than being overdue? How about being overdue and having the flu? Someone just put me out of my misery.

[zhannushka]

Hello ladies! Sorry to have been MIA for a while - it's been just a bit crazy around here, with a newborn and all... :) I am not even going to attempt individual SO's, but I do want to congratulate all the new mommies and I hope that those of you still waiting to meet your little ones don't have that much longer to wait!

We're doing well over here - little Yosik is growing (he was up to 9 lbs 6 oz at our pedi appointment last Friday). Unfortunately, I've given up on BF'ing - he either just won't latch or if he does, he sucks for about 30 seconds and then proceeds to fall asleep on my boob. It wasn't getting us anywhere and it would take me close to 2 hours just to get a few drops of milk into him, which is obviously not good for his weight gain! So, I'm now pumping full-time (I get about 4 oz every 3 hours) and bottle-feeding him exclusively with my BM. In the beginning I was very upset about BF'ing not working out for us, but at least I know that he's eating BM and not formula, which makes me feel a little bit better...

Overall, he seems to be a very happy baby - he's not fussy at all and sleeps very well. I put him down around 1 am after his last night feeding and he sleeps until about 6:30 - 7 am, which is just great! I would say that he probably cries a total of 1/2 hour on any given day, and that's usually during his diaper changes - he just doesn't really like those! :rolleyes: Here's a picture of him (sleeping in his PnP), taken about 5 minutes ago:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/zhannushka/BabysFirstPics011.jpg

[ButterflyJen]

just reading along...not much to say, really. I'm ready to go and I wish Peanut would come on his/her own, but that's not looking likely. Ugh!! I think I lost my plug over the past two days, and have been contracting pretty steadily for two days, but they aren't painful, just pretty regular BH contrax. So, I'm guessing we'll be in for the "eviction" tomorrow at 7AM. SO not what I wanted, but I guess it's meant to be, huh?

Anyway, glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Good luck to you on Friday lindzgirl, and I hope that, since we haven't heard from Dan's Girl or Ginger in a while, that they're in labor or cuddling their little ones, too!

[Elenna]

Winter Biscuit: I haven't heard anything about the vitamin supplements. DS has a touch of jaundice, too, but our ped isn't concerned either. We are exposing him to sunlight a little bit, but that's just for the jaundice stuff. I hadn't heard of exposing him to sunlight for vitamins.
About the bleeding: I have no advice for that. I would ask my OB about that. There is one person in the Feb 07 group who had a c/s that said she's not bleeding, just having the clear stuff. I sure wish I were that lucky.

zhanna: Very cute picture.

It is just me or are the boards reorganized?

[DansGirl]

Sounds like the new mommas are doing well. For those dealing with jaundice, I hope things clear up soon.

Zhanna: cute pic! so peaceful...

ButterflyJen: if something doesn't happen, good luck at your "eviction"

----

Still nothing here! I have an appointment tommorow, so we'll see if anything has changed. Hopefully, I'll just get to stay there! :rolleyes: yeah right. Right now it feels like this little girl is gonna stay inside forever! I am actually surprised that so little in this group actually went overdue.

[GardenGirl]

Ginger - overdue AND the flu, I'm so sorry. I had a cold the entire 39th week and I was miserable. I feel for you.

WB - regarding bleeding, I hope you find an answer. I only bleed "heavily" for a few days and then it was really light. Now I'm getting frustrated with the bleeding (or lack there of). I'll go 2 or 3 days and not bleed, so I think okay, I don't need this stupid pad and I'll go with a pantiliner or nothing and then out of the blue I'll bleed and get it all over my pants. So I'll wear a liner/pad for another day or so and not bleed and then it will come back. It's freakin' ridiculous!

I went to my office today and said hi to everyone and showed off Carter. It was nice to hear how beautiful my baby is and how great I look. I did feel great today - I think I've lost almost all my baby weight. Maybe 7 or so pounds left (in my belly area, still quite squishy!). For the first time in my life I actually WANT to step on a scale, but don't have one. I'll just pretend I'm back to pre-pregnancy weight. It'll make me feel good.

I have a couple questions ...
Recovery - how long does it take for the stitches to disolve?
BFing - how long should it take Carter to drain a breast? I feel like he takes forever.
Growth spurt - Carter is definitely in that three week growth spurt. How long to spurts last?

Thanks for any help on my questions!!!

[gmooter]

Gabriel Marcus was born on Jan 26th at 1:38pm!

8lbs 11oz
22 1/4 inches

It all kinda started early Friday morning. When the alarm went off for DH to go to work I was having minor contractions every 5 minutes or so. I sent him to work because I didn't know if it was the real thing. I finally called the on call doctor around 7am. She called back and told me to just come to the hospital because the roads were supposed to get bad that day. She said that even if it wasn't the "real" thing they'd probably just keep me and induce since I was 5 days over.

We arrived at the hospital at around 9am. They put me in triage and the doctor came and checked me. I was 4cm and 90% effaced! So, they said they'd get a room ready. They asked if I wanted and epidural. I said yes but probably didn't need it just yet. I wanted to get as far as I could without one in case is stalled the process. Well, 20 minutes later, I needed one BAD!! They called for anesthesia and it took them an hour to get there. By then I was in my delivery room and in serious pain! I was 6cm then. I was feeling a lot of pressure because my bag of water hadn't broken. The epidural was great!! The doctor didn't want to break it though because she had a c-section to do and thought it might go fast if she did break it so she said she'd wait until she was out of surgery.

Thank goodness we waited. When she was done with surgery she came back and broke my water. That was 1pm and Gabe was born 40 minutes later!!! I dialated so fast after that and then pushed for 18 minutes and at 1:38pm Gabriel Marcus entered the world!! What a sweetheart he is!!

(Oh, and I had no tearing and no stitches!!!)

We only stayed in the hospital until aroun 3pm on Sat. 24 hours there was enough for me! We came home and had a difficult few hours with Grace. There was so much chaos. She's doing so much better now and keeps telling us that Gabe is funny!! When she came to the hospital she just cracked up when he cried. She's so proud of being a big sister.

Gabe was quite a big boy! Especially in comparision to my little peanut Gracie! My mom took Grace to Costco while I was in the hospital. She had on her "Big Sister" t-shirt. A man in line asked if she was 7-8 months old!! My mom was like, "no, try 17 months!" And Grace looked right and the man, pointed to her shirt and says, "Big sister!!!!!!!"

Here's his picture:
http://images.costcophotocenter.com/34933%3C774%7Ffp66%3Dot%3E2323%3D847%3D%3B8%3C%3D3 232847%3A9%3B9%3A7nu0mrj

[DansGirl]

Congrats gmooter!

[la_bride_2004]

Ladies- thank you for the warm welcome! I also saw that Jilly had her baby the same day as me! (1/12)

Winterbiscuit I haven't been bleeding hardly at all either (I had an emergency c-section). I think it varies from woman to woman- I was told it was normal! (My incision gushed fluid for a while though, which was scary!). Also, my little guy had a moderate case of jaundice (he had to be on phototherapy for about a week) and we were not recommended any vitamin supplements.

robyn Congrats on the baby boy! Sending healing vibes to the "girl parts"

Garden I didn't know that 3 weeks was a growth spurt. So that's why my guy has been eating so much!

Lucy Hugs for the cold!


DansGirl Hope your time comes soon!

mommy Just wanted to send hugs your way- I can so relate to the jaundice! Malcolm's levels were 26 at the worst, and his feet were a mess too from all the blood draws, and the daily appointments were just grueling. We had to supplement with formula too, but he did turn a corner after about a week and a half. Hang in there and I hope things get better for you soon!

zhannushka Your little guy is precious! I couldn't BF either- I am also pumping.

gmooter Congrats and welcome Gabe!!

[la_bride_2004]

me Things are looking good- Malcolm is finally gaining weight- he is over 6 pounds now! I see now that 3 weeks is a growth phase- he is definitely sucking down his meals. He's still in preemie clothes but maybe in another week or two they will be too small.

Off to try and catch some sleep!

[zhannushka]

Jen - Good luck today! I will be thinking about you!

Elenna - Yeah, I noticed that too!

DansGirl - Good luck at your appointment today - I hope there's progress!

Tera - YAY for the weight loss - that's great! :D

Congratulations gmooter! Gabe is just adorable!

Hi la_bride! :) YAY for Malcolm gaining weight!

I have a question as well - it will probably sound silly and those of you who are BF'ing (looks like the majority) may not have the answer since you're feeding on demand, but anyway - how do I know when my little guy is full? I give him 4 oz of EBM each feeding (every 4 hours). Our number of feedings work out to 6 a day. He seems to be content, but I keep worrying that I am not giving him enough. On the other hand - I tried giving him 5 oz a few times (my ped told me last Friday that 4 oz may not be enough for him anymore) and he spit some of it up, so - I figured that maybe that was too much for his tiny stomach and went back to the 4 oz. What are the cues to watch out for that baby is still hungry?

[zhannushka]

By the way - I promise to come back tomorrow and update the front page with all the new babies and their stats! I'm sorry I've been such a slacker... :o

[Alegna]

Bleeding - Mine was only heavy for the first few days. I had bought a bunch of super heavy duty pads expecting to need them. But I could have just used regulars. Oh well.

Weight - I was -4 lbs from my prepregnancy weight when I checked into the hosptial. Now I'm down another 15lbs. This has been one heck of a diet plan!

Feeding - I can never tell if Megan is draining the breast or not. She doesn't even eat for 10 minutes. I can usually get her to eat at most 7 minutes. And we usually only do one side per feeding. She's gaining weight and there are plenty of dirty diapers so I'm not going to worry about it too much. We gave her a bottle of BM last night. She sucked it down with no problems. I was kind of excited. I read about some babies that wouldn't take a bottle at all or wouldn't do it if mom was in the house, etc.

Burping - I'm having the hardest time getting Megan to burp. It seems everybody else can do it but me. :rolleyes: And if I can't get a burp she'll spit up what seems like EVERYTHING she just ate. I'm sure it's not because she just goes to sleep and doesn't want any more. But still! Anybody have any tricks to getting little one to burp? Do I need to take her off the breast and burp her in the middle of a feeding? I don't think she'll like that very much.

[zhannushka]

Do I need to take her off the breast and burp her in the middle of a feeding? I don't think she'll like that very much.
It's different for me, since I'm bottlefeeding, but - I had the same problem with burping, so - I started burping him half-way into the feeding and then again, after he's finished everything. Of course - I don't have to take him off the boob, just pull the bottle out of his mouth...

[Elenna]

zhanna: If he's not acting hungry after a feeding, then I wouldn't worry. If he weren't getting enough he'd let you know. The cues are sucking on his fists or tongue, turning towards your finger when you stroke his cheek near his mouth, making sucking sounds, opening and closing his mouth. Those are all I can remember right now.

burping: I have the most success burping Lee by holding him sitting upright in my lap with one hand supporting his chin and the other stroking/patting his back. Even when he's fallen asleep at the breast this position seems to rouse him enough for a burp.

growth spurt: Boy, I can't imagine how much this little guy will feed when he hits the three week growth spurt. He eats a lot right now as it is.

alegna: I don't know about taking her off the breast in the middle of a feeding. Maybe the women in the breastfeeding support thread will have good advice on this.

[Alegna]

Maybe the women in the breastfeeding support thread will have good advice on this

Thanks. I'll head over there and browse. I'm sure I not the only person with a little one that won't burp.

[DansGirl]

Well back from my appointment and... no progress. I'm still not dilated at all. :( But...baby is looking healthy and I'm healthy.

I'm having contractions (not painful) but they're (obviously) not powerful enough to do anything. We scheduled an induction for next Wed. at 8:00 a.m. - if nothing happens naturally - which will be 42 weeks!

I'm trying to stay positive, but its hard.

[jmvan74]

Hang in there Dans girl! I'm sure that's easier said than done. I hope your little girl decides to show on her own. Just remember things can go from 0 to 60 in just hours. ;)

Burping: Brady usually falls asleep at the breast, so I take him off and burp him. Sometimes even change him and then put him back on. He only eats for about 10 minutes each feeding as well (one side).

Bleeding: I'm also having some sporadic bleeding. I won't bleed for a day or two and then ...yuck! Luckily, I've been wearing panty liners so I haven't ruined anything yet.
I think with a c/s you generally bleed a bit less than w/ a vaginal b/c they suction so much out of you. Gross.. sorry.


Weight: I've dropped 18 of my 28lbs. I figure my boobs make up the other 10lbs! LOL! DH is so sad I won't let him near them. :o

[wagsgirl]

HI everyone!!!

I only have a minute to post, so I'll have to go back and read. I glanced really quickly and I love all of the names of our little ones!!!

Anyways, our little guys names is Rogan Irey. Irey (eye-ree) is after my DH's grandfather. If you wanna check out the only pic online so far is our hospital website. And it's not a great pic either, but it will do. Go to www.meriter.com and click on see our baby mail. His code is 4165QK.

We're all doing great. He's nursing like a champ and growing like a weed. He was 8lb 12oz at birth, discharged at 8 lb 2oz on Friday the 26th and the follwoing Monday, we went back to the ped and he was 8 lb 10oz. Definitely likes the boobies ;)

I'll get some pics downloaded in the next couple of days and post them here.

I can't believe I have 2 boys!!!! I was CERTAIN he was a girl! :)

[lindzgirl]

Hang in there Dansgirl! I can totally relate. Have you tried any natural remedies? I didn't have anything happening and then a midwife reccomended Blue Cohosh which is a natural herb that women have been taking for years. I started Wednesday and lost my mucus plug awhile later. I would check into it. I am taking a stronger dosage to get these contractions going hard and steady. If they don't improve they will induce me in the morning as they don't want me to go any longer. It has been a long and hard wait and I am so excited that it is finally getting under way. Hopefully Dansgirl you won't have to wait until next week. At least you know that you have less than a week less max.

Well, I am headed in tomorrow morning so I will be MIA for a few days. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

[DansGirl]

lindzgirl: Thanks for your support. You're at 42 weeks! I really shouldn't complain because I'm still feeling okay, just emotionally its starting to get draining. I haven't tried anything natural (well, beyond the old wives' tales of walking and DTD). Believe it or not, there are no midwives, doulas, or any personnel remotely "natural" in my neck of the woods. My DH is very protective of my health and nearly passed out when I read him your post. Ha! Basically if it doesn't come straight out of our MD's lips, he's not gonna hear it. :) Good luck tommorow!!! You'll have your baby in no time!

[lindzgirl]

Well, the natural remedy of Blue Cohosh is doing the trick I think. I am having strong contractions every 9 minutes or so. Yee hah!!! I am going to take a nice hot shower and then go wake DH.

Dansgirl~ I hope that it is your turn soon. Stay positive and remember that alot of women go overdue. (not alot of the January Moms I have noticed.....weird) I hope you don't have to wait until Wednesday. I will send you good labor vibes.

I will check back in later ladies! Have a fabulous weekend!

[Lucy Van Pelt]

*sigh* Just got back from the doctor. Still at 1cm. My urine sample had protein so she took a sample via catheter - oh that was fun - and it was fine. Seeing how I am at the end of my mental rope, my doc offered to move my induction to tomorrow or Sunday if I wanted. I declined in hopes that I will go into labor naturally...even though I know the chances of that are slim to none.

I'm having just a horrid day. If one more person asks if Katie is here yet, I swear I will go postal. I told all of my friends that we had an email address list and as soon as anything happened, Brad would send out an update to let them know. Do people fricking pay attention to that?? Of course not. Yesterday a former coworker asked if Katie was here yet and my smart ass answer was "Why? Did you get an email? no? Then nothing has happened yet." Yes - I was rude, but I don't even care anymore.

Today my cell phone took a flying trip across the room when it dropped a call. Luckily it landed on my bed and wasn't damaged. I yelled at the neighbor's dog to "shut the hell up!" and I know they are home and heard me. It's just not pretty at my house. DH dropped me off after the doctor and just got the hell away from the house...LOL

[Lilla]

Hey guys, popping in here to pass along baby news from ButterflyJen...

It's a GIRL!!! She was born yesterday at 4:35pm, weighed 5lbs 11ozs and measured 18.5 inches. Jen was successful with her VBAC and sounded great!!!

CONGRATULATIONS JEN!!!!

[purpleorchids]

My Labor – I went in at 10 p.m. for my induction. They monitored me for 30 minutes and put in the IV. Half an hour later they hooked me up to some pitocin. My doctor then came in to break my water, which wasn’t painful. At midnight I asked for the epidural and of course the nurse had to check how many cm I was, that was the most uncomfortable thing ever. When I got my epidural, the dr put it in the wrong spot a vein. But when he re-inserted into the right spot, I felt a nice shot running down my leg which really surprised me since I don’t recall that happening with DD#1 (of course I was in a lot of pain with her front and back labor). It was resting time after that, although when I was sorting of sleeping, I felt like pushing but figured I was too tired to tell the difference. The nurse woke me up at 2:30 a.m. and checked me, her head was already down and it was time to push. Yeah!! It went pretty quickly after that.

DD#1 has adjusted nicely with her little sister. It has been tiring since Ayla doesn’t sleep so well at night, I guess you can say she is a night baby. DH was home for 2 wks and my sister and mom helped me out this last week. I hope I do well on my own next week since DD#1 (2yrs old) is also home with me. We have thought about having #3 but will decide when DD#2 is a little over a year old.

Not sure if this was mentioned but on Oprah they had a lady talk about the 5 sounds that baby makes and what it means called the Dunstan baby language. http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200611/20061113/slide_20061113_350_101.jhtml

Weight – I gained a little over 40 lbs, of course I had to much extra fluid which I had to take some medication in Nov. to reduce it. Since then I lost half the weight so far, Yeah! Of course I would like to lose a little extra than my prepreg weight since I never really gotten back to my original weight after DD#1 was born and I actually gain more weight with her too since she also had the extra fluid.

Burping - Algena, I also have the hardest time for burping Ayla and she only eats from one side too. I have tried all three ways the book showed and I get no where with it. I also noticed she get’s a lot of lower gas, which I have started to give her gas drops which helps.

Bleeding – I think I am pretty much done, just spotting now.

Growth Spurt – Ayla weight 7lbs 1 oz and 19 ¼ inches long at birth. At her 2 week check up, she sprouted an inch and gained a 1 pound. I guess she is feeding really well of one boob!

Congrats gmooter, wagsgirl, butterflyjen and all the other new mommies I missed!

Lindzgirl good luck on your delivery.

Dansgirl and lucy van pelt wishing your time will come soon for you.

Sorry not many shout outs since I missed so much but hope everyone is doing well.

[purpleorchids]

Ayla 3days old
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n208/cherylsusan/Ayla3dayold.jpg?t=1170465814

1wk
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n208/cherylsusan/Ayla1-1wk.jpg?t=1170465919

3wk sisters
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n208/cherylsusan/sisters.jpg?t=1170465966

[jmvan74]

Lindsey: Hope all went well and you are holding your little one.

Ginger and Dans Girl: Hoping to hear good news soon. Hang in there.

purpleorchids: Glad labor went quickly. Your girls are just beautiful! Isn't it crazy how much they change in just a matter of weeks.

[Lucy Van Pelt]

Well, ladies, I tried all the "tricks" to go into labor this weekend natrually and nothing. I have to call the hospital tomorrow morning to check bed availability and, if there's one open, it's got my name on it. I am disapointed that this is not how I envisioned the start of my birth experience, but I hope we are able to follow closer to our birth plan for the rest of it.

[Winter Biscuit]

how do I know when my little guy is full? I give him 4 oz of EBM each feeding (every 4 hours). Our number of feedings work out to 6 a day. He seems to be content, but I keep worrying that I am not giving him enough.

Zhanna, I would say that if your baby seems content after each feeding, he's probably getting enough. My DD will pull off the breast when she's had enough, and sometimes she will start rooting for more anywhere from 5-20 minutes later. If Joseph seems content and isn't looking around for more food, he's probably getting more than enough. I agree with you that if he's spitting up, he's probably getting more than he can handle right now.

Anybody have any tricks to getting little one to burp? Do I need to take her off the breast and burp her in the middle of a feeding?

I wouldn't take her off the breast to burp her in the middle of a feeding. If she falls asleep, sure, but I wouldn't interrupt a feeding unless I want to get yelled at by a newborn ;) What helps me get a good burp out of DD is just holding her against my shoulder after a feeding and rubbing her back instead of patting. I've also had success with the method that Elenna described -- holding DD sitting upright in my lap with one hand supporting his chin and the other stroking/patting her back.

FWIW, DD#2 rarely burps and rarely spits up. DD#1 was the same way. It's hard to get air bubbles from a breast :) I don't know for sure, but I think that any air a BF baby swallows is probably from when they latch on. I don't know how well your DD latches on (it still takes mine some time to get the proper latch) but things might get better once your DD is a little older and has the latch-on technique perfected.

Growth spurt -- DD#2 was 7 lbs .08 ounces at birth, and down to 6 lbs 8 oz when we left the hospital on Friday. By Tuesday she was up to 6 lbs 10 oz at the ped's office, and by Thursday she was 6 lbs 12 oz at the lactation consultant's office. At that rate, she should be back to her birth weight by tomorrow (2 weeks) which is exactly where they wanted her. Yay for mommy's milk :D And hopefully she'll continue to gain.

purpleorchids - Ayla is beautiful! I just love her name.

Congrats to Butterfly Jen on the birth of your little girl! And HOORAY for a successful VBAC!! I know how much that meant to you!!

wagsgirl - congrats on your little guy! You need to get him one of those "boob man" onesies!!! :D

lindzgirl - I hope you are holding your little one right now!

Ginger - sorry that things haven't gone the way you envisioned. I can certainly relate (NOTHING happened the way I had "planned" with my first DD). I'm sending you some strong labor vibes!! I'll be thinking of you. No matter what happens, just remember that your precious baby will be here SOON!! Hang in there!

DansGirl - you hang in there too! It's almost over!!

Hi to anyone I may have missed. Hope everyone is doing well.

I finally got around to uploading a bunch of pictures...here's one of DD#2 taken this past weekend:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/380501464_1fa57a96a6_m.jpg

[Winter Biscuit]

QOTD re: birth announcements -- is anyone planning to send out birth announcements? We are, and I am planning to order from inababycarriage.com (which Amber, one of our very own January 2007 moms, runs :)) I am just torn on which design to choose - there are so many that I really like and I'm having a hard time narrowing it down. I am leaning toward their Classic design though:
http://www.photoaffections.com/productimages/iabc/girls/classic.jpg

(I hope it's OK that I posed that picture here. Amber and/or mods, if I need to remove it, let me know and I'll gladly edit!)

[jmvan74]

Jen, Congrats on your litle girl. Can't wait to hear her name!

Ginger: sorry things did not go as you had planned. Just think that you'll be holding your little girl very soon. :)

WB: DD is adorable! As for BFing and gas...DS#2 is a gas man. I have to burp him at least 2-3 times during and after a feeding or he is miserable. I'm not sure why he's getting so much air. His latch is finally right on. I think it's because he gets so excited and it takes him a minute or 2 to latch on. Plus, I have an abundance of milk, so he tends to pull off a few times in the beginning. Not much fun, but he's growing, so I won't complain. ;)

I'm still adjusting to life w/ 2. I'm so tired, but hanging in there. I definitenly have feelings of guilt. I know Collin is not getting near the amount of attention he got before Brady was born. Brady cluster feeds all morning and finally sleeps and slows down the number of feedings in the afternoon, so mornings are a bit rough for us. Other than that we are just moving along. I plan on attending our play group again once Brady is 4 weeks old and then when he's about 6-8 weeks we'll probably start hitting the library for story time as well. Being cooped up in the house is making Collin and I a little antsy.

[quest]

I'm still adjusting to life w/ 2. I'm so tired, but hanging in there. I definitenly have feelings of guilt. I know Collin is not getting near the amount of attention he got before Brady was born. Brady cluster feeds all morning and finally sleeps and slows down the number of feedings in the afternoon, so mornings are a bit rough for us. Other than that we are just moving along. I plan on attending our play group again once Brady is 4 weeks old and then when he's about 6-8 weeks we'll probably start hitting the library for story time as well. Being cooped up in the house is making Collin and I a little antsy.

I could have written that almost verbatim, so I know where you're coming from jmvan74! Guilt is major, that's for sure. And being cooped up is not helping...DD is used to getting out of the house pretty much every day. We'll start swimming in a few weeks (my Mom will watch the baby), and the library starts again in March. DS is just going to have to be a quiet baby for that 1/2 an hour!

I keep saying that DS is way fussier than DD was....that is what is making this so much harder. If he was an eat/sleep type of newborn, things would be easier...but he's an eat/fuss/sleep/fuss/sleep/eat (you get the picture) type of baby so it makes it hard to be consistent with anything I do with DD during the day.

Not to sound like a downer but I just can't wait for the weather to break and for me to stop feeling guilty 24/7! And remembering to brush my teeth and put my contacts in every day wouldn't hurt, either ;)

[wine_o_girlie]

Hey guys, wow it's tough to get on the computer with a newborn, huh? ;) I have my little man sleeping on my chest right now. Griffin was 2 weeks old on Saturday and we are doing great! He has figured out breastfeeding, gotten rid of his jaundice, and is sleeping sooooooooo well (especially at night). He has a bit of a fussy period in the evenings where he would like to suck on my boob for about 2 hours straight (ugh!) but other than that he is a dream.

Schedule: I try to stick to a 2 1/2 hour feeding schedule during the day but sometimes his feeds get a little closer in the evening. I do not wake him up at night and he goes for about 5 hours which is amazing and I am so thankful. Last night he nursed at 10:45 p.m. and I woke him up at 4:45 a.m. because I was worried and my boobs were full. I feel pretty well-rested and just hope this amazing schedule that he has put himself on lasts. :) Y'all are scaring me with this 3 week growth spurt talk...

Weight gain/loss - Luckily the little man is gaining weight and was almost back up to his birthweight at his 2 week appointment last Friday. I am so happy breastfeeding is going well - it was a little rough to get going but things are great now.

I gained 13 pounds during pregnancy and was back to my pre-pregnancy weight when I got on the scale for the first time about a week after he was born. I'm down a few pounds now from my pre-pregnancy weight and I hope the trend continues. ;) I was so excited to wash and pack up all of my maternity clothes last week. I am so happy to be back in all of my regular clothes. My belly still looks a bit jiggly or old-ladyish but I am hoping that once it warms up around here I can get out and do some exercise to tone up.

Burping - Griff is breastfed and he usually pulls off during a feed and belches in my face (:o ) or after he is done eating I put him on my shoulder and pat or rub his back and he will burp.

Bleeding - I am still bleeding a bit but have been using pantyliners only for the last week. I could not stand those huge pads. Ugh. I would just rather go through a ton of pantyliners than use those huge pads.

Birth Announcements - We took some shots of Griffin yesterday and plan on ordering them this evening. Amber does amazing work and I am definitely ordering mine through PhotoAffections. I cannot WAIT to get them and send them out.

Lindz, DansGirl, and Lucy (sorry if I missed anyone else) - girls, I soooo hope you are holding those babies by now! Good luck to you!!!

Hope everyone is doing well. I am hoping to write up my birth story soon and get that posted. Let's all think warm weather vibes so we aren't all stuck in our houses with these babies! :)

[GardenGirl]

Golly - I can't believe Carter turned 4 weeks yesterday. Time is flying by and he is changing everyday. We are going this afternoon to have some photos taken of him. I take 5 or so everyday (mostly of him sleeping or lying in his Moses basket). I email DH a photo of his son everyday at work.

Sorry for all you ladies with bad/cold weather. Houston is finally getting to it's normal temps - we may hit 70 degrees today. I'm so thankful - I really like taking Carter on walks through the neighborhood trails, but it's been to chilly.

I think he's finally out of his growth spurt. He still cluster feeds first thing in the morning and around my dinner time (go figure). But the nights are 3-4 hours apart which is great for me.

His face has started to break out just a little. He had the most perfect complexion and the minute I made an appointment for photos, he got these tiny little baby pimples.

He is really starting to hold his head up well. From early on he could move it around good and during tummy time he could pick up from one side and turn it to the other. But now I can hold him in my arms and he'll hold his own head up for long periods.

I have a weird question - right now his eyes are very blue. If they are going to change, when does that normally happen. Both grandpa's and uncles have blue eyes, but I have green and DH has hazel so we think DS's will probably change.

I ordered our announcements and they should be here tomorrow, at least that is what the tracking info says. I also ordered a hotsling and UPS should have delivered it yesterday but rescheduled. I was disappointed - I'm looking forward to trying it out. In the evenings I think DS just wants to be held and that would really free up my hands. Plus I could walk to the mailbox (our neighborhood has those mailbox stands on the corner of the cul-de-sacs). A couple of times I have actually driven up there with Carter in his car seat. It's silly!

OK - off to get ready for the day.

[Winter Biscuit]

I have a weird question - right now his eyes are very blue. If they are going to change, when does that normally happen. Both grandpa's and uncles have blue eyes, but I have green and DH has hazel so we think DS's will probably change.

When my first DD was born, she had dark blue eyes. Both DH and I have brown hair and brown eyes, so we expected her eyes to eventually change to brown. I remember reading about this and heard different things. I remember different sources said that we'd have a good idea of what color her eyes would be by the time she was 9-12 months old. For us, that wasn't accurate. DD#1 still had dark blue eyes well into her first year, and it wasn't until she had turned 2 - she may have been closer to about 2.5 years old - that we first noticed her eyes were becoming more brown. She is now 3 and there is no question that her eyes are brown, but they did stay dark blue for the longest time.

DD#2 was also born with dark blue eyes (common in Caucasian babies) and I'm curious to see how long they stay that color. I expect them to change to brown eventually, but we'll see!

[jmvan74]

Quest: Glad to know I'm not the only one. Luckily for me, Brady is actually an easier child than Collin was, so that is keeping me sane so far. :) I hope it gets better for you soon.

wine_o: Hooray for things going well and having a good sleeper. I'm super happy that Brady sleeps in 3 hour stretches at night considering Collin was up every hour and half 2 hours when he was this age. :D

Eyes: Both of my sons were born w/ blue eyes. DH and I both have hazel. Collin still has grey/blue eyes at 20 months old. I have a feeling Brady's may change. My mom and DH's mom both have blue eyes...so its in there somewhere! LOL!

[wine_o_girlie]

Y'all, I am so excited - I just ordered our birth announcements!! :) I ordered them from PhotoAffections and it's a design that our very own Amberwaves designed. I can't wait to see the proofs.

I ordered an announcement that has multiple photos but one photo is bigger than the others. We had another little "photo session" this morning since Daddy was home today due to weather and here's what we are going to use as the big photo on the announcements:

http://thegarnerfamily.smugmug.com/photos/128200775-M.jpg

I am so excited!!! :D

[zhannushka]

wine_o_girlie - Your little man is just adorable! What a cute picture!!!

Bleeding - I can't call it "bleeding" anymore, it's more like light spotting on occasion - there won't be anything at all for 2-3 days, and then all of a sudden it reappears again. :confused:

Birth Announcements - We are not going to do them. Everyone we would've sent the announcements to came to the Bris, saw the baby, and received a Thank You email from me with his picture the next day, so - sending announcements now would be kind of repetitive...

Eyes - Right now Yosik has gorgeous blue eyes, which look just like DH's blue eyes. Mine are dark brown, so - I almost positive that his will turn brown at some point as well (brown being the dominant gene), but - we'll just have to wait and see...

So, the last 2 nights Yosik has totally slept through the night - we are talking 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep! BUT... since he's getting so much night sleep, he's barely sleeping during the day. His naps, which used to be nice and long (3-4 hour stretches) have become more like 1/2 hour - 1 hour... Then he wakes up and doesn't just want to lay there all by himself - he wants my attention! He starts crying whether he's in his crib or the PnP, but the second I pick him up - he closes his eyes and just lays there, nice and quiet. If I try to put him down, however, he wakes up within minutes and we go through the whole thing all over again! I put him in the swing a few times and he does fall asleep in there, but again - it's not for long (1 hour at the most!)

This is very new to me (he's been such a good sleeper up until now!) and of course - I'm feeling a little tired today... To be honest - I kind of liked it the other way a little better - it wasn't so much a problem for me to wake up once in the middle of the night, feed him, change him and put him back to sleep. At least my days were nice and relaxing! :rolleyes:

[January2007Mommies]

UPDATED TO HERE

[ButterflyJen]

I am such a slacker!! Yes, we had our little girl last Thursday, February 1st at 4:35 PM. Julia Morgan was 5 lbs, 11 oz and 18-1/2" long. Perfectly healthy, though I did need the vaccuum to help get her out. Otherwise, my VBAC was all I could have hoped for!

Not much time, I've got to order a Moses basket since Miss J won't sleep alone...and we're trying to reclaim our bed. LOL. :) Congrats to all the mommies who popped after me!!

[wagsgirl]

Congrats on the VBAC Jen!! I meant to tell you that in LJ, maybe I did...I'm 200+ friends entries behind in there!! :eek:

[Winter Biscuit]

Y'all, I am so excited - I just ordered our birth announcements!! :) I ordered them from PhotoAffections and it's a design that our very own Amberwaves designed. I can't wait to see the proofs.

wine_o, that's a really cute picture of your DS. He doesn't even look like a newborn in that picture! I can understand your excitement about the birth announcements...I placed our our today with PhotoAffections :) I can't wait to see the proof. What's funny is my girlfriend had her baby the same day I did, only 11 hours later. (She had been due 1/17). She is the biggest procrastinator in the world, and not one who normally plans ahead. On the other hand, I am a true planner/organizer. Well, today I got her birth announcement in the mail and I thought to myself, "Damn, that b!tch has her announcements out already!" :p Nothing like a little peer pressure to give me a kick in the butt! ;)

Zhanna - Allison has slept through the night a few times too, which means that she eats ALL DAY LONG (or so it seems). I don't mind the long sleep stretches at night...but my boobs do! I hate waking up with totally engorged, sore boobs and huge wet spots on the front of my shirt. Allison also has a hard time latching on when I am that engorged.

Baby update -- we took Allison to the ped on Tuesday for her 2-week check-up. She was up to 7 lbs 5.5 oz. She had been 6 lbs 12 oz as recently as last Thursday, so hooray for boob juice :) Our regular ped was on vacation this week so we saw a different doctor from the practice. He could still hear the heart murmur, so we are being referred to the cardiologist for an EKG and heart ultrasound. What's funny is last week the doctor (our regular ped) told us that she was pretty sure the murmur was caused by PPS - peripheral pulmonary stenosis, which she said is quite common in newborns and should resolve on its own. She specifically said she did NOT think the murmur was caused by VSD (ventricular septal defect) which is a hole in the lower chamber of the heart (that is what DD#1 had). Well, this week the doctor said he was pretty sure that the murmur sounded like it WAS VSD. I guess the cardiologist will set them straight! I'm not worried at all because we went through this with DD#1 so we know what to expect, and we are also trusting that this will end up being nothing serious just as it was with DD#1.

[Lucy Van Pelt]

Just a quick update...

Kaitlyn Isabelle was born on Tuesday night, 2/6/07 at 11:34pm Pacific Time. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. It was a very difficult labor and delivery - induction started at around 10am on Monday and I finally went into active labor around 9am Tuesday morning. I had 5 doses of cervidil suppositories and active labor came on naturally. My water broke on its own and I was slammed by labor pains for the next 15 hours. The epidural was not completely effective and gave me some complications. I was finally at 10 cm at 9pm and push for just over 2 and a half hours. The pushing was absolutely BRUTAL. My girlie parts will never be the same. Even the nurses were commenting about the severity of the swelling I am dealing with. I had 2nd degree tears, some other vaginal tears, and the worst case of hemorrhoids known to man. I was in the hospital for 5 days and Katie became jaundiced so they were going to keep us even longer, but decided to treat her at home. Anyway, it was all worth it! Katie is amazing and we are head over heals in love with her...but she may very well be an only child.

I will try to get back online in a couple of days for pics and whatnot...someone is crying!

[DansGirl]

Another update.....

Charlotte Ila was born 2/6/07! 7 lbs. 8.5 oz.; 21 in. Today was our first full day home. I'll be back later with the details!

[GardenGirl]

Ginger - I'm not sure if/when you'll read this since I know you just got home and have lots of recuperating to do. But I wish you a speedy recovery. I too had 2nd degree tears and SEVERE external hemmoroids. My nurses kept commenting on my hemi's they were so bad. They finally "subsided" around 10 days later. I have a little one left still, but it isn't bad. I constantly used the witch hazel pads they gave me in the hospital, took hot baths and then used prep H as well. I also used the squirt bottle with warm water after I used the bathroom for my tears and then they gave me 2 cans of Dermaplast which seemed to help. Of course, I never missed a pain pill. What's different between the two of us is that I was fortunate and didn't have to push long - just one contraction. But because Carter came flying out - I just ripped fast and hard. Thank God for the epidural as it took the doc 40 minutes to put me back together!

[jmvan74]

Jen: Hooray for a successful VBAC! I must say that Julia is a beautiful name. ;) congrats, again.

Zhanna: I hope Joseph is giving you some rest during the day. It can be difficult to entertain an infant for hours on end. :p

WB: I'm glad the murmur is not something to be concerned about. Hooray for weight gain!

Ginger: Sorry you had such a difficult delivery, but happy to hear that Kaitlyn is here and healthy! Congrats!

Congrats Dans girl! Welcome Charlotte!


Brady has decided that his preferred eating style is to snack. NO GOOD. I think I may have mastitis. If I'm not feeling better by Monday I'll call the DR. Brady will eat for 5 minutes every hour for several hours and then move to a 2-3 hour schedule. It is extremely draining. I don't think our nursing relationship is going to last as long as I'd like. I'm contemplating resorting to the pump and bottle. I'm just so tired and sore. On a good note.... he's up to 11lbs!!:eek:

[GardenGirl]

jmvan - I feel your pain, I really do. Carter does that to me in the late afternoons and I just get so sore. I've tried pumping and I get nothing. I went and purchased a larger shield and I'm hoping that works. I really want to get enough for one bottle a day. That way DH can give it to him when he gets home from work. That is the worst time for his poor feedings. I really think getting a full meal/quick bottle will aleviate his cluster feeding. But that all depends on if I can pump anything. Are you considering exlusively pumping or just during his "snack times" of the day?

Also, how do you know he's 11 pounds? Do you have a scale at home? I really wish I knew how much Carter weighed. I've seriously considered putting him in the fruit/veggie scale at the grocery even though I'd get some crazy looks. I know he's gaining weight as he's really starting to fill out (at 2 weeks he was in the 75% of height and 10% of weight). And I know he's getting plenty to eat because we are having plenty of wet/dirty diapers. But everyone always asks how much he weighs and I hate not knowing!

I can't believe I have my 6 week check up a week from Monday. Time is just flying by. I think my doc might tell me to hold off on DTD for a little while longer though. I still get sharp pains every now and then as if the stitches are still in there and pulling out. It's weird to explain. I'm also still sore, getting off the toilet is still uncomfortable - is that normal? I'm going to ask her about my horrible break out on my face, it's ridiculous. And I'm going to ask if there is something I can do for the stretch marks around my belly button. It's funny, I didn't think they were that bad during pregnancy. But now that my belly is smaller (and not tight) I can't help but stare at them when I look in the mirror!!

Zhanna - how do you entertain Joseph. Carter is starting to have long wake times during the day now and I don't know what to do with him. Our boys are still so young, it makes it hard - ya know? I don't want to leave him in his Moses basket all day. He likes his swing, but isn't in love with it. And he hasn't figured out the bouncy seat. He just sits there. We do tummy time several times a day, but I still have hours of time I feel the need to play with him. Thoughts?

[zhannushka]

Congratulations Jen, Ginger and DansGirl!!! And welcome to your little ones! :D

WB - I hope that the murmur turns out to be nothing!

Julie - I'm sorry about the possible mastitis... :( I hope you feel better soon! But YAY for Brady gaining so well!!! :)

Tera - There's an infant/toddler scale that is sold at Costco - it's looks cute and pretty portable... I think we may end up buying it. Here's a link (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11072222&search=scale&Sp=S&Mo=24&cm_re=1-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&N=0&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=All&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=scale&Ntt=scale&No=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1).

As far as entertaining Joseph - I really don't know what to do with him either... What do you do with them at that age? But at the same time - I feel bad just leaving him in his crib, bassinet, swing, etc., s