October & November 2007 Babies - Loving our Fall Babies!

[Jenn (and Bill)]

wow, i leave town and you guys start posting like crazy! just wanted to check in and see how everyone was. trip is going well so far. she was a pro on the plane and the businessmen nearby all commented on it as they were getting off! Made me laugh.

My family is loving her of course!

Poop question: she's at like one a day right now. I know they switch to that eventually but is this the right time or it too early? She's 10 weeks tomorrow. So how much is your DC pooping?

I'll check in more when I can, I hope! But I've got lots to get done!

[loving624]

[QUOTE=teacher_jessica;1613839]DH is getting in some snuggle time so I'm sneaking in some online time. :) The funny thing is that I really did think that being at home with DS all day would allow me to be all caught up with things like this. How wrong I was!

Jessica - I'll be honest, I thought the same thing! Even now, with DS at 8weeks today, I still don't just have time to come get on here very often. It's funny that people think being a SAHM you can just do whatever you want! Lots of days I dont get supper started until DH even gets home to take over everything else!

Pink - since you are a RO, let me ask, how do you treat Taylor's cold? Dylan has a cold as well and his stuffy nose just sounds terrible. We are using the humidifier, and the saline drops and aspirator, is there anything else I can do?

What did you get DC for Christmas? We got DS toys and books, for both now and also the 6+ month ages. We also got a few outfits.

Dylan is 8 weeks old today! That is so hard to believe. I just wish we could get rid of this stuffy nose, it's waking him up extra at night.

[FSUSammy]

Jessica - Charlie is an angel! I love the pics!

Poop ~ Mikey is usually a once-a-day pooper.

It was a ROUGH night last night. Michael did horrible with his naps all day and he was in pain last night. So much so that I ended up feeding him an hour early and gave him a full dropper of Tylenol too. Damn those shots! He fell asleep and didn't wake up until 4am though so he did great sleeping through the night. Today is a MUCH better day for him. No more pain from the shots thank god.

[VMB]

jessica what wonderful pictures. It's pictures like that, that make me forget how hard the 1st months are! He's a cutie!

Pink I hope the cold gets better! DD has had one too, courtesy of our lip-kissing toddler. I hate hearing that little snort. The only place she'll sleep at night is the car seat (ugh), so it might be helping her sleep(while creating another set of problems). I could have written the post about your DD and DS smiling. DS held out on us until about 10 weeks, but DD started flashing them all around last Friday.

wendy it sounds pretty normal to me - the hormone craziness. I certainly still feel unstable at times at 7.5 weeks PP. It's much better than before though. If you're worried, definately call your doctor though!

loving you can try a little saline spray up the nose(creates lots of screaming) and then suctioning right before he goes to bed. I've done that for both DD and DS a couple of times. It seems to help...at least in the beginning of the night.

FSUsammy ugh, I feel your pain. I hope Michael feels much better today! Good Luck!

Megande your post is giving me a little hope. DS goes to bed at 7pm and this week (7.5 weeks) we managed to get DD to sleep at around 10pm (instead of midnight), so here's to hoping it wasn't a fluke and that her bedtime will keep moving earlier! I don't care as much if I have to get up twice a night (before 6am), just would like to have a little down time before I go to bed.

[PinkMartini]

Pink - since you are a RO, let me ask, how do you treat Taylor's cold? Dylan has a cold as well and his stuffy nose just sounds terrible. We are using the humidifier, and the saline drops and aspirator, is there anything else I can do?

We do the humidifier, little noses drops and aspirator as well. At this point, that's all I trust. Last year, DS got a cold when he was 6 weeks old and I talked to our ped and he said it was fine to give him Infants Tylenol Cold drops, but I don't feel safe enough with the medicine recalls.

Good luck, I hope Dylan gets better soon!

Pink I hope the cold gets better! DD has had one too, courtesy of our lip-kissing toddler. I hate hearing that little snort. The only place she'll sleep at night is the car seat (ugh), so it might be helping her sleep(while creating another set of problems). I could have written the post about your DD and DS smiling. DS held out on us until about 10 weeks, but DD started flashing them all around last Friday.

Really? Wow that's kinda neat. I wonder if it's a boy thing :p

Hope Nissa gets over the cold soon :)

[loving624]

loving you can try a little saline spray up the nose(creates lots of screaming) and then suctioning right before he goes to bed. I've done that for both DD and DS a couple of times. It seems to help...at least in the beginning of the night.

We do the humidifier, little noses drops and aspirator as well. At this point, that's all I trust. Last year, DS got a cold when he was 6 weeks old and I talked to our ped and he said it was fine to give him Infants Tylenol Cold drops, but I don't feel safe enough with the medicine recalls.

Good luck, I hope Dylan gets better soon!

Thanks girls, for the advice! I'm glad to know I'm doing all that I can. Hopefully it will clear up on its on soon!

[janders6]

jessica- gorgeous pictures!

wendy-it sounds like you have a touch of the baby blues. hopefully by your 6 week PP visit, everything will have evened out.

xmas gifts - if my DD wasn't totally aware of xmas this year, I don't think I'd really get Jack anything. But, since she is, he's getting some rattles, new infant toys, a football and Bears jersey, books and a stuffed puppy.

Hope all the little colds go away soon!

[Lila55]

wendy I'm in my fifth week postpartum and have cried every day this week. I was thinking this morning, if I continue to feel this way, I have to talk to a doctor. I think most of my tears are coming from the sleep deprivation. Honestly, I feel like I never recovered from the exhaustion of labor and delivery. I really need to nap during the day.

hope In addition to a listing on Craigslist, I am using care.com for my nanny search. I heard them advertise on the radio. I have received a great response so far. Another site that has been recommended is sittercity.com

xmas gifts I got Nicholas a couple of books and a toy. I will also give him a monetary gift for his savings account.

Question for mom who are planning on hiring nannies Are you going to pay the nanny tax (social security and unemployment). Feel free to PM me if you are not comfortable answering this in a public forum.

[Peever]

Holy crap. I don't know if I can keep up with all of you now!

Things are going pretty well. I go back to work a week from today so I'm trying to finish shopping. DD is such a turd though. She wakes up the instant I take her out of the car (if she even fell asleep in the car to begin with) and she also refuses to ride in the stroller the majority of the time so I have to strap her to me and she usually only makes it for one store. Needless to say, it's taking me way longer to finish my xmas shopping than I thought it would. I still have a couple of gifts left to pick up and I have to finish wrapping. I still need to get our house clean and go grocery shopping as well. Not to mention I need to get my work clothes ready and DD's daycare stuff ready. Sigh.

I have to brag a little, BUT let me preface this by saying that my nearly 4 yr old son still is a crappy sleeper - won't go to bed, wakes up too early, flew out of his bed on Sunday while napping and somehow managed to catch the corner of his nightstand causing a trip to acute care to glue his skin back together, etc. Also DD won't let me eat anything, bites me when she's nursing so I have to meet with an LC again tomorrow, gets all hot and bothered when she has to fart or poop (kind of all the time), won't sleep in the car or the stroller or away from home, so really this is the least she could do, but she's been STTN. She's been sleeping from 6pm-6am and lately I've been able to just lay her in her crib and she puts herself to sleep. I will say that the big key to this has been her thumb sucking addiction, but I don't care. DS is still addicted to sucking on his fingers so what's one more kid? It's taken me a couple of weeks to start sleeping through the night as well. I still wake up at 2am occasionally, but I'm finally starting to sleep better. DS didn't STTN on a consistent basis until he was 2 so this is totally foreign to me, but I'm not complaining. You know she'll stop this the second I go back to work. ;)

I'm so enjoying her smiles and laughs and most of all the conversations. She's hilarious.

I've got to go pick DS up, but I'll try for SOs later.

[PinkMartini]

I will say that the big key to this has been her thumb sucking addiction, but I don't care. DS is still addicted to sucking on his fingers so what's one more kid?

That was my DS as well. He started STTN at around 3 months & I fully attribute it to him thumb sucking. He still, at 14 months sucks his thumb to go to sleep. My MIL made a remark about it last month while we were visiting them :rolleyes: and I told her I'm not going to worry about it until he's 5 and still doing it.

And at this point I fully wouldn't care if Taylor started sucking her thumb and it got her to STTN. I'm ready to do anything at this point, I'm like a zombie these days....

[Megande]

I HOPE DS2 finds his thumb! I hate pacifiers!! They really soothe him, but he can't keep them in his mouth! DS1 is a thumb sucker and I'm all for it...no frantic searching around the house for thumbs!

[Mom2B-10.07]

Jenn - I'm so happy for you that Natalie was good on the plane. I'm already stressed about our trip in March.

Sammy - Ellie has not been a good pooper lately. A couple of weeks ago she went 3 days without any action, but the nurse said as long as she doesn't seem uncomfortable it's fine for a breast fed baby to go for a few days. Last week she did it again, but did seem uncomfortable so I put some petroleum jelly on a q-tip and stuck it you-know-where. I was really freaked out, but she was not bothered by it at all and let 'er rip about 5 minutes later.

[wendalah]

Oh! I forgot to note that Audrey found her thumb and sucked it yesterday! It was so cute.

For all of you who responded to the hormone question--thank you! I think I may try to see my OB a little earlier than six weeks if I am not feeling better by next week.

[CarrieCP]

Wow, today was a day for the poop record books. In the morning, DS filled up his diaper to an extent I had never seen before. It was all over his junk and pooled up in the diaper, but miraculously it didn't leak. Four hours later, he did it AGAIN, only worse! :eek: And this time it shot up his back. I was at a friend's house, so I had to change him without getting any on her pristine ecru-colored changing pad or letting him get his hands and feet in the poo. I feel like I earned a mommy merit badge!:D

[honeygirl]

Jen - Glad that we get to share a mommy thread! I'd love to get together with you and the kids, let me know when works for you.

Sammy - We ended up having babies the same month after all. Thanks for answering my ?'s about photography. My DH was inspired by some of your photos.

Poop - I can't imagine going more than a day without DD pooping. She goes at least 3x a day, sometimes as much as 6! I read that it's normal for a BF baby to poop a lot. ;)

Christmas - No plans to buy DD anything, she doesn't need anything more just yet.

thumb - DD hasn't found her thumb, but does suck on her hands from time to time. She's refused a pacifier so far, but we wish she wouldn't!

DH took more photos last night, here's one of my favorites:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/anneg/baby/IMG_6501.jpg
She only peed on DH once this time. ;)

[Thea]

Add us to the list of babies with colds!!! HOw miserable for him!!!! This morning he sneezed and an enormous amount of snot came out of his nose!! I was so happy for him, because I don't feel like I get a lot out with the aspirator. He then proceeded to have a huge poop, pee on me while I was changing him, and spit up all over the new outfit I put him in. I bet he felt better aftr all that!!!

I loove reading everyone's posts....it is such a spirit booster on down days!! (Today is a good day...actually slept a little last night!)

[SQ2]

I just LOVE the recent baby photos posted. So cute!!!

Just checking in while we're away for the holidays visiting family. DD did great on both flights. I nursed her while we took off the first time and she was fine. The other take off and landings she was either sleeping or sucking her pacifier and the altitude change didn't seem to bother her. What was NOT so fun is all the delays we experienced and how much her schedule was thrown off. We definitely paid for it the next day as she was cranky and tired ALL day but would not go to sleep. :( Thankfully she finally got a nap and has been napping better since then.

Don't have much time but wanted to respond to some of the QOTDs:

Baby Acne ~ DD has had a lot of this, especially a couple weeks ago. It was all over her face, neck and chest. I was worried it was a rash but the doctor said it's just acne. It's pretty much gone away now.

Swaddling ~ We swaddle her in her Miracle Blanket at night and just a looser swaddling blanket for naps. We find that swaddling helps her realize that it's either nap time or nightime sleeptime. She does manage to get her arms out when she wakes up.

Sleep clothes ~ Cotton sleeper and swaddling blanket, with a couple other knit/breathable blankets on top (we don't keep our house very warm at night).

She is changing so much these days and DEFINITELY has a mommy preference now. I LOVE it. She just lights up when I come in the room and if I leave she looks all around for me. :D Ok, she's crying, even though I put her down for a nap half hour ago. Must be time to eat. Gotta go...

[VMB]

Just had to come in and post that DD finally spent a blissful 20minutes in her swing yesterday evening, so instead of taking turns pacing with a screeching infant, DH and I got to actually scarf down our takeout dinner and have a half-decent conversation that did not revolve around how to quiet DD down and who's turn it is to paceor eat! :) Watch, to day she'll refuseto spend a second in it since I posted about it. Of course today DH is out of town for the day and won't be back until 10pm which means I really need DD to hang out in the swing while I put DS to bed...

thumb sucking DS refused the pacifier,so when he finally found his thumb/hands, we were excited! He still sucks his thumb with his blankie to calm down or go to bed. It's not the most attractive, but I think he's too young for me to try to take his comfort thing away. DD has so far rejected the paci as well, even though we are trying much more actively to get her to like it. I do have to agree that with a thumb, there is no frantic looking for it around the house or forgetting to bring it on trips, etc...

honeygirl what a sweet picture!

Peever congrats on STTN! Last DD slept a 5 hour stretch (unheard of with DS at this age), but of course DS had to wake up twice for no reason! Go figure!

[Peever]

Ha! DD woke up at 3am this morning. She might have put herself back to sleep, but I was up anyway so I grabbed her. She's always so smilie and chatty when she wakes up so it's hard to get annoyed by it. I had a DVR show that I wanted to watch anyway.

I pretty much have to quit my job. I'm going back until at least mid-January though. It's kind of a long story. Our daycare is good, but they just don't have the structure or activities for DS. He can be a handful to begin with, but he acts out when he's bored so he needs to be kept busy. Our daycare won't watch him for much longer so I either need to find a different daycare or quit my job. This is already our 4th daycare. They all suck here so I'm never going to find anything else. I don't know how we'll be able to afford it, but we don't really have a choice.

Okay, so I see we're discussing poop already. DD is bf and is down to about every day or every other day. Her poop is finally better now that I've been on my e-diet for a few weeks, but she really has been stinky this week. I didn't think bf babies poop were supposed to stink. Maybe because she's brewing it longer now?

Pink- I wouldn't worry about it. DS will be 4 in a couple of months and he still sucks his 2 fingers. The dentist said not to worry about it until permanent teeth start to come in so I figure I've about about a year and a half to work on it. ;)

Megan- DS only took a pacifier until he was 8-10 weeks old and DD never took one. It is nice not having to worry about replugging them or having a clean one around all the time.

Melanie- Just be careful about using a q-tip. She can easily become dependent on that for pooping so you might be stuck doing that for a long time. DS has always been on the constipated side and our ped warned against doing that. DD gets fussy when she has to go sometimes too, but I keep bicycling her legs and pushing her knees to her chest and that helps her. Putting her in a sling or carrier and walking her around gets things moving too.

Wendalah- I was hormonal forever. DS was super colicky and I cried for months with him out of frustration. I think you'll be able to tell what's the exhaustion and what's something more. When in doubt, call your OB!

Carrie- Gotta like it when they save it all up, huh?

Honey- Great picture!

Thea- Sorry about the cold!

SQ2- I hate it when they get so overtired they can't sleep!

VMB- Evenings sucked for the first couple of months. It's SO much better now that DD is going to bed at 6 so I can make dinner and eat in peace and spend more time with DS and put him to bed without a screaming baby. Just hang in there. It sounds like we have a lot in common with the older-thumb/finger-sucking-blankie-loving DS and the younger-screeching-but-better-sleeping DD. ;)

[gardenmommy]

I will say that the big key to this has been her thumb sucking addiction, but I don't care. DS is still addicted to sucking on his fingers so what's one more kid? ...You know she'll stop this the second I go back to work. ;)


I HOPE DS2 finds his thumb! I hate pacifiers!! They really soothe him, but he can't keep them in his mouth! DS1 is a thumb sucker and I'm all for it...no frantic searching around the house for thumbs!

Last week she did it again, but did seem uncomfortable so I put some petroleum jelly on a q-tip and stuck it you-know-where. I was really freaked out, but she was not bothered by it at all and let 'er rip about 5 minutes later.

I was at a friend's house, so I had to change him without getting any on her pristine ecru-colored changing pad or letting him get his hands and feet in the poo.

She only peed on DH once this time. ;)

...so instead of taking turns pacing with a screeching infant, DH and I got to actually scarf down our takeout dinner and have a half-decent conversation that did not revolve around how to quiet DD down and who's turn it is to pace or eat! :)

Thanks for the laughs girls! Seriously its comments like these that make me feel like there is a secret society of moms out there that actually understand what I'm going through!

Tuesday night Thatcher was just a pill! I put him in his crib about 8 and he slep for about 30 minutes and then woke up screaming and didn't really stop until midnight. I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to get done that night but it was a little tough with a screaming banchee in my arm. DH fell asleep on the couch while he was screaming (don;t even ask me how he could do it!) and then woke up and looked at me and said "I'm going to bed, are you staying up?"

:rolleyes:

No Dear, I think I'll just leave Thatcher to fend for himself and head off for a lovely nights sleep!

:rolleyes:

[Peever]

DD actually seems to prefer for me to just lay her in her crib and she'll put herself to sleep. I feel so guilty doing that. I know I should be thrilled about this. I know it will make my life so much easier, especially since I'm probably going to quit my job and watch my friend's son PT so I'll have 3 kids to nap. I never let DS CIO and him, out of all children, would push you to do that, but I didn't. I rocked him until he was 3. Not completely to sleep, but just enough to settle him down every night. Where did that get me? Absolutely no where. He's a crappy sleeper. Maybe he would have been anyway, but maybe my coddling him had something to do about it? Sigh, but I love rocking babies...

garden- DH always asks me what I'm doing tonight. What do you think I'm doing tonight? Like I've got a social life with big plans. I'm feeding kids, bathing them, and putting them to bed like I do every night. I don't know how DH sleeps through it all either. I will say that's he's a lighter sleeper now than he was when DS was born though.

[Mom2B-10.07]

Garden and Peever - Cracking up over here with your DH comments. So classic.

Honey - Very cute pic!

[mlfallis]

Let me start by sayingI am very jealous of all of you that have poohs down to even one a day. We are still at about 4, must be something I am eating.

Peeve: very jealous of N sleeping through the night, K just did it once but it was heavenly.

Garden: Got to love DH hun? When ever I ask Dh to do anything I always get just a minute I need to do x. If DS is crying I don't get that option why should he.

Pink: Sorry not help with the thumb, DS doesn't sucks his and old uses a pacifier in his car seat. Much to MIL diappoitment.

crap DS just woke up I will try and get back before the holidays. If not I hope everyone has a great Christmas.

[papergirl]

DS had his 2 month well visit and is 20 inches and up to 9lbs 1oz.... which is almost a 3 pound gain from our last visit so we are very pleased. We decided to break up his shots so he got 2 today and will get 2 more in a month.

My mom is visiting and has been helping with his night feedings but somehow I don't feel better rested. A bit but I'm still prying myself out of bed in the morning. Ugh!

I have a lot of envy for you ladies getting to STTN. It seems like DS will never be there. I shouldn't complain because he really is a great baby yet as with everything else we want what we don't have.

Yesterday was my birthday and we were able to get DS to keep a birthday hat on his head for photos. Hopefully some of them came out cute.

Lila - Yay for getting on a three hour feeding schedule!

Hope - You may want to try craigs list for your nanny seach. I've heard good things from people who've done so.

Jessica - The photos are beautiful! I really wish we would have done newborn photos but with DS's NICU stay things were so crazy.

Honeygirl - Your images are so much fun! Do you use a backdrop? Wondering how the background is perfectly black.

Gardenmommy - Sorry for the crappy night but at least it made for a hilarious post!

Christmas Gift for DS - Umm, I suck because DS won't be getting anything. We don't do much and since he is clueless I won't bother. ;)

[FSUSammy]

Melanie - I had a similar poop experience but with a thermometer instead. I was taking DS's temp a couple of days ago and before the temp could register he started pooshing. It was sooooooo not fun.

Anne - What a great pic!!

SQ2 - Glad your flights went well!! Enjoy your trip.

Peever - Sorry you are having those daycare issues with DS. I hope you are able to figure out everything soon.

garden - I sooooooooo know what you are going through with your DH! Mine will come home and I just wanna offload the baby to him but then he goes and does stuff in the office at home so then I'm all by myself again to deal with the baby and by then the baby is fed up with mommy. Men...can't live with them can't live without em.

papergirl - Are you trying to keep your DS up a lot during the day? I ask because what I do is after 5pm I do not let DS go to sleep no matter what. He needs to stay up and then when he eats around 8ish THEN he is allowed to fall asleep. By then he's so tired he sleeps a long time.

Me - I'm EXHAUSTED right now. We got home not too long ago from spending a couple of ours at my office at work to meet all of my coworkers and to stop by the daycare there and tour it and pick up the paperwork. I toured it a year and a half ago but this time it was more real because he'll be there in a month. It's just a bit overwhelming to see the list of things I need to bring with me on the first day. I'm gonna need like 5 arms for all the stuff! Oh and while we were at the office he pee'd through 2 outfits so I think its time for my little guy to graduate to size 2 diapers! I wasn't ready for him to move up a size just yet but this isn't the first time he has peed on his clothes.

[jenji]

Lila - You are so not alone. I was right there with you a month ago! I needed a nap to function until about 7 weeks post partum and still took them pretty regularly for another week or so after that. Making it past the 6 week growth spurt things start to calm down a bit. Baby gets in the groove, you get in the groove. it's not Easy, but it's more manageable.
Also, about nannies. I'm not a CPA, but to the best of my recollection, you can pay them as household employees (for which you withhold taxes) or you can pay them as an independant contractor if that is their only job and you pay them more than $600. If you do that, you issue them a 1099 at the end of the year instead of a W-2 and they will pay self-employment tax and the withholdings themselves. I think you need to do one of the two of these in order to take the child care tax credit.
I suppose you can also pay in cash and just not withhold, but the decision is up to you. if this is someone you plan on having full time, I'd talk to an accountant or someone who knows about taxes in your state about it.

pooping DS is EBF, and he is still pooping like 10 times/day. he will have 4-5 big poops and a bunch of other little ones. It's crazy.

christmas gifts We aren't giving DS anything for Christmas. I did go to BRU today and return some things he had outgrown before he could wear and got him some new clothes, so I guess you could consider that his gift, but he really doesn't need anything. he's got food and clean diapers and clothes, so he's pretty happy!

mommy days/work transition - I went from working in a CPA firm to nannying a year and a half ago, but even doing that, I still went to work and had a schedule, even though it didn't feel like a job. DH and I both want me to be a SAHM, but honestly, I never thought it would be so hard. I find myself daydreaming about going to work. I know it would kill me to leave DS, but at this point it seems like it would be easier than taking care of him 24/7. I wouldn't do it, but I do think about it often. Then I try to remind myself that he won't be this small ever again and I need to soak it up... it's just hard day-in and day-out without a break.

us at 10.5 weeks - Well, DS is still growing strong. he completely outgrew all of his 0-3 sleepers this week. he is too long for them, but is still too small for 3-6 month ones, which stinks because I really love sleepers. for now we're in two-piece things 3-6 month onesies or T-shirts and 0-3 or 3-6 mo. pants.
nothing too exciting other than the random 10 week growth spurt.
oh, except last night was the 3rd night ever DS slept for 6 hours!!!! SO nice! Then he ate and went back to sleep for another 3.5 hours. he usually sleeps 4 hours, nurses then sleeps another 3 so today was amazing!

Anyone else incredibly nervous/anxious about traveling for Christmas? We're leaving Christmas night for IL's . We've been twice with DS already, but just overnight trips (they are 4 hours away). I'm REALLY dreading 3 days away from home and with MIL.

[CarrieCP]

Let me start by sayingI am very jealous of all of you that have poohs down to even one a day. We are still at about 4, must be something I am eating.

You're not alone. My kid still poops like crazy. (We're EBF. I get frustrated when I see how many babies are pooping infrequently and/or sleeping through the night, but then I remember that I shouldn't compare the habits of breast-fed and formula-fed babies.)

[spps]

poop - DD also still poops multiple times daily - even more than 4 usually.

[October2007Mommies]

Updated to here.

[merjmo]

Peever: Sorry about the DC issues. You must not be in a major city, to only have crappy options? :(

papergirl: don't worry, it'll happen eventually. Try to sleep as late each day as you can (as in nap after he eats in the morning), if you can! :) Everyone has their issues, I'm sure.

poop: my DD is EBF and goes about once a day. Sometimes she has the "skid marks" as DH likes to call them, and those once-a-day are DOOZIES.

sleep: for those of you with babies who sleep a long time, do you BF them right before bed or are they bottle-fed (either EBM or formula)? DD has been sleeping from somewhere between 8 and 10 to somewhere between 3 and 5, eating, then sleeping again until around 9. I know the sleep people say how much they sleep has nothing to do with how much they've eaten, but that's so hard to believe!

Because I never posted a picture, here ya go (not go to on first page)...this is really old - she's bigger now but I love this expression:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/merjmo/happierface11-1.jpg?t=1198203946

And decked out in her Patriots gear!
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/merjmo/patriotsfan.jpg?t=1198204062

[Peever]

Melissa- Don't worry, she hasn't done it again since I posted that. I knew I should have kept my mouth shut!

paper- Happy Birthday!

Sammy- I just going to quit my job and hope for the best. I think we can make it work. It's a good thing you had 2 outfits. I usually just pack 1!

jenji- Glad he's sleeping better!

merjmo- Very cute! The city I live in is about 150,000 but the daycares really suck. I expect a lot, but still. I always BF before bed and she often nurses for a good half hour around 4pm and then again around 6pm when she goes to bed so she does tank up. Actually last night I gave DD a bottle since my DH accidentally left the freezer drawer cracked open and I had 4 bags of EBM in there that were thawed so I didn't want all of it to go to waste. She woke up at 3am to eat and then again at 5am really gassy. I use anti-colic bottles, but she's been a huge gas bucket this morning for some reason. I don't think I ate anything that should cause that. I'm hoping she's just going through a 12 week growth spurt and that she'll go back to STTN. ;)

[jjsanner]

real quick....typing one-handed.....we have a tooth! its on the lower left gum, just a speck of white. isn't it early for teeth yet? he just turned 2 months last sunday. anyway, hes been crankier than usual the last few days, so mabey ths is why.

his sleep has also gone to crap. the last 2 nights he was up at 1, then again at 5. i am so tired, and dh has been working a ton due to christmas so i am on my own with both boys. fun.

[FSUSammy]

jjsanner - my ped told me that DS will start teething soon but that the teeth won't actually poke out for a couple of more months. Wow I can't believe you already see a tooth coming out! Guess your little one is an over-achiever! He apparently can't wait to get his teeth in so he can chomp down on some real food.

[cradle]

Username: cradle
Me: Christine, 31
DH: Jason, 36
DS/DD: Jackson
Birthdate: 11/1/07
Time of birth: 11:38pm
Weight at birth: 6 lbs., 12.9 oz.
Length at birth: 19 in.
Any other children: furbaby - Alley Cat

Hospital Pic: (1 day old)
http://www.babysites.com/site8/jackson111/myphotos/1061248_20071126_100000289765124.jpg

Announcement Pic: (1 mo. old)
http://www.babysites.com/site8/jackson111/myphotos/1061248_20071126_100000289765265.jpg

[cradle]

Hello lovely ladies … I see I have some major catching up to do! Here goes!

Daycare –
I asked for advice from some of the ladies I work with. I found out there is a local non-profit organization called Daycare Connection that will assist in locating daycare. They will only assist anyone needing daycare with in the next 2 months. I just called them up, gave them my specifications (times, days, age, general locations). They then called back the next day with a list of 10 or so at home daycares … locations, names, phone #’s. It was then up to me to call each one to see if they had any availability, etc. They state that they refer only … they do not recommend. So we still went through the interviewing process, etc. Out of 25 names total, we interviewed 5 ladies based on price and location and we found a lady that is very nice and we connected with very well. I am still not happy about not being with my little angel, but I do feel good knowing that he will be exposed to other kids and will develop good social skills. <fingers crossed> As for the bottles, etc. … I am just using a Sharpie and marking his initials on the rims and bottle.

Christmas Gifts –
We are just doing a stocking for DS this year. We got books, some rattles/teething rings, etc. We also went to usmint.com and ordered a set of coins all dated 2007. They come in a plastic display case and we thought it would be something that he could treasure since they are all his birth year.

Sleep Clothes –
A onsie and his SwaddleMe. He usually likes to leave his arms out of the swaddle, but on those nights where he is a little fussy, we swaddle him up completely and he’s out like a light. Of course by the time he wakes up again, his arms (and sometimes even his legs) are out. One time he somehow managed to get his leg through the little peep hole in the back … little Houdini! ;)

Baby Acne –
DS had a bad rash all over his forehead. Of course being a new mom, I freaked and tried Vasoline … then tried Desitin … then finally I thought … well, they say to just leave it alone … so I just washed his face each night with just a wet rag (no soap) and it went away in about 2 days. Lesson learned! ;)

Sleeping-
DS has slept through the night twice now. Once it was in his bed … YEAH! Last night, though, he was pretty fussy and wouldn’t calm down enough to fade to sleep. I laid down with him on the couch and he was out. We stayed there until morning. I hope this isn’t a new pattern … mommy likes her own bed.

Colds –
DS has had a stuffy nose pretty much since he was born. Ped says it is just something that is common with winter babies. He doesn’t show any other signs of being sick or having an actually cold, but it sounds like we are doing everything you other ladies have been … aspirator, saline drops, humidifier. I do find it hard to time the saline drops just right. If I do them before or even after he eats, he’ll usually spit up just a little bit. In between feedings he is usually asleep and I don’t want to do it then either. Has anyone found the “perfect” time to drop them in?

Postpartum –
I have been doing pretty good actually … however, I had a hard time, mentally, during the pregnancy and my OB put me on Zoloft and I am still on it now, so that could be “masking” anything else I might be feeling.

Teacher –
Those pictures are INCREDIBLE!!! What a treasure you have!

Poop –
We go back and forth. We are pretty set on 2 dirties a day, but it seems to alternate between mushy and yellow one day and hard and green the next. We have been using the corn syrup as needed and it really helps to get things “cleaned out”. DH is pretty funny though … he has a hard time with the “smell factor”. We have a little jar of Vicks Vapor Rub on the changing table so that he can rub it on his nose before he “goes in”. Hey … he’s changing diapers … I won’t argue! What ever works! ;)

DH –
DH is doing pretty good with things. I do think that sleep means more to him then it does to me though … or maybe it’s just the mothering instinct in me … baby cries, you get up and feed him, no questions asked. I seem to be more willing to get up for 3am feedings then he does, but he is getting there. I think he is starting to notice me fading in and out from time to time. Of course his first question is … are you OK? Are you upset with me? … and I have to explain that I am perfectly fine … just a little tired. He’s getting there, bless his heart.

Thumb –
I really don’t mind paci’s or thumbs … DS hasn’t quite found the thumb by itself, though … he more just sucks on his fist.

Honey –
GREAT pic!!! Did you guys just do that at home or are they pro?

Me –
I just LOVE the smiles and the coos … ladies, how lucky are we?!?!?! This is just the greatest gift ever!

[October2007Mommies]

Updated to here

[FSUSammy]

QOTD: Anyone giving their DC cereal in the bottle? I know most pediatrician's don't want you to start until the baby is at least 4 months, but I know of people that do it before then.

[PinkMartini]

Welcome cradle! Jackson is a cutie pie!

QOTD: Anyone giving their DC cereal in the bottle?

Nope. I didn't start giving DS solids (including cereal) until he was 6 months old, I'll do the same with DD.

I'm soooo jealous of you ladies who have DH's that get up at night. DH never, ever got up with DS when he was up at night and has only done it once or twice since DD has been here.

[PinkMartini]

real quick....typing one-handed.....we have a tooth! its on the lower left gum, just a speck of white. isn't it early for teeth yet? he just turned 2 months last sunday.

My DH got his first tooth at 4 months, so although 2 months is pretty darn early, I'm sure it's not unheard of.

[gardenmommy]

QOTD~ I used to put cereal in DD's nighttime bottle before bedtime...can't remember when I started that but it was probably about 3 months which is when she really really started sleeping all the way through the night very consistantly, like 7pm to 8 am kinda sleep. I know a lot f drs don't reccommend it, but I kinda look at it like sucking thumbs or pacis, sometimes they are a necessary evil.

Teeth~ DD got her first one right at 4 months which my ped said was really early, so 2 months is wow early! But every kid s different right?

[Ericka_Jarett]

QOTD: Anyone giving their DC cereal in the bottle? I know most pediatrician's don't want you to start until the baby is at least 4 months, but I know of people that do it before then.

Nope. I didn't give Easton cereal until 4 months and it was by spoon. Not suggested to put it in a bottle at all. It's a myth I read that cereal in a bottle will get them to sleep thru the night. (we tried once and just gave Easton an upset tummy) Besides the faces they make when first tasting cereal or even eating from a spoon the first time makes for great pictures.

Teeth - I heard of some babies born with a tooth already erupted.

[papergirl]

Question about Parenting Books: I'm feeling like a bit of a dip saying this but here it goes. I'm clueless as to when DS should be hitting milestones and what the different milestones are. I just don't have time to be online all day so I'm thinking I need a good book to be my parenting guide. Anyone reading or have anything they love? I'm looking for something that offers it all. Answers to questions that might come up, information on what to expect, what activities I should be doing with DS, how to establish a bedtime routine, when I should be doing these things, how to introduce solids... basically a guide to everything parenting. Granted this may require getting two books as I realize I'm asking for a lot. :D And how are you ladies keeping up on all this information if you aren't searching online?

Sammy - I actually have not tried keeping DS up... well I sort of have but I give up easily. But reading your post has me eager to try a bit harder. Thanks! BTW, I can see a lot of you in your DS.

Merjmo - That second photo is hilarious!

JJsanner - Ack! A tooth? It does seem a bit early. Did you notice DS drooling a lot pre-tooth arrival?

Cereal - Nope, not doing the cereal thing just yet.

[Ericka_Jarett]

papergirl - can't suggest any books on parenting (I don't own any) but in regards to milestones, a book about them may make you frustrated since your son was a preemie, he will hit them at different times, eventually he will catch up (believe it's around 2 yrs old) All my kids were preemies so I never bothered much with milestones, they hit them when they hit them as preemies. I have been fortunate in that Easton has usually done everything right on target, he was 4 weeks early.

[Thea]

Big guys are skiing, little guy napping and here I am not wrapping presents!

Paper First of all, I am a little late, but 9 lbs!!! Congrats...so glad your little guy is doing so well. (He's past mine now!) I can't say I have a book I love, but I was sent free by my insurance Your Baby's First Year Week By Week and it does tell you milestones, what activites to be trying, and things to expect each week. I am sure there are better books out there, but it is what I have here at home. I have it where I nurse so I browse while I am nursing.

nannies We decided to go with an AuPair. She arrives from Germany the last week of January and I go back to work the second week of February. I am really happy with our decision...but it was certainly a really hard one to make. And I still can't imagine going back to work yet....

Christmas Have a 10 year old DS who is still holding on to believing in Santa. I went out and bought a gift for little DS from Santa today as I realized at the last minute it would look weird if he didn't have something. (It's a fold and travel bouncer seat...looked cool and was only $20). We did buy a few books and a couple things for his stocking. Also DS #1 picked out some cute bathtub toys for DS #2. My family, eventhough I told them he didn't need anything, all sent gifts for both boys; so I think Maxwell will be just fine!

Cereal Don't plain on it.

I have a question for others with night owls......what do you do with DC when he/she is WIDE awake and you want to be sleeping? I know we should keep night time feedings quiet, subdued, etc. but once Maxwell wakes up he is awake for at least an hour. My guess is playing with him will keep him awake longer, but nothing I do puts him back to sleep except another feeding (and he usually isn't hungry again right away.) I am usually too exhausted to play...we spend long periods of time just looking at each other or walking around the house. He is not fussy...just awake.

[Hope1126]

Papergirl - I have a lot of the books out there and I think Baby 411 is the best. It answers virtually any question you can think of regarding development, illnesses, feeding, first aid, activities, sleep, routines, etc. My hospital recommended it and I guess it was featured on the Today show.

Grace had her shots on Thursday and they went really well. I felt so bad for her because she was all smiles right beforehand and then, bam, as soon as she got the first shot she wailed. But luckily the nurse was very quick and she stopped crying right afterwards. She spent the day sleeping and really didn't fuss at all. I was surprised. I think it's harder on us than our babies :) Have a great weekend everyone.

[Mom2B-10.07]

Thea - Is he sleeping in his crib? If so, do you have a mobile that you could turn on for him? That's what I do sometimes and I relax in the glider while she watches it.

[SQ2]

Peever DD's poops smell bad too. :( She only poops once every few days now so that's probably why. They are a bit thicker too. Kind of like yellow frosting. Mmm Mmm. ;) Oh how I miss the sweet smelling poops. (And now I know I"m a true mommy, talking about missing my baby's poop. Hahaha.)

Papergirl: I have Baby 411, Your Baby's 1st Year Week by Week, and Caring for your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 (by the AAP).

[Mom2B-10.07]

SQ2 - Ellie is only pooping every few days, but on the days that she goes, she goes about 4 times.

Question about airplane traveling - When you took your little ones on the plane did they travel in their infant seat or did you hold them on your lap? We will be traveling the first week in Feb and I am just planning on holding her. Do you think that will be ok for a 4 month old?

[Ericka_Jarett]

airplane travel - Easton flew at 3 ,7 and 10 months and we never used his infant seat always held him on our laps. At 3 months we flew to NV (non-stop) from PA and 7 months to FL (non-stop) from PA. At 10 months was to CA from PA (multi-legs). We took the snap and go with the infant seat to the gate with us at 3 months, then they gate check both for you. The 7 month trip we just had the stroller we gate checked since we didn't bring his infant seat that time. The 10 month trip we baggage checked his infant seat and used a lightweight stroller to the gate.

[emmjay]

plane travel - we flew with DS at 4 months and we got him his own seat, but that was because it was Thanksgiving and I wanted to have our own row. After that I flew with him by myself at 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 months and just held him in my lap. It was totally easy until he was a year old and then he wanted to run around - before that he was fine with being in my lap. I used the snap-and-go with the infant seat until he outgrew it, and then I checked his car seat and just used an umbrella stroller while in the airport. I would recommend bringing a sling or other baby carrier, especially if you are going to be by yourself. It's a PITA to get through security - dismantling everything, putting it in bins and taking shoes off while trying to hold your baby is almost impossible!

[PinkMartini]

Question about airplane traveling - When you took your little ones on the plane did they travel in their infant seat or did you hold them on your lap?

The only time I've ever taken DS on a plane was when he was 8 months and and I didn't get him a seat. Too expensive (Alaska airlines charges full price for an infant ticket). Both flights on the way there were full so I had to check his carseat and hold him in my lap. But both flights on the way home were empty enough that I was able to bring it on and he had his own seat.

It was a little rough as I as 6 months pregnant and he was SUPER active wiggly baby. But if he were only 4 months at the time, it'd be a piece of cake ;)

[honeygirl]

cradle - Nope, not professional. My DH does photography as a hobby (a serious and expensive hobby I might add!! I'm not complaining though since we get some lovely photos for free. Your son is a cutie btw.

books - I got the Baby 411 book as a gift and have found it very helpful. I also have the Sears baby book.

cereal - I've also read that it's a myth and don't plan on trying it.

We had a busy weekend doing normal (pre-baby) things. We went shopping, had dinner at a grown-up restaurant and even went to a movie. The movie was NOT fun for me as I was paranoid the whole time that she would get fussy or too noisy. We were WAY up at the top of the theater (DH thought it would make BF easier) so I kept thinking of the long walk out if she started screaming. She didn't but I couldn't relax. I don't think we'll be doing the movies again for a while!

My boss called me last week and asked if I was returning or not. I was scheduled to return in early Feb. I told her I wasn't sure and she asked for a decision by January 1st. I've been obsessing over what to do, but am feeling pretty certain that I'm not going back for now.

Have a great week/holiday everyone!

[FSUSammy]

Thea - No tips on how to entertain your night owl but I'd recommend trying to keep the baby very awake and active during the day to hopefully stop the night owl pattern. Also make sure your home is very lit up and noisy during the day and at night try to dim the lights as much as possible. You probably are already doing all of this though.

Anne - Glad you guys had a grown-up day out. Good for you for trying the movies. I'd be paranoid too.

Me - We are in some kind of a phase where DS is REFUSING to nap during the day. And if he does its for maybe an hour at most. This is sooooo not like him too. He usually naps in his crib but lately he is not wanting to do that. He will only fall asleep in someone's arms during the day and as soon as you try to put him down BAM he wakes up. He was sleeping on DH for 4 hours yesterday, good thing we were watching movie after movie at home. I hope this is a phase and he'll soon return to his old ways. However with his lack of daytime napping he's doing fantastic at night so I guess I really can't complain. It's not like he's cranky during the day, he just is wide awake.

[Thea]

Mom2B I wish!!! He doesn;t sleep well on flat surfaces...i.e. the bassinet or the crib! I have tried putting him in the swing with that mobile turned on...sometimes I get about 15 minutes out of it. Thanks for the thought.

FSU Yep...things we are doing. I am hoping that he will figure this out soon....not holding my breath, but last night we had no hour wake period after 11pm and he slept for 4 hours straight. This is our record and the sleep was great!!! I had to laugh, because DS slept on DH yesterday for like 3 hours and screamed every time we tried to put him down or even hand him off to me....DH enjoyed I think, a good excuse to be lazy.


Uggghhh....does anybody else still have a million presents to wrap??? I knew I should have started this Christmas stuff in October before the baby was here!!

[gardenmommy]

Hi mommies!

I've been reading along, not much new to report....Don't hate me but Thatcher has been a dream lately. The past few nights he's gone down about 9 pm and slept until 5am! He's been playing on his Gymini play mat this morning and batting at the animals and cooing smiling at them, making friends:D He's such a charmer, I love him!

Other than that we are preparing for a marathon of unwrapping tomorrow, all of our family went totally nuts on gifts for 2 little kids:rolleyes:


Well I just wanted to wish you all very Merry Christmas filled with peace, love, joy and all sorts of merriment with your little ones!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb228/gardenmommy_photos/cc%20photos/1px4297_60sq1_xl.jpg

[PinkMartini]

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS :D

[cradle]

Books:
What to Expect the First Year
(also … I get weekly emails from BabyCenter.com … they give great ideas on activities and games to play)

Honeygirl:
Thanks!!! Your little one is an absolute doll!

... and a Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night (sleep)!!!! ;)

[Jenn (and Bill)]

Again, just popping in to wish everyone a Happy Holiday!

Plane travel - we held Natalie on our lap. Checked the car seat since we knew the flight was full. Used the Snap and go to roll our bags through the airport and gate checked that. Only regret is that when they cancelled our flight and rebooked us through Newark, it was a smaller plane and instead of being on the 2 seat side of a 5 wide, we were on the 2 seat side of a 3 wide on the Express Jet. Hopefully, flying home Sunday will be easier!

[julietchicago]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I hope you all enjoy the first holiday season with your little ones!

[Peever]

Back at work today. Am I the first one? It took me hours to get everything ready last night. I woke up at 3:45 and DD woke up at 4 and I couldn't get her to sleep until 5:15. I think I managed to catch about 15 minutes more sleep before I had to get up and get ready so I was pretty much up for the day at 3:45. Nice.

I checked in to see how she was doing around 10:30 and she's not doing well. :( She wouldn't eat and cried all morning and finally fell asleep. I hate this. I'm so glad it's short-term. I don't mind working and I know she just needs to get used to it, but it still sucks. Here I've been worried that I wouldn't be able to pump enough for her and she probably will be like DS and reverse cycle. So much for STTN.

The transmission went out on our van 2 blks away from daycare after I dropped the kids off. Lovely. We knew it was on the verge, but it's always nice to be a half hour late on your first day back. Bye bye Christmas bonus!

I'm still having a tough time with DD. I still can't figure out what I can eat. I've cut a few more things out to see if she improves. I was going to wait until 6 months to start solids, especially given her food sensitivities, but DS was the same way and the only thing that helped his gas issues was starting solid foods so there would be more bulk passing through. We'll see I guess.

[PinkMartini]

Oh Peever, I'm so sorry to hear about DD not doing well today and the van issues :( When it rains, it pours....

[FSUSammy]

Peever - Sorry you had to return to work already. I'm DREADING going back. I go back two weeks from today. Oh the thought of it depresses me. And sorry about the van and everything else, man like going back to work isn't hard enough!!!

[wendalah]

Merry belated Xmas everyone--

Well, enjoying an evening at home with DH while my parents watch DD for us. We had dinner out for the first time in over a month. I had a fantastic margarita. Ah, for the little things in life! ;)

I think our little one has a cold (already! At 5 weeks?). She has been fussy as heck the past three days (after being a really good baby the past week) and my parents aspirated a snot glob out of her nose this evening. So off to the pediatrician tomorrow. I am worried she may have caught DH's cold (he was very sick the other week). Can small babies contract colds--don't they have some immunities that protect them the first few weeks?

QOTD: What gets you through the hard parts of being a mom? Like when your baby refuses to sleep for several nights in a row and you are ready to leap from the rooftop head-first?

My answer to this: Call a friend, call my mother, have a huge glass of wine, take a good look at the baby when she finally does fall asleep and marvel at how gorgeous she is. Any other tips?

[loving624]

colds - wendy, my DS has had a cold for over a month now. I have called the ped. and actually took him in last Friday, bc it was just a stuffy nose, then it turned into a cough and he also was having trouble eating, so they wanted to see him. They told me as long as he's not wheezing or having trouble breathing there's nothing they can do, bc there is nothing they can give him. They said to aspirate, use saline drops, and a humidifier (which I was already doing what a waste of time to go). I hope Audrey gets to feeling better soon!

Peever - I am so sorry to hear of all of your issues. How has DD done in the past few days? Get better?

QOTD- I sit and look at DS once he is asleep. I just love to watch him sleep so if he's had a bad day, then I watch him sleep and feel so great about him and being his mom.

DS has his 2 month appt today! We are looking forward to it. He's caught up in weight to a full term baby, and he has hit most of the milestones right on time. I'm going to hate him getting all of the shots though! Poor guy

[Geranium]

colds/flu: We are going through the same thing. C has a stomach virus, I have NO idea where she caught it. She is vomiting all that she's eating to the bright yellow bile. I see a hospital trip in our future:(
I think new babies/moms normally have an immunity boost during the first three months that keeps them from getting sick.
Wendy, have you tried a humidifier? This sometimes help with chronic stuffiness.

QOTD: What do I tell myself during a hard phase? That it is only a temporary struggle, it will pass, and life WILL go back to normal.

[Peever]

DD is doing a little better at daycare. She was still fussy on and off yesterday and drank about every other bottle they gave her so that's a slight improvement. She still has gas issues and needs help with that so I'm not sure if they're bicycling her legs as much as I do so she might just be overly gassy and bothered.

She's not STTN any more since she's not eating as much during the day. My supply tanked this week for some reason. I've always had gobs and gobs of milk with both kids so I can't figure out what the problem is. I'm pumping 4x a day, eating oatmeal twice a day and I started taking fenugreek last night. I'm still keeping up with her so I think it will be fine, but I wanted to have a bit of a surplus so I could boost my freezer stash since I don't have a lot of milk after I started my e-diet. DD has been nursing for 30-60 minutes before bed and waking up around 3 and nursing for a good 30 minutes more and then she wakes up at 6 and eats again. Hopefully all the nursing will help too.

It's a lot of work though. As soon as I get the kids to bed, I spend a couple of hours doing the dishes and laundry and getting all the bottles and pump parts ready for the next day. I've been averaging about 5 hours of sleep. I have to be up by 5:30 to have a chance of making it to work on time. It snowed last night and I have a long commute so I was late again this morning.

I just miss spending time with her. Poor girl hasn't had a bath in forever because there's no time during the week to do it. I have too much going on in the morning and she's exhausted and needs to eat and go to bed immediately when we get home.

QOTD- I tell myself that some day it will get better and hopefully I'll remain sane until that point. ;) When DS was super colicky, I'd stick him in the car and hope that he would fall asleep. I'd go through a drive thru and eat a meal in peace and drive around listening to music for a while. Of course now that gas is $3 a gallon that doesn't work so well, but it was nice.

[wendalah]

Baby Audrey returned to a much more peaceful sleeping pattern last night after getting some of the gunk out of her nose! Hooray. Let's see what the doctor says this afternoon, too.

Not much to add today but wanted to say, dayum, this baby stuff is hard work sometimes. I'm trying to keep a bit of black humor about the whole thing so I don't take myself too seriously. I keep awarding myself the "Lordy, honey, you are the shittiest mother on the block" award when I do something stupid (tongue-in-cheek, of course). ;) All in all, the baby will turn out fine and I'm sure she'll graduate college and find a good job when she's 22. Right?

[gardenmommy]

QOTD: What gets you through the hard parts of being a mom? Like when your baby refuses to sleep for several nights in a row and you are ready to leap from the rooftop head-first?

I honestly try to think of that golden rule about treating others as you would want to be treated...sometimes everyone needs a cuddle right? If I'm honestly about to lose my mind, I put him down in a safe place and go to the bathroom and brush my teeth...super crazy but true. Fresh breath makes me feel like a new woman sometimes. I call my mom alot too!

colds - ...my DS has had a cold for over a month now. ... They told me as long as he's not wheezing or having trouble breathing there's nothing they can do, bc there is nothing they can give him. They said to aspirate, use saline drops, and a humidifier (which I was already doing what a waste of time to go).

Thanks so much for saying that!! Thatcher battled a cold the last week or so and my mom was pestering me to go to the dr and I just knew they were going to say there isnt anything they can do for him, meanwhile DD is likely to get a cold simply from sitting in the waiting area.:rolleyes:


It's a lot of work though. As soon as I get the kids to bed, I spend a couple of hours doing the dishes and laundry and getting all the bottles and pump parts ready for the next day. I've been averaging about 5 hours of sleep. I have to be up by 5:30 to have a chance of making it to work on time. It snowed last night and I have a long commute so I was late again this morning.

I just miss spending time with her. Poor girl hasn't had a bath in forever because there's no time during the week to do it. I have too much going on in the morning and she's exhausted and needs to eat and go to bed immediately when we get home.

Oh Peever, I have said it before and will say it again, I have NO IDEA how working moms do it! I SAH and think I would jump from a cliff if I had t work a full day outside the home and then come home and do everythign else too. You are amazing!


Not much to add today but wanted to say, dayum, this baby stuff is hard work sometimes. I'm trying to keep a bit of black humor about the whole thing so I don't take myself too seriously. I keep awarding myself the "Lordy, honey, you are the shittiest mother on the block" award when I do something stupid (tongue-in-cheek, of course). ;) All in all, the baby will turn out fine and I'm sure she'll graduate college and find a good job when she's 22. Right?

You know, I was so pissed at my friends who had kids before me and conveniently forgot to mention how hard it all is! I think someitmes people are trying so hard to make it work they don't want to admit to others how hard it is...well I for one admit it is tough as nails. Rewarding? Sure. Exhausting? Yup! Life altering? Absolutely!

We watched Home movies of last christmas on Christmas eve, and I cried the whole time at how quickly time passes and how big they get so fast. Before you know it time is flying by and our babies will be big kids. Enjoy it, all of it... poopy diapers and all, while you can!

[cat_loverpq]

I hope everyone had a great holiday! We've been out of town and I have a ton of gifts/stuff to unpack and get organized, but I have a quick question...

Where does your DC sleep at night? If they slept in your room and are now in their crib, was it an easy transition? When did they start sleeping in their crib? Currently DS sleeps in a basinet next to my side of the bed. He sleeps pretty well, going for about 3-4 hours at a time for the most part. My concern is that darn pacifier - sometimes he'll stir around and want it and if I don't get it to him quick enough he cries and wakes himself up. Usually he goes right back to sleep, but I don't want to bank on that always being the case. I'm afriad if I put him in his crib that he'll be waking himself up a lot wanting the pacifier and may not go back down so easily. Is this something he will "grow out of" if he doesn't have the paci for a few nights in a row? He has such a high sucking need that I don't know if we would get any sleep at all with out it! :p

[FSUSammy]

crib transitions - DS still sleeps in his bassinet by our bed at night and I can't imagine transitioning him to his crib. He usually sleeps in his crib during the day though. I know he'll be fine over there but I like being able to look over and check on him whenever I want to.

[PinkMartini]

Where does your DC sleep at night? If they slept in your room and are now in their crib, was it an easy transition? When did they start sleeping in their crib?

We only have 1 crib ATM and DS is in it. Taylor sleeps in the bassinet part of our PnP at the end of our bed. She'll stay in that until we move and buy a second crib (hopefully this spring)

[honeygirl]

crib transitions - DS still sleeps in his bassinet by our bed at night and I can't imagine transitioning him to his crib. He usually sleeps in his crib during the day though. I know he'll be fine over there but I like being able to look over and check on him whenever I want to.

I'm with Sammy on this one. DD slept in her crib for the first time last night, but just for a little bit (1.5hr maybe?). I couldn't sleep and was relieved when she woke up so that I could move her back to our room. ;)

[wendalah]

Crib transitions: DD has been in a crib since day one for nighttime sleep, but I do let her sleep "randomly" during the day (on the couch next to me when I'm watching TV, or whatever).

Oh, btw, another mantra for when things get hard...this is probably going to be our only child, so I keep saying to myself, "OK, she's five weeks old, you're almost done with the hardest part, and then you NEVER EVER have to do this again IN YOUR LIFE!" Oh man, does that help. I say it a dozen times a day to myself.

ETA: I'll out myself. I'm a crappy mom. I take good care of my baby and I love her to death, but I freely admit the newborn stage is a beeyotch. It's hard as shit. I have a really sweet, good little baby, and even with such a good baby it's really freaking hard. So if anyone is having a tough time, please feel free to pass the wine and out yourself here ;), you have a sympathetic ear right here in me. ;)

[merjmo]

but I freely admit the newborn stage is a beeyotch.

Man, I totally agree - it's so NOT rewarding at this point...thank goodness DD is starting to give us smiles because it makes our problems worth it. And like you I have a pretty good kid. I mean, she has been consistently sleeping from 8pm-4am and again 4:30am-9am. For someone her age it's pretty unheard of.

sleep: speaking of sleep, DD usually sleeps the first half of the night in her carseat and the second half in her swing. We put her in the cradle one night last week and she only slept there about 3 hours and then wouldn't calm until she was in the carseat again. Fine with me!

[Ericka_Jarett]

Where does your DC sleep at night? If they slept in your room and are now in their crib, was it an easy transition? When did they start sleeping in their crib?

The girls are sleeping in 1 bassinet at the end of our bed. They will be in there for a couple more weeks then moved to a crib (we have the mattress, now to get the crib) which they will share in our room for a while, once they sleep through the night I will be ok with moving them to the same room as Easton. They will still share a crib for a while after that. We will probably work on moving Easton to a toddler bed before we need to put the girls in their own cribs.

Easton slept in a bassinet in our room for 3 months, moved him to a crib and he stayed in our room until he was 6 months old (was me not him) and then I finally broke down and took the crib apart to move it to his room and he started sleeping better then ever in there.

[jenji]

crib transition DS (12 weeks) is still in a bassinet in our room for the first stretch of the night (4-6ish hours) then in bed with me because it makes BFing so much easier.
over Christmas at ILs he slept in a crib across the room and did really well (7 hours each night). We will probably move him to his crib soon because he's at the weight limit for the bassinet, though honestly, I'd kind of like to just keep him right by me, but we don't have room in our room for a crib and DH doesn't want him in bed all night.

[gardenmommy]

Well after a terrible time getting Thatcher to sleep the past few nights I figured out he no longer likes to be swaddled, he looked like we was Houdini trying to escape a straight jacket! So tonight it was a bath (mainly to get the spit-up out of his hair) a bottle and a sleepsack with free willy arms.

It took a while for him to fall asleep, but so far so good. Crossing my fingers and praying to my pal Jesus that he sleeps as good as usual!

[emmjay]

Oh, btw, another mantra for when things get hard...this is probably going to be our only child, so I keep saying to myself, "OK, she's five weeks old, you're almost done with the hardest part, and then you NEVER EVER have to do this again IN YOUR LIFE!" Oh man, does that help. I say it a dozen times a day to myself.
Yeah, I say this all the time too. This is baby #2, but we are definitely done now so I've been telling myself "this is ONE LESS DAY you ever have to do this" basically since I got pregnant. The newborn stage sucks, IMO. I've been telling my sister how I can't wait for DD to get a little older, like 3 months. Then of course I feel guilty for wishing time away when she's just a little baby, but I can't stand the sleeplessness and the constant eating and the limited interaction (she is smiling sometimes now but that's about it).

crib transition - her crib is being used for storage right now. ;) She's been sleeping in her carseat, usually from 9-1 and then again until around 5 but it varies. merjmo - I wrote this before but DS slept in his carseat for 3 months and then he transitioned to a crib with no problem (12 hrs the first time I put him in the crib!).

I really need to start paying more attention to see what kind of schedule she has, but I haven't had the time/energy yet. Anyway, tonight I'm going to try to transition her to the cosleeper next to our bed - last night I tried but she woke up after 15 minutes so I just said F it and put her back in the carseat.

DH and I decided to move to be closer to my family - it's just too hard to do this with no support at all. I know other people can handle having two (or more) babies so close in age, but I will freely admit that I can't do it on my own! Anyway, we're moving from Colorado to Virginia in February and initially we're going to stay with my parents until we figure out exactly where we want to live. DH is going to be traveling a lot for his new job and my parents have a big 5-BR house so we might as well stay with them so I can get some help until DD gets a bit older. It's kind of bittersweet because I truly love living in Denver but in addition to not having any family here, the economy sucks and it's not getting us anywhere in terms of our goals so we are going somewhere that makes more sense. I'm trying to be really excited and optimistic about it because DH is a bit apprehensive about living on the East Coast.

[emmjay]

Oh, I had my 6-week OB appt today. I talked to her about an IUD - does anyone here have one? It sounded like my options were the 10-yr one that involved heavier periods/more cramping, or else the 5-yr one with progesterone with erratic periods. I really don't want hormonal BC anymore, but I don't want worse periods either! I think DH definitely needs to get snipped...

[jjsanner]

Wendalah, I had SUCH a hard time with DS #1. Hated the newborn stage. With DS #2, it is MUCH better. Mabey it is because DS #1 is almost 4 and we have alot going on pretty much every day, always running around. I find myself really enjoying him and trying to take it all in this time around.

Peever, I'm so sorry to hear of DD's troubles at daycare. Hopefully your supply will get back to where you want it. I go back to work in two weeks and am really dreading it.

Crib transition: DS has been in his crib at night for about 2 months now. He was in our room in the co-sleeper for the first few weeks, but I was getting absolutely no sleep (I'm a really light sleeper and every little grunt/whine/cough/wheez would wake me up). He does pretty well, sleeping from approx. 9PM to anywahere from 3AM to 5AM. Then back down until 7AM.

Question about naps..... Do your DC nap in their crib? Do you have any sort of daytime schedule yet? I ask because during the day DS pretty much naps when he feels like it, usually in his swing or by me on the couch. Some days he naps a ton, others (like today) he barely naps at all. My mom feels that I should have had him on a strick napping schedule by now, and that he should be napping in the crib. I disagree and feel he is still to young, but was wondering what others were doing.

[PinkMartini]

Oh, I had my 6-week OB appt today. I talked to her about an IUD - does anyone here have one? It sounded like my options were the 10-yr one that involved heavier periods/more cramping, or else the 5-yr one with progesterone with erratic periods. I really don't want hormonal BC anymore, but I don't want worse periods either! I think DH definitely needs to get snipped...

I have my PP appt tomorrow (I know, I know, way late) and am dreading the BC talk. I got pregnant 3 times on the BCP so I know I definitely don't want that. I looked into IUDs but I'm pretty sure that we'll be ready for 1 more baby before 5 years is up. Soooo I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'll see what my OBGYN suggests.

I do know once we're done DH is DEFINITELY getting snipped. So easy compared to the alternative.

[loving624]

crib transition - DS was in his bassinette in our room up until about a week ago, when we moved the basinette across the house to his room. I've ordered fleece crib sheets and as soon as they come in, DS will move to his crib.

Peever - I hope next week goes better for you and DD at daycare. :)

emmjay - good for ya'll for moving closer to family. I know moves can be stressful, but it definitely sounds like it's for the best in your case. I hope it all goes very smoothly.

naps - DS was on an awesome schedule about 2-3 weeks ago, and it all went to pot lately. I was loosely writing it down so I looked at it just last night and wrote out a really good schedule that I'd like him to be on. We are going to start working on it on Monday. It first involves getting him to bed earlier, which we started last night. Everything I have read says that they need 3 naps a day, but some babies are up a lot between and others very little, so I dont know about if a schedule is needed right now or not, I just know my DS seems to thrive when on a schedule. Regarding where he sleeps, I've been trying more and more to get him to sleep in his room during the day. He's had that monthlong cold so he's been in his swing but I dont think he sleeps as good or as sound in there and I think that is contributing to his sleeping all morning long these past few weeks. I think he is tired. So yes, we are trying to transition to his crib for naps as well.

Had Dylan's 2 month WBV yesterday. His stats are:
10lbs, 15.5oz (25%)
22 1/2" (25%)

All seems to be well. He was born at 36 weeks but developmentally they said he is right on track for his age, not his due date. That's great news. We know he may be a few weeks behind still but he seems to be doing great so far. At 4 months they said we can start doing rice cereal, but not in a bottle, we are to feed it. She said most of it will end up on him, it is just to practice eating. Went really well.

[Ericka_Jarett]

emmjay - that's good that you can make the move. We had to make the same decision back in 2001 when we lived in WA State with IL's. We could even get work with a temp agency it was so bad. We moved to my brother's in NJ and work was to be found finally.

BC - I already had my appt for the cultures for my IUD (going with Mirena most likely) and just waiting for the call that insurance covers it (which I already know it does, but the office had to get confirmation) Not sure how I will do on it, so as a backup will have the Essure procedure (non-invasive sterilization, through the uterus into the tubes, scarring takes 3 months) done, since we are not having anymore kids. But will see how I do on the Mirena first, they can remove it at anytime so if it's not for me, will do something else.

[papergirl]

Thanks for all the book recommendations. I think I'll be picking up Baby 411.

Thea - I'm thinking that playing with a night owl would be a bad idea since he might begin to think that nighttime is play time. It sounds like you are doing everything right and just need to ride the new habit out. I'd suggest to continue setting the mood by keeping lights dim, not making much noise, no playing etc. Perhaps it's normal as DS went thought a similar phase but it lasted about two weeks and then stopped. DS is still a bit difficult about going back to sleep after the second night feeding and that is usually when I give in and do ANYTHING to get him back to sleep… rocking, laying on my chest, whatever it takes I'll do. :D

Peever – Hoping things get better.

Geranium – Yikes! I hope DD is starting to feel better.

Wendy – I find my sense of humor is saving me. The other day a specialist came to our home to examine DS. I asked him just when would my lovely DS stop having that awkward baby movement where they fling their hands and legs around? Then they specialist tries to explain why babies do it and I intereupted him with my comment “I don't care why he does it I'm sick of him messing up my damn photos.” I clearly scared the guy and I think he thought I was a horrid mom until everyone else in the house started to laugh and he realized it was a joke.

jjsanner - Nope, no schedule here. And DS sleeps everywhere... the cradle, the crib, the car seat, the swing, on me, in my bed.... you name it, he sleeps there.

merjmo - Add me to the club of mommy's with a car seat sleeping baby. I hope this doesn't come back to bit me.

I'm a crappy mom.

Wendy - Nope, not buying it. Plus, I'm not a crappy mom and I have a feeling we're a lot alike. Come to think of it I think I'll start calling you the grandest mother EVER(!!). :rolleyes:


I really need to start paying more attention to see what kind of schedule she has, but I haven't had the time/energy yet.

Emmjay - You don't know how damn happy I am to hear I'm not the only one. Every now and then I start to put things on paper and then give up mid-day and to think I only have one kid.

All the best with your move. I'm sure it will be for the best.


QOTD – I'm fortunate in that DS has two night feeding and DH covers one of them. If I ask, DH will cover both but I've only done that to him twice. So even on bad nights I am guaranteed some sleep. Maybe not a lot and I'm still grumpy but I know I'm fortunate to get at least 5 hours every night. When I am in that crappy place of wondering what the heck I did I can be instantly snapped out with a smile from DS. Seeing him smile during those early morning feedings when the house is quite and it seems like we are the only two existing just melts my heart.

[FSUSammy]

naps ~ DS used to nap in his crib but now he naps wherever he can get a nap in. He used to be a fabulous daytime napper but now he does lots of catnaps so its almost easier to keep him in the pack-n-play napping in the living room since he wakes up so fast. Now he does manage to sleep thorugh the night every night so I guess his catnaps are his way of telling me he's getting plenty of sleep at night.

[papergirl]

I go back to work in 3.5 weeks.. daycare still hasn't been figured out. I hate the process and though I know it won't happen I think I'm waiting for this matter to figure itself out... and it won't but I have no other excuse for why I'm not doing more about this.

With the realization that I'm headed back to work I've become eager to spend better quality time with DS. Internet time has decreased, tummy time has increased.

OY! That describes my weight. Four weeks after DS was born I was 22lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. At 7 weeks I had maintained that but I'm not sure that's the case right now and I am having the hardest time keeping my hands out the fridge in the evenings. :( I'm scared to get on the scale.

Recently I had asked what everyone was doing with their DC during the day. Well last weekend a specialist came to our home to examine DS. He gave me a slew of tips two that seemed obvious but are things I wasn't doing were peek-a-boo and touch. For Peek-a-boo he suggested using a thin sheet to cover DS's face. He said this will also teach DS how to remove things so that if a blanket accidentally got over his face he could remove it. For touch, he encouraged us to walk DS around and let him touch things and see the different texture. Walls, the couch, pants, your hair, windows etc. It stimulates brain development.

[Hope1126]

Question - Has anyone transitioned their baby from breast milk to formula? If so, how did you do it?
I've decided to FF when I go back to work. My doctor suggested mixing the two initially, during DD's nightly bottle feeding, but I'm at a loss after that. I was thinking about incorporating formula bottles gradually and slowly over a 2-3 week period and just she how she handles it. She's a good eater so I'm crossing my fingers she likes it.

[FSUSammy]

papergirl - We just recently started doing peek-a-boo with DS. We use anything from a blanket to one of his burp cloths and he loves it.

[CarrieCP]

crib transition - We just started putting DS in the crib last night. He slept well for about 5 hours, but then had trouble settling back down after his feeding, so he finished the night in our room. Tonight, he went to sleep really easily, but keeps making a lot of fussy noises in his sleep. I keep running in to check on him, only to realize that he's still sound asleep! Anyway, putting him in the crib has made me really sappy and emotional, because my little guy is growing up! I hope we can all start sleeping more soundly, because I start my evening class (for my MBA) in 9 days, and I go back to work part time in 24 days, and I really need to get some sleep!

coping - Hang in there, it gets SO much better when they start smiling responsively and laughing. DS is 11 weeks old, and we love to "talk" to each other. He coos and chatters and squeals and laughs, and it is the BEST THING EVER. He has me wrapped around his little finger!

Something that helps me get through rough nights is that I don't let myself think too much about the sleep problems while I'm dealing with them in the middle of the night -- for example, I try not to calculate how few hours of sleep I'm getting, or worry about how I will cope when I go back to work, or wonder if I need to try a sleep training method, etc. I save those worries for the next day, when I'm more clear-headed. When I'm in the moment, I just try to zone out and let my mind wander.

[mlfallis]

Glad to see this thread getting some action. I would love to do s/o but I don't have the brain capacity at the moment. DH got a nice cold over Christmas and has given it to me and I think Kyle. I am not sure if Kyle has it or not, but he is sneezing and coughing more than normal, but still seems very happy.

Since Christmas is done we are moving on to getting a sleeping routine. So far so good. I am not at the point yet where I can just put him down drowsy but we are averaging 12 hours a night (with only one wake up after 8 hours) and 3 naps a day. I would like to get the naps a bit longer before I work on putting him down drowsy. The morning one is only 30-40 minutes. Maybe after all of this he will let DH put him to sleep again. Being the only one that can get him to sleep is tiring.

With all the stuff going on if people are moving to LJ I have the same user name if anyone wants to add me. I promise I am a much better at keeping up on there and commenting.

[FSUSammy]

Melissa - What kind of stuff is going on that would make people move to LJ? I guess I'm clueless because I only go to a few threads on here. LOL

[emmjay]

Question - Has anyone transitioned their baby from breast milk to formula? If so, how did you do it?
I use formula about 50% of the time and BF the other 50%, which I've done from the beginning so I don't know if this will help - I just give it to her in a bottle on its own. I don't heat it up or anything! I did the same thing with DS, and neither of them had any problems with digesting it or anything.

Question for the October mommies: When (if ever) did your babies start sleeping at least 8 hrs at night? I swear I remember DS sleeping 6 hrs when he was 6 weeks and STTN (12 hrs) before he was 3 months, but I didn't write anything down so I'm not sure. Last night DD slept from 10:30 - 4:00, then woke up again at 6:30. I need to start keeping track of her schedule!

[mlfallis]

emmjay: DS just started doing a 8 hour stretch consistenly just before 11 weeks.

[Mom2B-10.07]

Thanks for whoever recommended playing peek-a-boo. We just did it and Ellie loved it. She went from crying to laughing in a matter of seconds.

We had a great weekend. Had 2 friends come and stay with us from Thursday night-Sunday and was so nervous because Ellie had been extremely fussy earlier in the week, but her mood took a 180 and she was great. We picked them up at the airport and of course both flights were late and we wound up being at the airport from 6-10. She didn't have any major meltdowns until we got in the car, and even that only lasted about 10 minutes. Friday we had 15 people over for poker. We put her to bed just as everyone was getting there and she slept the entire time. Saturday we went to the Aquarium and the World of Coke. We were out of the house from 11-7 and again, no major meltdowns the whole day.

Sleeping through the night - We are still very inconsistent. Some nights she will sleep 8 hours for the first stretch, some nights it's only 6. A couple of times it was 10. I think the first time we got 8 hours was at about 8 weeks.

She slept in a co-sleeper in our room until 4 weeks and now is in her own crib at night. We do have a great night time routine, but days are still up in the air. We don't have a consistent nap schedule, and her nap time is down significantly. I would love her to sleep in her crib during the day, but I don't want to swaddle her during the day, so as soon as I lay her down she wakes up. She usually naps in her bouncy seat or swing at home, or in the car seat when we are out, but the naps are only lasting a half an hour or so. I would be ok with that if she slept better at night, but she hasn't.

[honeygirl]

We've been playing peek-a-boo today too. :)

I'm on my 2nd round of Mastitis. Not sure why I've gotten it again, but I'm on antibiotics and hoping to feel better soon. DD is helping out by eating a lot. :) She's been such a sweetie lately, lots of big smiles, coos and giggles. She feels so heavy right now, but that's probably b/c of the mastitis. It's all I can do to lift her up.

Well back to resting. Have a great New Year's Eve everyone.

[CarrieCP]

Sleeping through the night -- We are nowhere close to it. DS usually sleeps from 8-1, and then until 4 or 4:30, and then sometimes he'll sleep until 7 or 8 a.m., but quite fitfully. For the record, we are EBF, and the kid seems to get really hungry. Also, we are no longer swaddling, because he was breaking his feet out, and it would end up around his neck and mouth. I think he would sleep better if we could still swaddle him.

[jenji]

sleeping through the night DS is 12 weeks old, EBF and in the last 3 weeks there have been a few nights of 6-7 hours of sleep (which I consider to be sttn). this past week though he slept over 6 hours all but one night (after traveling all day so he had slept in the car a lot). We just moved him to his crib Friday and he's slept at least 7 hours every night, but we're still not up to 8 hours. he will normally sleep another hour or two after I feed him when he wakes.

honeygirl so sorry about the mastitis. We haven't dealt with that yet. I hate that you're on your second round. I hope it clears up soon and stays gone

[Thea]

hoenygirl What a major bummer!!! I am so sorry!!!

Just came on here with a quick post as my little one is finally taking a nap someplace other than my arms!!! Woohoo for small miracles! :)

papergirl you had me laughing so hard with your comment to the specialist! I love it!! We tried peek-a-boo yesterday....don't think Maxwell gets it yet. We have also been doing the touch thing.....the cat wasn't happen when I had DS touch her!! (She behaved, just meowed and ran away.)

Happy New Year everyone!

[mommycal]

I'd LOVE it if everyone/this group moved over to LJ since i'm there all the time vs here I'm not on that often.

Let me know if ya'll decide to go the LJ route. :) Take a bit to adjust if you're new to LJ land but otherwise it's nices and not open to the entire public if you KWIM?

[ali_ohli]

Omigosh, I'm so jealous of the mommies with the good sleepers! Is my kid just not on the ball or what? He is three months old (or seven weeks if you adjust for his prematurity), and actually REGRESSING with the whole sleep thing. We used to be able to count on at least one four-hour stretch, but lately we're getting no more than two at a time. What am I doing wrong???

[PinkMartini]

Question for the October mommies: When (if ever) did your babies start sleeping at least 8 hrs at night?

Taylor is 9 weeks and still hasn't slept for more than 5 hrs straight (and that was only 2 nights a few weeks ago - usually she's up every 3-4 hours) :( I hope it'll start soon - DS started STTN around 3 months, so I pray she does too.

Us - we're doing ok. Taylor is STILL sick and so is DS now too. They both have runny noses and DS has started coughing :( This really sucks. Taylor was up practically ALL night last night and DS is super whiny today... I swear, it's days like this that I don't EVER want to have any more kids :(

I'm over on LJ and my username is PinkCarmel. I'd love to have more friends :)

[Megande]

Sleeping- We started getting a consistent 6 to 8 hours a night at around 2 months. Last night Reed slept from 7 pm to 4 am and then woke for the day at 7 am. He usually sleeps 12 hours with one or two wakings. We still swaddle with the miracle blanket and are HUGE followers of Weissbluth a la Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (aim for naps in crib, not letting him get overtired, early bedtime, etc). If you don't have that book, I really recommend it. We still use it all time for our 2.5 year old's sleep issues (and we've had them all!). FWIW, DS is EBF...he always weighs around 17 lbs, though, :eek: so I think that helps! He will be 3 months on Thursday.

[gardenmommy]

Sleeping~Ok, I'm prepared for hot stones to be thrown at me...Thatcher has been doing really great lately. He goes down about 8pm and usually sleeps till about 5-6am uninterrupted, and then goes back to sleep till about 8 when his loud mouth big siste wakes him up. He's been doing that for about a week or two since he was about 9 weeks. He has also made the transition from sleeping swaddled to unswaddled pretty well, although he has a harder time going back to sleep unswaddled.:rolleyes:

LJ~ Am I the only one that just has a hard time navigating that place? I just don't have the energy to learn it I guess.

[Ericka_Jarett]

I'm on lj as well: ericka_jarett_4

[honeygirl]

Thanks Jenji and Thea, antibiotics are wonderful and I'm feeling much better today. :)

Has anyone else here had Mastitis? Did your doctor's give any advice on how to avoid it in the future? Just wondering since I've had it at 4wks and 8wks PP already.

About LJ, it it possible to make a October-November Mommies community, or would we just be posting in each other's journals? Is anyone here a LJ expert? ;)

[Geranium]

About LJ, it it possible to make a October-November Mommies community, or would we just be posting in each other's journals? Is anyone here a LJ expert? ;)

I would go to the trouble of learning/joining LJ if there was a way to do this - great idea.

[Megande]

About LJ, it it possible to make a October-November Mommies community, or would we just be posting in each other's journals? Is anyone here a LJ expert? ;)

Yes, it is possible, and pretty easy. You just have to have someone willing to set up and moderate the community (accept new members, etc). It looks a little different because you still make posts and comment to them, which sometimes is nice (like if you have a specific question), but it loses some of the same feeling, IMO. I'm on LJ (link in my sig), and would definitely join over there, but I'm not opposed to staying here, either.

[Peever]

Just checking in quick. DD is almost at 5 hrs for her nap so I'm just waiting for her to wake up. We had our last christmas celebration yesterday and she doesn't nap away from home so she barely slept yesterday. I guess she's making up for it.

She adjusted pretty quickly to daycare. By Friday when I picked her up they said they haven't had a baby that laughs and smiles as much as she does in a LONG time.

LJ- I'm over there more than here too. I like that it's private. You can have a separate community over there. I'd be willing to help moderate it, but I don't know how to set it up. I'm sure I could figure it out though.

sleeping- DD started STTN (8-12 hrs) at around 10 weeks. DS didn't do it until he was nearly 2 I think so I have experience with both ends of the spectrum. She usually naps in her crib all the time now, although occasionally I'll put her in her chair. She starts the night out in her crib and then I bring her to our room if she wakes up and then I put her in her bassinet. I wasn't planning on having her nap in her crib so soon, but she started going to bed earlier and slept longer and that's just how it worked out.

honey- I had mastitis twice. The first time I got antibiotics, but in hindsight I wish I would have waited it out because I think I could have gotten over it on my own. I didn't get antibiotics the second time because I just had the start of it. They just say to make sure you use lanolin if you have sore nipples, change your nursing pads frequently, don't wear underwire bras or at least not to bed if you have a tendency to get engorged. I think I had problems because we had resistant thrush for a long time so my nipples were sore forever and I had problems with a massive oversupply. I haven't had a problem since about 6 or 8 weeks.

[honeygirl]

Thanks Peever. I debated whether or not to take antibiotics this time, but ended up b/c I felt so crappy. If it happens again I may hold off a bit longer.

[julietchicago]

I am julietchicago on LJ as well if anyone would like to friend me!

DS is not sleeping through the night yet. He will be 7 weeks tomorrow, so I suppose it's still a bit early. He usually goes down at about 9pm, up to eat at about 12-1a, then again at 5am, and then up for the day between 7-8am. I'm hoping this improves soon. Lucky for me, I have a very helpful husband and we switch off on feedings (every other).

One concern I have is that DS is currently sleeping in his carseat at night, or in bed with me once in awhile. He refuses to sleep in his crib. If he falls asleep in my arms and then I try laying him in his crib, he is up within 10-15 mins. He used to sleep in his bassinet, but now he won't even sleep in there. I am so afraid he will never want to sleep in his crib.

Any ideas for help on transitioning him into his crib?

[Mandos*Bella]

It's funny there is a sleeping question; I came in here with a sleeping question of my own!

DS has been sleeping so much since yesterday, I am kind of worried. When he does wake up, it's for a short time to eat, and he's a bit fussy. It started yesterday afternoon when he took a super long nap. It was about 3 hours (long for my little reflux baby), and then he woke to eat, and fell back asleep. We kept him awake from about 8:00 until 10:00, when he crashed until 4:00am. I was beside myself, as the longest he has ever slept is 5 hours, and that was just a few times a couple of weeks ago.

He went right back to sleep after eating, woke again to eat, slept some more, etc...and this has been going on all day. It's now 4:00 and he's asleep. I'm worried, and I already tried calling the pediatrician for good measure, but of course they're closed today. They do have a advice nurse, but I don't care for calling that too much as they always downplay everything, and I really don't feel like they are listening, but rather think I am overreacting (which I may be doing...;) ) I just feel like something isn't right..He's also gagging when he's awake...a common symptom of his reflux; but he's taken his medicine, so?

Any of you ladies experience anything like this with your DC? :confused:

[CarrieCP]

I hate board drama. :( I have no opinion on whether the group should stay here or go to LJ, but I just created an LJ account under the same username (CarrieCP). I really value this group and hope we can stay active.

Last night was terrible. From about 1 a.m. on, DS wouldn't sleep more than 45 minutes at a time. He didn't seem gassy, and I don't think he's teething, so I'm going with the 12-week growth spurt theory. He also had terrible naps today. I am pretty miserable and should probably get my butt into bed now!

[merjmo]

OH, Carrie, sounds like you had a rough night! Hope it gets better asap!

honeygirl: gosh, sorry about the mastitis again! Do you get a hard area in your breast that also has a red mark over it before you have the flu-like symptoms? I had that at one point and was able to get rid of it with super-hot compresses before nursing (or pumping) and by massaging the area just above the hard spot. HTH.

sleep: I think DD was sleeping long stretches starting around 8 weeks (5 weeks adjusted).

Now, does anyone have good tips to get rid of thrush? Seriously, I've had it basically since we came home from the hospital (10 weeks ago). It was almost gone a week or so ago and now seems to be back with a vengeance, though now it's concentrated within the breast. Ugh. I've done GV three times (only once with DD as she has no signs and the pedi won't treat her unless she shows symptoms) and had one round with Diflucan. I think I'm going to try the oral GSV and acidophilus route next.

I'm merjmo on LJ and I talk a lot more over there and share a lot of pictures. I'm just more comfortable with the privacy there, but I'm ok with the community staying here and just having more private discussions on LJ. But if the group wants to move to LJ that's fine too.

[merjmo]

I forgot:

Do any of you supplement with Poly- or TriViSol? Which do you use and why?

DD is EBF and her pedi is very casual and didn't recommend either over the other (I had to bring it up myself) and I ended up deciding on just TriViSol.

Oh yeah, and Happy New Year, everyone!

[Peever]

Happy New Year!

honey- I felt pretty crappy the first time, but of course as soon as I went to acute care, my fever broke and I felt much better. I debated about taking the antibiotics and I did end up taking them, just to be safe, but I think I could have managed without them.

juliet- DD seemed to outgrow that eventually. I think what helps her is that I use a sleep positioner so she feels snug and I put her to sleep on her side, which helps with the flailing. I know some people have had good luck putting a heating pad in the crib first so it's nice and warm when you put him in there.

mandos- It could just be a growth spurt.

carrie- I hope you get more sleep tonight!

merjmo- We had thrush for a good 8 weeks. I think the only thing that got rid of it was me taking Diflucan orally for 3 days in addition to having DD on Diflucan at the same time. I had done GV for 10 days and it didn't work. I was also taking probiotics and trying to have a sugar free diet. I continued the probiotics and sugar free diet while using Lotrimin on my nipples and boiled pump parts and bottles for 2 weeks after the Diflucan and we eventually got rid of it. It sucks. Are you sure it's thrush if she's not showing symptoms? It could be raynauds or something like that. DD had the thick white plaque on her tongue.

My ped wants DD on vitamins since my diet is so limited. She recommended the trivisol since DD is so sensitive and thought the polyvisol would be hard on her stomach, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere around here. I'm going to check a few more places and then I might have to order it online. She was supposed to be on them since her 2 month check up so I'm running behind.

[nektarine]

happy new year everyone!

J turned 2 months old, 2 days ago!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/kstar770/smiley1.jpg


coping with newborn care...
i've been having a rough time lately. DS is not severely colicky, but he's definitely earned a bit of a reputation for being a fussbug. for about a week or so it seemed as though he was crying less, barfing less, sleeping better during the day...and definitely more pleasant during alert times. i thought we were turning the corner! and then the last few days have been horrible. he's spitting up more again, fighting naptime, and tends to be very cranky when he's not sleeping or eating. :( he's also crying after eating again (unless he falls asleep immediately) which worries me. i just can't handle not KNOWING what he is crying about. is it my diet? hindmilk imbalance? not enough sleep? too cold? just his newborn temperament? drives me nuts trying to figure it out! he started getting more cranky around the same time that i started pumping, so i am a little worried that i may have created an oversupply or something, and that now he is getting too much foremilk.

i used to feel like i couldn't go anywhere with DS during the day (thinking that he would go berserk in public), but i am getting much better at making myself get out of the house regardless of his mood (or mine). i have a good friend with a 6month old who works from home a few days, who has been a great influence on me with regard to getting out more. to my surprise, we've had minimal meltdowns! he definitely seems to do better on the days when we've gotten out of the house a little (and i am certainly a lot happier!), although it does make it a bit more difficult to work naptime into the schedule.

sleep/emmjay....
DS started sleeping a consistent 6-7hr stretch of sleep last week, around 7.5wks. perhaps it is a bit premature for me to call it consistent - so fingers crossed that it stays this way! we were out of town for christmas, so he wasn't sleeping right next to me in the cosleeper - and i think it made a huge difference! he is EBF and will generally sleep from 8:30/9pm to 3/4am. and then he usually sleeps another 3 or 4 hours, eats again...and sleeps at least another hour.

transition to crib/julietchicago....
DS would only sleep in the carseat for the longest time due to reflux, but around 6 or 7 wks we started putting him in the cosleeper (with it elevated on one end) AND with a positioner. he slept decent, but still woke up at least every 4 hrs to eat. when we traveled for christmas, we couldn't use the cosleeper and we found that he slept for longer stretches in the pack n play, in a separate room. so when we returned home we started putting him down in the crib at night (also elevated, w/ positioner). that was exactly 8wks, and he's been sleeping great there for a whole week! even when his daytime naps get screwy, he still sleeps well at night.

vitamins....
ped recommended trivisol... commenting that breastmilk is low on vitamin D.

mandos*bella...
we've been trying to follow weissbluth's sleep recs, and generally we don't keep DS awake for more than 1 or 2 hrs during the day. sometimes it really seems as though he can't handle being awake for much more than an hour! it does feel like he is sleeping a ton (and of course my mother always comments "he is never going to sleep at night!", but honestly he tends to be a much happier camper during alert time AND he sleeps better at night when he's slept more throughout the day. our ped has recommended that we wake up DS if he sleeps longer than 3hrs during the day, but i only needed to do that once. hope you were able to reach your ped's office for some peace of mind!

teacher_jessica/update on green poops...
SO, our visit with the peds-GI doc was not that helpful. sorry it took me so long to get back to update! he didn't think much of the green stools or the mucousy-nature (said EBF babies can have different colored stools - totally normal). my DS is a big kid, and the doc seemed to perseverate on the fact that he was over 95% for height/weight - and that as such, he must not have any sort of allergy. :confused: HOWEVER, the lactation consultant (who is also a physician) had mentioned that green stools indicate that the breastmilk is moving rapidly through the baby's system. she didn't expand beyond that, and i didn't know what to make of that information! but my DH (also a physician) explained to me that this could mean several things: that the food contains an irritant (like a food allergy - hence it is moved through system rapidly) or perhaps that the food is low in fat content (e.g., foremilk/hindmilk imbalance) and moves through intestines more quickly. we have another appt w/ a different peds-GI coming up, that we were going to cancel - but we might go to it anyway to see if it is more helpful. i will let you know!


move to LJ....
i don't know what the heck is going on... i am totally out of the loop these days. no time to shower, let alone keep up with drama! i've been on LJ for a while, and tend to keep my own blogging there private and mostly restricted to friends from "real life" or that i've known since ye olde days of WC. but whatever works for everyone else is fine by me - continuing a community here or on LJ!

[Hope1126]

Happy New Year Everyone!!

I hope 2008 is a great year for you and your babies :) We are truly blessed!

[wendalah]

STTN: DD is still pretty young (will be 6 weeks this Sunday) but I am somewhat hopeful she may catch on soon--she has been giving me some long stretches here and there in the earlier part of the night (one night she fed at 7 p.m., went to bed at 7:30, and slept until quarter to three!). I can usually count on getting about four hours from bedtime feed to the next feed. This just started last week. But she's not consistent. And she wakes up usually around 3 a.m. and is fussy and gassy on and off until 6 a.m., when we generally just give up and get up for the morning.