PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[taovandel]

I''m so glad other mommies have left the baby alone for a minute! I left him in his car seat (Snapped in) and I put him in his room with the door shut so the cats wouldn''t get him....but it took me nearly a month before I even admitted it to my husband!

Mandy: Good for you for standing up to your MIL. She was probably feeling connected to him because he reminded her of when your husband was a baby....hopefully now that you made her aware of what she was doing she will stop doing it. Keep us updated!

Evan finally remembered how to roll over. He started doing it at 3 weeks and 6 days...and he did it several times a day for about a month and then just forgot one day....thankfully he started it up again the other day.

Oh and one bad thing about having a baby now---I couldn''t stay awake for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics! I watch every single time and I made it to the Joni Mitchell part (Which I loooooooveeeee that song) and then my husband woke me up on the couch at 3 a.m. Booo! So long Tradition..haha.

CDT: Evan is younger then Lex but we also do that last bottle to get him to go to bed. I know it''s a bad habit and we will have to break it eventually but oh well for now. I''ll be interested in the responses that you get though from more experienced mothers.

 

[ChinaCat]

This thread is jumping! I am at my parents and there is a lot going on, so can''t get to everyone. BUT:

Ebree- He LOVES his bouncy!!!!! THANK YOU! I thought I mentioned it but you know how that goes. I will try and take a picture later. I keep waiting for him to conk out a la Henry so I can take the same pic, but so far it just seems to rile him up.

Viz and DD- "We both like soup. And not talking". SUNKIST- It''s from Best in Show when the hilarious Jennifer Coolidge is discussing her marriage to a MUCH older man. She is talking about how much they have in common and says such things as "We both like soup. And not talking". Hilarious if you haven''t seen it.

Viz- I did get that it''s more about YOU missing time with Charlie. That''s the only part none of us can give you advice on as it''s just so subjective and about YOU. From an outsider''s perspective, you have a great deal in that your DH can spend so much time with him as well as your IL''s. Well, assuming you like your IL''s.

BUT none of that matters if it isn''t a good deal for YOU. Again, I think the best thing for everyone is if we could get SIX MONTHS MAT LEAVE. That would have solved a lot of my issues as well. Hugs girl. You''ll figure it out.

I say we ALL go to Florida and hang out with Fiery, Mandarine, and Mela while she''s there. But let''s wait till the warm weather returns.

Amber- Piper is perfect the way she is. Chunky monkeys are the best. I have the opposite problem, O is tooo skinny and so much littler than all the other babies. My cousin has a little boy 2 months younger who is literally twice the size of O, he looks like he ate O. O weighs about 14.5 and C weighs 21 lbs. O is 6 months and C is 4 months.

I actually find that there is more pride in the "bigger" babies, as in everyone around me at least always brags about how BIG their kids are. And I have nothing to say. But O is just O and he eats plenty and by the age of 3 or so, all of this will even out. It has NOTHING to do with how big they will be as kids or adults for the most part. So when people say that just smile and say " I know, isn''t it the best? I love her chunkiness!".

Sunkist- O doesn''t have that many blowouts, but I don''t bathe him everytime. He has super dry skin so we only bathe him 2x a week. I clean him everyday but not baths. No worries!!! Dirty Wes can come play with dirty O anytime.

Fiery- Hi.

Mela- Sorry to hear about the return of AF. Though like you said, means your body is baby-making ready!

Mandarine- O has never been interested in the pacis. He gets this weird look on his face and pushes it around with his tongue and then spits it out.

CUTE pictures.

Bad mommy confession: O rarely sticks out his lower lip and then starts crying unless he''s really scared or something. Not to say he doesn''t cry, but he doesn''t get that sad look often. DH and I were driving up to my parents house (4 hour drive or so) and DH and I got into a fight about something (whole other story) and I raised my voice b/c I was SO frustrated and O looked at me and gave me that look and burst into tears.

Now the chances that he actually *knew* that DH and I were *fighting* and that made him upset are very low, I know, BUT it still made me realize how terrible it is to fight in front of your kids (I hated it when I was little) and how I want to do better for O.

 

[gailrmv]

Date: 2/13/2010 10:10:29 AM
Author: ChinaCat


Viz- I did get that it''s more about YOU missing time with Charlie. That''s the only part none of us can give you advice on as it''s just so subjective and about YOU. From an outsider''s perspective, you have a great deal in that your DH can spend so much time with him as well as your IL''s. Well, assuming you like your IL''s.

BUT none of that matters if it isn''t a good deal for YOU. Again, I think the best thing for everyone is if we could get SIX MONTHS MAT LEAVE. That would have solved a lot of my issues as well. Hugs girl. You''ll figure it out.

.

We TOTALLY need six month maternity leave. I felt totally different at 6 months than at 3. I felt human again! I slept and could have functioned at work! Also, I felt like A was so much more interactive and I felt more confident leaving him with others. But, I''d already made the decision to be a SAHM. It was the right decision for me, and I don''t regret it, but if I''d had more maternity leave things may have been a lot different! As it is, at nearly a year, I am thinking it would be great to have some contract work or part time just to use my brain again. But, I don''t know if it would cover the cost of daycare and everything.... but that''s another story. Anyway, I wonder if there is anything we can DO to improve on the FMLA so that people CAN get longer leaves. Maybe write to our congresspeople, but would that really do any good? Hmm.

Viz I''ve been following your posts and your dilemma. Honestly, seeing as how you are the higher earner in your family and you carry the family''s insurance, plus it sounds like you like your job and are great at it, it really sounds like you need to keep working. But, what if you could go to work for a different company where you would have better hours and/or a better commute or more flexibility? I know in this economy it''s tough to change jobs, but even if you could just get through this rough period and make a change in the next year or two, it could work well in the long term. I know firsthand it is hard to think long term at this stage though, because you have this stressful work situation and this tiny baby at home, but I think if you can just get through this rough transition back to work while searching for a more family friendly position, you WILL be able to make it work balancing work and being a mom. But maybe not at your current place of employment. Just my rambly .02.

You asked about affording to be a SAHM. In our situation, DH earns more than I did. We always wanted to have the *option* for me to SAH, so we structured our finances around his income only and saved my salary. As a result, we lived more modestly than we could have. You know, smaller house, older cars, fewer vacations, etc. So when A was born, we knew we could live on just his paycheck because we had been doing it for some time. Of course, now we are saving less, since I''m not bringing in an income. We are fine for now but when I think about saving for A''s college and our retirement, it''s a little daunting! Also when I see friends whose income is the same or less than ours living a lot "higher" than we do, it can be frustrating if I think about it too much, so I try not to compare us to anyone else.

 

[Blenheim]

TDM - TGal''s the one who brought it to my attention (indirectly, via another thread) so I think I really have her to thank. I feel like I''ve read that there are certain types of not-focusing-right that kids will grow out of, and other types for which they need help.

Mara - you look great!

DD - I''m glad you think these ones look stylish. They didn''t have any black, and dark grey was on back order, so we ended up with these. The people at the glasses store said that little kids often like colored frames, so hopefully he''ll like them when he''s old enough to have an opinion. I didn''t ask the ophthamologist if he''s always going to be in glasses - I wasn''t expecting that he would say that, and I just couldn''t think of what questions to ask until after I was out of there - but we''re seeing him again in March and I intend to talk to him more about it at that point. From what I''ve been reading online, kids can grow out of farsightedness but nearsightedness tends to get worse with age, so I''m guessing that he''s going to be in them always. But I was having problems finding sources that seem super legitimate.

Weaning - I know that George isn''t close to wanting to be done either. He''s eating nowhere near as much in the way of solid food as Hunter is, and so he definitely needs the bmilk still for nutrients and calories. I''m sure that the solids will pick up, but it still has health benefits for both of us and does wonders as far as calming him down goes, so I don''t see stopping soon. The moms I know who nurse more long term do it more at times when they''re not out in public, like when their kid wakes up and before they go down for bed. You can give them cowmilk at other times. I''m still nursing G in public, without a cover, and he''s long enough that some people probably would assume that he''s closer to a year old than 10 months. I''m not really sure when I''m going to start limiting public nursing.

Amber - They dilate the baby''s eyes and then hold up different lenses in front of them while shining light into them. They can use optical physics to figure out which lens is right - it''s actually really cool. From what I''ve read, they generally try not to put babies in glasses unless their vision is really incredibly bad or unless there''s a large enough disparity in the prescriptions between the two eyes (which is what''s going on in our case). I think that they recommend the first eye doc appt at 2-3 years for most kids, unless you''re noticing some problems like lazy eye. Hope you feel better!

Mandarine - i hope that MIL will watch it a little bit more now.

 

[phoenixgirl]

Mandy, it totally sounds like your MIL was favoring Alex. I''m glad you said something.

TDM, I agree about needing at least six months'' leave. I''m not human again yet, but I''m still having to function at work.

Speaking of work, it turns out that with a new school opening and the economy, there is going to be a "surplus" of teachers at my school, and a lot of people are nervous they''re going to lose their jobs. A newly hired teacher was telling me yesterday about how they told her that her job wasn''t guaranteed. So I thought that me leaving might be an annoyance (hiring someone new, rearranging schedules), but in reality, it sounds like it could be saving another person her job.

So twice now Claire has been frantic on the breast almost like she wasn''t getting anything/enough. Last night there shouldn''t have been any problem; I had successfully nursed her three hours earlier. This morning she nursed at 9:00 and I pumped at 10:15 (I''m trying to start the week off with extra milk because if she takes three bottles instead of two during the day, I''m behind with what I can pump at work). At 11:30 she seemed hungry, so I tried to feed her, but again she pulled off the breast and cried. In that scenario I could see how she wouldn''t be getting a full feeding since I had pumped so recently. So I tried giving her half a bottle, but she only took one ounce. That''s kind of a relief to me, actually. If she had guzzled down the bottle, I would have thought she was starving and that returning to work was messing up my milk supply, but I guess it''s something else. Could it be bottle/nipple confusion? Boo. I''m going to pump again in a minute to try to replace the milk we used and to help my supply.

She''s moved up to 5 ounce bottles, but the good news is that she usually only takes 2 at daycare (I only get about 10 oz. per day at work); she''ll eat once in the middle of the night, once before daycare, twice at daycare, and then two or three times after work. She goes for her 4 month checkup next week (with DH since I only have 3 sick days left after my maternity leave), so he''ll ask then if that''s in the right ball park. We think she weighs about 12 pounds.

 

[sunkist]

China - SOUP - ohhh!! I havent watched Best in Show in forever! Gotta watch it again now!

Mandy - sounds like you did a good job with your MIL. I think she got your message, now hopefully she''ll remember! I think its awesome that you actually said something though.

Mara you''re looking great!

 

[Mara]

RAH RAH for 6 months mat leave, i totally agree. this is one time i am glad i live in CA and pay ridiculous taxes so that i can take advantage of the maternity leave benefits the state affords, really more the job protection than the $950 a week, but i am so happy to be able to take 4 months instead of just 6-8 weeks or whatever. and it really makes me respect companies who try to do right by their employees anywhere in the country or world, and supplement income or time knowing that it's important to the employee and their families. it's like that strange hidden benefit you don't even know about unless you plan to start a family.

so i'm happy to report that J took the natural right boob sans shield last nite and then again this morning. he fusses for a bit on it, i think that is when he is really not getting much, then all of a sudden i can tell when the milk lets down because he's like a ravenous little swallower slowly becoming more and more comatose and limp. is it normal for the let down to take about 5 min to occur? any way to make it happen sooner...does the warm drink that the books recommend actually WORK?

left boob is still requiring a shield though he did take it for a few min natural before totally complaining, i think it was that there was no let down yet. and umm my nipples hurt even though i know his latch is good. i am doing the milk on the nipple, air dry, then lanolin but jeez when does the LEATHERING commence? i am ALL ABOUT IT now. i don't BF him at night to give the boobs a rest but i have to pump at the 6am feeding because they hurt too much by then.

VIZ...I agree with TDM if you can get another gig somewhere that has more flexibility. basically for me, I plan to try to turn my job into what I need it to be when I return and if the company won't work with me then I will go somewhere else. I have contracted in the past and I loved it, it's typically more money and more flexible hours, I might even be able to go to 20 hours and make the same if I could find the right contract. I am not sure what your options are where you are at, but I would def think about other options. I already know I DEFINITELY want to spend more time with J than my old schedule would have afforded, but I also know that my team kind of expects that things will change. It also helps that 3 other gals in my department (of about 50) were preggo at same time and are out on mat leave now too, so we will all return around same time so I think that flexibility will just need to happen.

re: weaning, i have nothing to add but i love reading about what you gals plan to do... i would love to still be feeding at 10 months but at this point i am hoping for 4-6 and then we'll assess from there.

random note but did most of you guys with older kids start them on solids around 6 months? i just want to have a mental timeline in my head.

re: leaving the baby alone... honestly i kind of feel like as long as the baby is in a 'safe' situation, aka strapped into a bouncer on a flat surface where he can't fall or in a swing or in a bassinet or crib with no blankets/toys etc then it's fine to step away for a bit, esp with the monitor. i guess the key is the 'safe situation'...or as safe as you can make it. i feel like we can't keep an eye on the kid 24/7 day after day, when he sleeps we sleep too so that is like having no eyes on him right?

what is up with my boobs leaking when the kid starts crying? is that going to be happening for the next 10 months? blah.

Mandarine...favoritism just over a NAME? Really?? That is so lame. I am glad you said something and hopefully she didn't even realize and now it will change. Poor Lucas.

Speaking of Grandmas... I have to plug this little fun book I got my Mom at a boutique before the baby was born. It's called Granny Diaries and it is basically a little fun comedic kind of book on what to do and not do for the new Grandmas. aka it's ok to say things like 'He's adorable and you are doing a great job!' and it's not ok to say things like 'Should his legs really be this thin? Are you sure he's eating enough?' or 'What is he wearing???'

It also talks about things like you don't need to give them water anymore if you are BF'ing, and other things that have changed since our parents raised us. Anyway my Mom is reading it and she said she really likes it. So for anyone considering something like that for their MIL or Mom, I recommend it so far. hehe.

PG... claire is taking 5oz at 4mo? I feel like our kid is such a piggy! he is eating ~3oz a feeding and he is 2 weeks...but we only feed him about 7x a day so i guess it would be diff if it was 3oz and 10-12x a day or something hehe. Greg is on a mission to make him grow, he wants him to be some Olympic shotputter or something.

Oh and Amber re: Piper's size...my friend has a 4 month old that is 20lbs! And my cousin's baby girl was born 3 weeks early and 8.5lbs and her biggie size has never changed...she is 2 years old and wearing 5T clothes! But she's not 'fat', she's just a really sturdy tall little girl.

thanks for all the comments on my deflating fluffy belly... it may be smaller but it's def gelatin consistency. oh well i'll take whatever i can get at this point. and i am SO HAPPY to not be pregnant anymore... i love that we got our little boy out of the process but i did not like being pregnant at all. every time i lay on my side and don't have sciatic pain or when i bend down and put lotion on my legs or i eat spicy food and don't have heartburn, i rejoice.

PS...this thread moves so fast, i can barely keep up!!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Mara, the formula the LC told me was the baby''s weight times 2.5 divided by the number of feedings a day. So if Claire is 12 pounds, she needs @30 ounces a day, so 6 feedings would be 5 oz. exactly. It''s just hard to know if that''s actually how much she usually gets on the breast. My Caring For Your Infant and Young Child book says that around 3 months babies should go from eating 4-5 ounces at a time to 5-6, so I''m also basing it on that. Claire was 25% percentile for weight at her last appointment, so I think I can err on the lower end of the range.

Speaking of, yeah Amber, I think people just say the baby is big no matter what. In the same trip to the grocery store I had two strangers tell me Claire was a big baby, but she''s just not. I was just like, "Oh, yes, thank you." I mean, the girl is just growing out of 0-3 month clothes now that she''s 16 weeks, and that''s only because of length.

 

[Dreamer_D]

solids I waited til six months, some other moms here started a little earlier with cereals. I was glad I waited, just made life easy to not worry about anything but bringing my boobs when we travelled or were out and about.

public nursing a toddler I plan to nurse when I want and where I want. Other people can stuff it if it bothers them

LOL! But he nurses so infrequently I don''t see it coming up much.

"We both like soup. And talking. And not talking"

 

[sunkist]

Mara, I remember my nipples still hurt at 6 weeks. It was just when he latched on and then it didn''t hurt once he got going, but ya, I think the "leathering" can take a while... I think Wes might have had some issues with a slight tongue-tie impeding his latch too. I was even wondering if that caused him to suck in more air and give him more gas. But I think he overcame that problem. And even if he did suffer from some tongue-tie, it didn''t keep him from getting food, he had passed his birth weight by 4 days old! Anyways, sometimes it even still hurts for a moment when he latches on and I''m at 13 weeks.

OH! Wes is 3 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!!

And as for leaking, I am learning to always take a sweater or something for layering with me, cause I have leaked more than once while out in public! Once I sent hubby to go get my sweater out of the car, and last time I thankfully was already wearing my sweater. Now my other non-in-use boob leaks while I''m nursing Wes.

(I wore breast pads in the beginning, but now they itch me so I normally don''t wear them.) It also helps if, when you feel let-down, to put pressure on your nipple/boob and it will stop the milk from coming down. I''ve had to do that discretely with my arm in public. Still kinda embarassing even though probaly no one else knows.

Oh, and re: the thread moving fast, ya, It does. I usually just have time to respond to the things that are fresh in my mind. So I hope other people don''t think I''m ignoring them!

When do you ladies post the most? While baby is napping, while breastfeeding, or at work? Or some other time??

 

[sunkist]

Date: 2/13/2010 3:39:07 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
solids I waited til six months, some other moms here started a little earlier with cereals. I was glad I waited, just made life easy to not worry about anything but bringing my boobs when we travelled or were out and about.


public nursing a toddler I plan to nurse when I want and where I want. Other people can stuff it if it bothers them

LOL! But he nurses so infrequently I don''t see it coming up much.


''We both like soup. And talking. And not talking''

Dreamer, I''m so glad you remember to bring your boobs along for the baby

 

[taovandel]

With mommy brain---you can never tell what you might forget

I post when he is napping or playing on his floor gym thingy.

 

[Mandarine]

Quick! What do I do?

We went to an art fest and the boys didn''t nap much (part of my swaddling wars!). Anyway, I think there was too much going on so they didn''t eat at 4pm (last bottle had been at 1pm). So at 5:50pm or so, they were starving (and screaming) and each had 8oz! (they never eat more than 6oz!). They actually wanted more, but I didn''t wnat them to throw up, so I put them in the stroller and rocked them to sleep (they were exhausted and since I can''t rock them together anymore, the stroller is my solution!).

Anyway, my question is...what do I do now?. They usually go to bed at 7pm and eat at 6:30pm (now). Should I let them sleep there for like 30 minutes, wake them u, see if they want more food and make them be awake for a little while? or just let them sleep?

I''m afraid of a 6pm bedtime and no more food! but I don''t know if making them be awake or make them eat more will back fire....hmmmmmmm

Anyone online?

 

[phoenixgirl]

5:50 seems awfully close to 6:30 to me . . . I think I''d just let them sleep. You''ve said yourself that waking them up for a dreamfeed usually backfires. But you''ve got to be resolved to have them wake up earlier than usual in the night to eat, I think.

Good luck!

 

[ChinaCat]

Mand- REally quickly- I''ve been there before where O fell asleep when he "shouldn''t" and I was "do I wake him? do I NOT wake him"???? And he pretty much always woke up right when I got a bit panicky about a way too early bedtime. I would let them sleep. Chances of them sleeping and not waking up to eat again are low. Usually O would wake up, eat, and pretty much go right back down so his bedtime might be 1/2 hour or later.

Just my 2 cents. Let us know what you do!

 

[Mandarine]

Thanks guys!

That''s sort of what I did. I woke them up to change them (good thing because Alex had poop!), put PJs and swaddles. Right before the swaddle I offered a bottle and neither one was interested...so I put them in bed! They went right to sleep...

I hope tonight is not a disaster!!!

Last night was actually interesting. Lucas is pretty consistently sleeping until 3-5am, then he wakes up to eat and is back down until 7am. Alex is all over the place...waking up sometimes twice during the night, sometimes once...sometimes at 11pm and sometimes at 3am. I have noticed he''s not really that hungry when he wakes up too soon....so last night he started crying at midnight. I didn''t even go in and thought "I''m going to just let him cry!". Well, what do you know...he cried for THREE minutes and went right back to sleep!!!...little booger!. At 3:30am Lucas woke up and the commotion woke Alex up, but he was happily sleeping!

 

[Pandora II]

Geez, I am WAY behind here, so will respond to what I can...

Blen - LOVE the glasses, George is beyond cute in them.

Weaning - both types...

Mara, we started solids with Daisy at 6 months, but I do Baby Led Weaning which doesn''t involve purees or baby food. She just eats whatever I''m eating - or rather ''plays'' with whatever I''m eating and sometimes swallows some of it. She''s still breast-fed on demand so she''s still getting plenty to eat - I make sure she has some rare steak or something to suck every week to give her some iron though.

Breast - I plan to give up when Daisy gives up. If that is when she is a year (doubtful) then that''s fine, if she''s 4 then that is fine too - once she starts school though I think it''s probably time for me to initiate the stopping . I''m not really bothered by what the general public think so I''d be pretty happy nursing her in public for a few years yet. Talking of which, I really don''t get these nursing covers - it doesn''t hide what you are up to, just makes it all more complicated plus once kiddo gets past a few months they will just yank it off anyway. Plus, any kind of distraction and they will generally turn their heads round to look and display to all and sundry the amazing stretch ability of the human nipple!

On the same lines... and yes, Pandora has NO shame... the situation with lack of pumping facilities at workplaces. My response would be to get all the pumping stuff out and merrily do my thing in front of who ever was in the office. Here in the UK workplaces are not allowed to suggest that you use a bathroom for pumping and they need to provide a fridge and sterilising facilities as well. I reckon I''d only need to pump away at my desk for a week at most before the ''mother''s room'' miraculously appeared.

Amber - Euugggghhh. I know just how you feel. I was asked quite a few times if Daisy was bottle-fed as she was so ''fat'', ''chunky'', ''big'' etc. She''s actually 75th percentile for weight - I suppose she is on the short side which makes her look more ''square'', and she definitely had plenty of rolls (still does) but she was never ''fat''. And who the heck calls any baby ''fat'' at such a young age???

Piper looks totally normal and super-cute to me!

Now that she''s nearly 9 months, people have started to comment on how short she is, so you really can''t win. I just say that it''s great as she''s still in 0-3 month sleepsuits and it''s saved me a fortune! (Tonight she is wearing the same sleepsuit that she wore in the hospital - it''s a standard white cotton one so I guess it could have stretched a bit but even so!)

Baths - Daisy didn''t get bathed till about 5 days after birth in the hospital! Once we got home she got bathed a LOT - mainly because the wretched kid was ALWAYS awake and it was a way of keeping her amused... sometimes we had several baths a day. Nowadays we have a bath one morning and a shower the next - she does get pretty grubby now as I let her crawl around on the floor in shops etc whenever we are out. She also gets clean clothes everyday now.

Side Sleeping - I think it was Mara who asked... Daisy has always slept on her side. She turned onto it while she was in the hospital and has stayed sleeping like that ever since. When she was very little I put the co-sleeper mattress on an incline with a rolled up towel under one end. Then I placed her nearer to the inside side with a rolled up blanket behind her whole body - that way she couldn''t roll all the way over as she''d hit the side of the crib first and she couldn''t roll onto her back as the blanket stopped her. The crib sides are mesh so I didn''t have any suffocation worries. I alternated ends every night so that she wasn''t always on the same side.

Even now she always side-sleeps. She was never swaddled - I had lovely swaddling clothes, plus the Bug in a Rug and Kiddopotomus swaddlers and it was a disaster.

Even the midwives in the hospital couldn''t get her to stay swaddled more than a few minutes and they were experts at it. But, she''s always been a still sleeper so never woke herself up flailing around - I think the side sleeping probably helped.

A big hello to everyone else - I have read all the posts and loved all the photos!

I took Daisy out yesterday for a wander round Hatton Garden (London''s diamond district) - she was an angel and slept for THREE hours in the pram so I got to have a serious bling fest with one of the coloured stone dealers which was great fun.

Then we went for lunch at Starbucks and afterwards just happened to bump into DH in the street - which is pretty amazing as it''s not a bit of London he is normally in - so we walked back to his office and I took Daisy in to see everyone, and then round the corner to Saville Row and New Bond Street (Graff, HW, De Beers et al

).

In the evening we went to China Town for Daisy''s first Chinese food - she had prawn toast, chilli beef, crispy duck and a prawn cracker and loved it all. The prawn toast went down nearly as well as the lamb chop the other night and got a "nom, nom, nom" and much lip-smacking.

She even got her own set of chopsticks - which proved very painful on my part as I got liberally jabbed everywhere! I had her in the Mei Tai which seemed to be a source of amusement to all!

 

[Blenheim]

It''s moving so fast here lately!

I post when he''s napping.

Solids - We started at 6 months as well. The AAP and WHO recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months if possible, and so we followed that and looked for readiness signs: sitting on own, coordinated enough to bring things to his mouth and mouthe them, interested in food and watching us eat. And honestly, I''m glad we waited at least six months because the poo is really gross when they start on solids. I wish that we could have delayed the gross poo even longer!

Baths - We bathed him pretty infrequently (every few days) until we started him on solids. Between the food and the crawling, he gets messy enough to require a bath every day or two now.

Nursing in public - just to clarify, the moms that I were talking about earlier who mostly nurse around wakeups and bedtimes are nursing older kids, like 3-4. I know someone who is nursing a 13? 14? month old and still nurses on demand, in public.

Pandora - I am sure that a mother''s room would miraculously appear if that were to happen! And it sounds like you had a fabulous day today.

 

[qtiekiki]

Easy Expression Bustier or any of the hands-free pump bras.
Anyone tried this for hands-free pumping? Any recommendations?

 

[sbde]

LOVE all the BFP pics ladies. PS babies are too darn cute.

blen: george looks adorable - i hope he gets used to wearing them soon so that he isn't so upset!

tandogmon: i'm not done BF'ing yet either and J is 13 months old. I had assumed i would start weaning at the 12 month mark but he isn't ready and neither am i so i am not going to put a limit on when i do stop. i have started giving him whole milk though - mostly mixing his cereal in it and giving a few ounces here and there in a sippy cup when he wakes up from naps (he's least used to having the breast at those times). as for BF'ing in public - i've always done it. most malls have great areas set up - in particular Nordstroms usually has amazing nursing rooms. i use the cover when i'm doing it just on a bench somewhere and i often also feed him in the car. good luck with whatever you decide!

dreamer J's diet is similar to Hunter's in that there are many meals throughout the day. i give him an egg for breakfast every other day and ensure that he has some form of lean meat most days as well.

mara we started J on solids (cereal) when he was about 4.5 months old. basically our ped had given us the go ahead once he had doubled his birthweight and his tongue thrust reflex was gone (i.e. he wasn't pushing his tongue out anytime something was put in his mouth). i'm happy with our decision to start early because he really seemed ready for it and still loves eating and trying different things. every child is different and you'll know whats best for julian when the time comes.

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

The pics of all of the babies are WAY TOO ADORABLE!! I''m sorry I didn''t get to post one -- I haven''t taken any pics of Ben this week. He pretty much looks the same, but, ugh, the poor thing is dealing with the bad newborn skin period. He has 2 milia bumps on his one cheek and they look awful.

Blen, I heart George''s glasses and those pictures are so funny! I especially love the one where he''s pouting! I didn''t even think about how they got his prescription, so it was really interesting to read about that. I''m amazed that they can even treat a baby who isn''t able to tell whether 1 or 2 is better.

Big news for me: I got the explanation of benefits from my insurance today and was thrilled to find that they covered more of my midwife''s fee than I expected. Her fee is $2800 and that covers everything -- all of the visits plus the delivery. In the beginning, she had told me that Anthem will cover about $1800 of that, so we''d owe $1000, which I consider a bargain for what we got. We''d already paid her $800 with the last $200 due when I see her for my 6 week checkup. The EOB contained a check for $2266, which means that we get $266 back...dropping our share to $534!! I was BEYOND thrilled at this because it seems like a win-win situation for everyone: we saved $$ and so did the insurance company. Yay!

Weaning: With Will, I quit pumping during the day for him when he was a year old and he drank cow''s milk at day care. However, at night and on the weekends, he continued to nurse for another 6 months. I wish I would have encouraged him to go a little bit longer, but I was happy with going that long. Believe me, when I was able to hang up the horns, I was ecstatic -- although I am a huge believer in the value of pumping, I don''t find anything fun about it. When he was a year old, I also gradually gave up the lunch time visits each day to nurse him. That was hard because I really loved that time to reconnect with him and break up the work day, but by then he had moved into the next room up in day care and it would have been odd to be nursing him at lunch while all of the other kids were just having lunch.

So, my plan this time is to do essentially the same thing. I''ll be pumping again at least twice a day for the next day''s bottles plus going to daycare at lunch to nurse Ben. I think that I may try to keep him nursing through the winter after he''s 1 1/2, mostly to keep giving him the antibodies.

Solids: I generally start solids sometime after 6 months, but I''m never in a big hurry to do so because of having skinny kids. Since breastmilk is much higher in calories than the solids kids start on, I don''t want to fill a baby up with something less calorie-dense. One food that I really like to feed them, though, is avocado because it''s high in good fat.

Mara,

for J not needing the shield last night! Baby steps!

I don''t think it''s abnormal to take 5 minutes to let down. If you''re concerned about it because J is getting frustrated, you could try some of the traditional things that pumpers do to encourage let down, such as warm compresses, expressing some by hand before a feeding, smelling a piece of baby''s worn clothing, breast massage, etc. Oh, and before you start feeding, undo your bra so you''re not restricted, lean forward and shake a bit -- I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it helps!

As for leaking...some women get lucky and never leak. Yeah, I''m not one of them. I have to wear nursing pads the entire time that I''m nursing because if I don''t, I will soak my clothing. The let down when baby cries is absolutely normal -- it''s one of Mother Nature''s ways of encouraging breastfeeding. It''s *really* bad when it happens when it''s not your baby that''s crying, LOL.

BTW, you look great! It''s nice to be getting back to normal, isn''t it?

PG, I use the general guideline of 1 oz. per hour for breastmilk when I have to send bottles to day care. Some babies take a little more, some a little less. The really cool thing, IMHO, is that this doesn''t vary much over time. I had to do some educating with the women in the infant room when Will was in there because he was the only one getting breastmilk and they expected him to be drinking 5, 6 or even 8 oz. in a single bottle like his formula fed counterparts.

Mandarine, I''m so glad you confronted your MIL about her favoritism. It''s such a shame that she has these two precious grandbabies -- not one but TWO to spoil completely!! -- and she can''t see how damaging her behavior could be.

Comments about baby size: I''ve never heard "He''s so big!" -- I''ve only heard "He''s so tiny!" and people don''t seem to understand how hard that is to hear because I think it''s natural for people to come to the conclusion that there''s something wrong with my kids since they don''t have fat rolls. Of course, I''ve had the hardest time with these comments when I''m nursing the kid in question, but it was also hard with my older daughter who was on formula (and had horrible reflux). I rarely comment about a baby''s size because of this -- I''m more inclined to say something about another feature.


Tonight we took Will and Ben to the mall because Will was out of control and needed to get his yayas out. There''s a play area that I thought he''d enjoy, and it worked wonders for his attitude. He passed out soon after we got home.

I had Ben in the sling because he seemed rather out of sorts this afternoon, so I figured some sling time would do him good. He zonked out soon after I put him in it and slept the whole time we were in the mall.

I wanted to stop at my favorite jewelers to show Ben to my favorite sales lady, who I last saw the night before he was born. She and I were gabbing as we usually do and SO was over doing something at the one counter -- apparently he had ordered something for me and had to pick it up!

I give the guy mad props because I totally forgot about Valentine''s Day with all of the excitement of Ben''s arrival, and I certainly didn''t expect SO to be out buying jewelry when he spoiled me for Christmas and my birthday. But now I can''t wait to see what he picked out!

And then I went into the Hallmark store to get something for Will for Valentine''s Day and the woman at the check out said "Is that a doll?" to me. I said, "Oh my god, NO!" and couldn''t believe I reacted like that -- it was kind of funny later, but I felt sort of bad that it came out like that. I mean, really, would you expect a grown woman to be walking around the mall carrying a doll in a sling? And if you saw someone doing that, would you initiate a conversation?

I finished up the evening with a trip into the bookstore where I bought "Everyone Poops" and "Where''s the Poop?" for Will. I told SO that either I have a child with potty training issues or a very weird fetish.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Just popping into this thread to say that BFing an older baby is manageable if that's what you decide to do! I carried on until Amelia was done at 15 months (when she lost interest and it became a hazard of flailing limbs and sharp little teeth).

My friend's son is about the same age (21 months) and he's still nursing about 3-4 times a day, wherever they happen to be. I've never noticed anyone looking twice at them. When we were in hospital a couple of weeks ago, there were a few nursing toddlers. There's nothing quite as effective at calming an unhappy child.

I went back to work when A was 14 months. I never pumped, so I don't know how it would have worked, but I was offered extended lunch breaks to go home and feed her. By then, she only really wanted to nurse at bedtime, though. She went from feeding on demand every few hours to feeding once a day to not wanting to nurse at all in the space of about two weeks, which was a shock to my system. I started her on solids at just before 6 months, because she was really curious to try our food.

Really, who cares what anyone else thinks? If you want to nurse your child, go for it! I really hoped to carry on until A was at least 2, but she wasn't interested.

 

[Mandarine]

Lucas slept until 6:00am! Go figure!!

Alex woke up at 2am...so you are probably thinking "finally, mandarine sleeps!...no husband snoring and only one midnight feeding!". Wrong! The stupid fire alarm decided to go off for a few seconds at 4am. Seriously and it's so LOUD!. It went off for no reason, luckily it didn't wake up the babies...but it sure did wake me up (jumping off my bed in less than a second!)...and of course then I was too freaked out to go back to sleep!!!

RPS The Poop books cracked me up! lol...and the doll story! haha. I read all this at 2am while feeding Alex and couldn't stop laughing...haha

Re weaning I'm not BFing (I wish I was!)...I say you guys nurse until you're done!....who cares what people think!!!!!!. I think I probably do stare now at women who are BFing...but because I'm slightly jealous and I think it's just beautiful!


Happy Valentine's day!!!!!!!

Last year on this day I was running a 6K race...and it was my best race ever (under 8 min/miles!)....I had a "feeling" I was pregnant, but wasn't sure yet!....just a few days later I tested and found out I was pregnant with the muchkins!!!!



ETA: Found my post on TTC! While I do remember I had a feeling, I think I was trying to not psych myself...here is what I wrote back on 2/14/09:

"We had an awesome weekend!!!. On Valentine's day I woke up at 6am and head out to do a 6K race. It was an awesome day and I ran at my fastest pace yet! (7'54'' mins/mile) and I came in 2nd in my age group!!! It was a small race and there were only like 10 women in my age group, but I'm still very proud of myself!!! . I even got a nice little award!

For Valentine's dinner, I cooked the DH to a great dinner (crab legs and bruschettas to start and then grilled lobster tail and filet...YUM!!!). I didn't buy him anything, but do plan to get him a pair of new bike shorts. He got me a massage!!! (since I had a craptastic week, he said he wanted me to relax! )

Yesterday, I headed to the art festival down the street and then spent the afternoon doing some DIY decorations for the new console table.

This Friday I'm supposed to get AF. i don't feel anything "strange" so I'm thinking I will get AF as scheduled. I did get another ugly zit though"


How funny, yesterday I went to the same art festival I'm referring to there...and I tested Thursday, the day before AF was due!...time just flies!!!!!!

 

[phoenixgirl]

RPS, does that calculation vary any by age or weight? Claire spends no more than 8 hours at daycare, but some mornings she may have eaten last at 5 a.m. and DH will need to give her a bottle at 8 before taking her. And if I am giving her a little more than I need to, can I hope that means she''ll need to eat less overnight? Claire is a small baby, so I don''t have any fear that I''m overfeeding her if she takes 10 oz. at daycare.

I''m sure it''s just the transition to daycare that''s making things weird, but we seem to be heading away from any predictable schedule, not toward one. Yesterday Claire had eaten 7x by 7:30 p.m., and she missed a nap in the last cycle, so I thought, perfect, she''ll sleep well and probably wake up once around 4 a.m. Wrong. She woke up at midnight and 2 a.m.! During the 2 a.m. feeding I started to think we were wrong and she wasn''t hungry (Claire wakes so rarely in the night and wouldn''t stop crying, so it seemed the logical answer), but I persevered with the feeding in the hope that she''d at least sleep longer afterwards. And she sort of did -- until 7:30, but to have her longest stretch between feedings be 5.5 hours is nothing to write home about. At least I seem to be less horribly sleep-deprived than last week. DH was gone from 4:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. yesterday picking up his new car, and I''d already been solo for 36 hours the two days before. To compensate for the extra duties, I haven''t done any grocery shopping, working out, or school work; I just hung out on the couch with Claire. So today I''ve got to make up for the stuff I put off.

Mandy, ugh, sorry about the fire alarm. That''s the worst. Seriously.

 

[Mandarine]

happy v-day to our PS friends!!!

 

[taovandel]

It''s so much fun looking back at old post.....This is the month I got knocked up....it''s so weird how much can change in a year!


Took Evan out for breakfast this morning. He ate 5 oz. at 8:30 and by 9:30 he was screaming in the restaurant for more! He''s out of control! He was soooo smiley and happy this morning at the restaurant (well before his melt down about 5 minutes before we left). He melts my heart!

Last night we took E to see my husband''s best friend''s (and our boss''s) baby who just turned 4 weeks. He is already in 0-3 month clothes (Evan still is in that size and he is nearly 4 months!) We compared feet and the 4 week old''s feet are bigger then Evans! We definitely have a little peanut.

Forgive me---I know it''s not time for pictures---but I did a little photo shoot the other day and I posted them on that other site. But I wanted to share two of my favorites

 

[taovandel]

and one more



Happy Valentine''s Day everyone!

 

[Mara]

lol re the doll RPS that is hilarious. who carries a doll around with them at the mall if you aren't a 4 year old? i haven't tried my sling out yet, i have the peanut shell, i guess i should while the kid is still small enough to be pliable in it and learn to like it. maybe i will get it out tomorrow and see how it works for a walk around the block. greg just wants to make sure he can't fall out.

mandarine, yay for sleeping and BOO for the fire alarm. i hope you at least got some good chunks of sleep in there. love the little monkeys with their vday greetings. you are so awesome with taking all the photos.

thanks for the info on the solids ladies... i imagine we'll try to wait til 6 months if possible, i am not keen on moving into the nasty poo territory before we are ready. hehe. also as you guys figured out solids, i imagine 'nutrients' becomes a huge part of it, since right now breastmilk is like the 'complete food' for the kiddos. can someone recommend a good site or book or something on how to make sure the kid is getting the right types of foods and nutrients for the stages they are in?

happy to report today that the kiddo has taken both right and left boob for 24+ hours with no shield yay. the left boob takes some doing but we finally figured out a good 'hold' where he is not frustrated and i am not crouching over him. my left boob seems to be shaped kind of weird and the nipple curves to the left a little so the regular holds seem to kind of all put the boob into his mouth at an odd angle. i figured out if i hold him in the boppy space between me and the boppy and prop him into a loose sitting position with his legs all frogged out and pull his mouth straight to the boob that he gets a good latch, seems to be comfy and i am not crouching over him. i don't know how long that hold will work as he grows, but at least it's working for now and then we can figure something else out as we go. and i am not having to pump as much which IS great i do admit...but i do hate having to sit in one place for like 30-40 min as he feeds, he's a total lazy eater on the boob and takes little mini naps, i have to keep rousing him with burping sessions.

also today he is 13 days old so i am just waiting for his two week wakeup, but i kind of think he has been slowly moving towards it for the last few days. he is much more alert during the day now and not as comatose with sleep ALL the time, he will feed and then sit there looking around with eyes open for 1-2 hours then finally fall asleep. at night he still seems to sleep ok, crossing fingers, but we'll see if this changes. he also seems to be wanting to eat more and a little bit more often (aka 30 min sooner than a few days or a week ago). the LC told me the 2 week thing is really just a growth spurt so it will seem like he wants to feed more and is a little more fussy potentially, so if that's the case, then hopefully we can manage it well. i have no problem giving him more food!

oh and i pumped a record this morning, 7oz in my 7am pump...yay. funny but last nite we went out for our 'vday dinner' at one of our fave restaurants, and i was so excited to eat a wedge, a new york steak, and an apple cobbler for dessert and have a drink and some wine that i am sure all that red meat and huge meal had something to do with my crazy pumping this morning hahaa. can i just say it felt so freakin' good to stuff myself silly and be able to actually FIT a good amt of food in my belly again? THANK YOU LORD. when the bill came for dinner, greg was like 'ahhh that's more like it...back to old times'...HAHA. he was so disturbed by how little i could fit while pregnant, given i am a healthy eater typically.

and it was our first time leaving the nugget with my mom and sis, we fed and changed him before going and he apparently slept the entire time on my sister's lap...someone's getting spoiled!! this week my mom is off on winter break, so we will leave him with her a few times as well. figure we'll take advantage of having grandma this hands-on, why not!

tao...those pics are SO cute!! we're having some newborn pics done prob this week by a gal who did some for my friends that i loved, and i am really excited to see how they come out. she has kind of an anne geddes style but a bit more modern. i have some little knitted pants and hats that my mom has made for him for this specific purpose too.

almost lastly, i just have to vent a little and say i am so tired of HEALING down there. it's only been 2 weeks yes, but man i just hate having to wear pads like i am a teenager again, it feels so gross to me. my bleeding is much less but things feel so weird in that general area, i imagine due to the healing process. i will be ecstatic when that part of it is all over. my stitches should be dissolving now, maybe that is what feels odd, but i figure another week/week+ and hopefully i will feel MOSTLY normal if not totally better. how long did it take for you gals to heal up after a v-birth with only a tiny tear?

and lastly, i just have to give my hub a v-day shout out. he said some really sweet things last nite at dinner about how much more bonded he feels with me, and he has never thought i am as beautiful as i am to him right now in these last few weeks. given what i just mentioned above re: healing and the overall fluffiness of my brain and body, it was such a nice little boost to hear him say that. we have been together 10 years so it is nice to see that our relationship can still grow and stretch a little.

happy vday everyone!! hope you are enjoying the day with your SO's and your families.

 

[AmberWaves]

Happy V day everyone! Today I was telling DH that at tomorrow''s date last year was my LMP, hard to believe!! So crazy. I have a question, Piper''s head isn''t flat but one side of the back feels lumpier than the other. We have her 3 mo appointment on the 22nd, so I''ll ask her pedi, but is this normal? The back of her head is still rounded, just a little lumped.

Okay, going to take a walk with the baby, it''s absolutely WONDERFUL outside.

 

[Mandarine]

Tao He's so precious!!!

Mara That's so sweet of DH!!!

I'm so happy you're doing well with BFing! Great job!!!!!

***

My swaddle wars continue

Did I mention I hate swaddles?. I think I did, but I'll say it again... I HATE THEM!. I seriously never thought this would be so hard! Had I known, I would have never started!!!

Looks like they can do the morning naps (which used to be like 45 minutes each, but are now between 20-30 mins). Afternoon naps? forget it. So that means they basically wake up from their last morning nap at around 11am and from then on my day is hell. They screamed for 3 hours straight. I'm not even kidding. I had to go and drive them around...then went to Starbucks and people were commenting how "quiet" they were. Yeah. sure.

I wish they would take a pacifier. I really would!!!. I went and bought another Nuk...(we tried my friend's and they didn't like it but I thought I would try again). Nothing. They act like they are going to throw up.

I almost want to say screw it and go back to swaddling for naps...but I've already been through 5 days of hell...and they are making progress (small, but progress nonetheless).....I'm just so tired of hearing them cry!...they are exhausted but just can't fall sleep. I don't understand how they can do it in the morning but not in the afternoon! I assume is because they are more tired or something.

*sigh*

ETA: FINALLY!!! Alex passed out with one arm in the swaddle (after a lot of crying)...and Lucas passed out in the swing (he wouldn't even let me do the one arm swaddle). This is the quietest my house has been since 11:30 today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think my ears are ringing