PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[ChinaCat]

Sabine!!! LOVE that picture. O LOVES watermelon. So cute!!!!

Kimberly- Love the word pixie. Perfect.

JCrow- OMG the many many times I questioned myself! It's just part of being a new mom. Do what works for you. I personally liked to drain both sides so I was "even".

Mara- Totally get your frustration. Sounds like she doesn't have kids, and is probably just clueless. But I would be annoyed, especially since she is a flake. Call your dr, are you sure J wouldn't be okay if he's had 2 rounds? Just curious.

Vesper- I really really try not to judge other moms so I find it really frustrating when others don't do the same. It's just scary and the scarier part is that if she's proven wrong, the consequences are devastating. Definitely hit the "hide" button on FB!

 

[Mara]

I did email our pedi on Tues, she wrote back today...she said it should not be a problem if we avoid direct contact. But we both would just be too uncomfortable with the whole thing at this point...like who we have to stay away from at the party, what if hugs were passed around and someone wanted to hold J. Just too afraid something would happen. And it's not worth it even if there is a .00001% chance. So oh well.

When I was waiting for her response I looked up a few things online re: the # of shots he'd had so far (2) and basically the websites I saw said that the kids aren't fully protected til 4-5 and even then they aren't 100% but it seemed like the 'over 1 year old' thing was a big benchmark for how well the baby could potentially weather a sickness.

And nope my pal doesn't have kids.. often does things and then has no idea how it affects others or just doesn't always get what is 'normal'...aka she will be supposed to bring something to a party then fall asleep, wake up and think oh no big deal i didn't go and not notify anyone...nevermind we were all waiting for her dish to start eating AND then worried something had happened to her, and left her five voicemails by that point. anyway.

Kim... i love the word pixie. and you never know, once J starts eating solids she might pack on some weight.

It cracks me up to think that at 4 weeks old J had not even gained 1/2 a lb from his birth weight, and just 5 months later he is like some monstrous giant.

Sabine... that is the best photo! I love how he is just GRASPING it like crazy.

re: food.. I love doing purees for J and we are starting to give him thicker stuff as he seems to like the texture better than a thin puree, but I can see being nervous at some point in the future with finger foods.

 

[mtjoya]

thanks guys! I didn't take to offense what she said really, I just think she was hating. Her comment didn't seem that she meant well but whatever! hehe! I always get dumb stupid comments but I really don't care! I love my bebe and she is healthy and that is all that matters!

I kinda don't like this new format but I will give it a try! I will try to post here and there but I lose track of everything and everyone! I miss rps! where is she?!

 

[Sha]

Hi,
Just popping in quickly to leave a BPF contribution. Be back later!

Dalila standing up in her crib, and looking proud of herself too. There's a metal rod at the back that seems to be coming out of her head, but is not - it's propped up in the corner)

 

[phoenixgirl]

Claire, almost 9 months

Aw, look at Dalila so proud of herself! So cute!

Here's Claire on her first trip to the beach. She's not too sure if she likes it!

 

[taovandel]

Some pictures of E at the Aquarium....

The one with his daddy was taken at the spot where we got married last year.

The one with him in the shark is right after I hit his head on the tooth of the shark Whoops!

 

[vizsla]

well hellllllooooooooooooooo!!!
i'm in the midst of 'back to school' madness and have had ZERO time to post work has gotten on my last nerve and everyday i just want to say 'the heck with it'...... but then i remember that i need things like.... insurance, and a paycheck i did realize that maybe i'm going about this job thing all wrong.. so i've decided to focus my efforts to finding a new job for DH since i really don't want to work full time anyway.
when i first brought this up months ago DH was adamantly against the idea, but seeing how hard my hours are and how much i'm missing out on c, has given him a change of heart. he's with c much much much more than i am. ooooooooor c is just too tiring for DH and he'd rather i be home so he could get a break whatever the reason, i'm down!
(yeah, that's right.. i'm just going to jump back in)
i should have more time this afternoon to really dive into what has been going on with us... but the long and short of it is that c is still sleeping thru the night. he's up at 5:30 (which i could do without) but we just bring him into bed and have our morning snuggle there is so much more but i have to finish this little project and hit the gym at lunch.
be back this afternoon!
muuuaaaahhhhhh!

 

[jcrow]

3 months

so this morning, e fell asleep during tummy time again. and she's sleeping now during tummy time. do you think this is a bad thing? she gets plenty of tummy time before getting pooped out and falling asleep. plus i'm in the room with her watching her while she sleeps. but the whole sleep on their back thing makes me worry that i'm setting up a bad habit? she'll be 4 months on the 7th of august...

 

[taovandel]

we let E sleep on his stomach at a young age when supervised...like if he fell asleep on the floor or on our chest.

Once he learned to roll there was no stopping him...he sleeps on his stomach or side now unsupervised.

 

[AmberWaves]

7 Months 3 weeks

Hi all!

Nothing interesting here, Piper is crawling now and killing me. This is not an environment for crawling babies, I need to get a tether like people have for dogs in the backyard. She gets too far and bungee cords right back into my lap.

STILL no teeth. I don't think she has any. No baby teeth. She'll never, ever have teeth and I'll have to chew her food for her and her 1 year old birthday cupcake is going to have to be pudding.

We're going to a party this weekend (well, technically, two parties) and she's going to have to sleep in her pack n play at one of them. She hasn't slept in there since she was 4 months old! Hopefully, if I bring the white noise machine she'll be okay- we're probably going to leave at 11 or so. I really don't want to go.

Quick question: What to get a set of twin boys for their 1st birthday? They're the third set of twins in that family, second set of twin BOYS, so I'm pretty sure they have enough clothes and toys, and books?

LOVE all the pics: Tao, THAT'S what you meant by hitting his head on a tooth, I was totally wondering about it.

I'm attaching a picture of Piper that I put on FB, it's currently my favorite picture of her EVER, as it's just utter and complete bliss and ecstasy from being nuzzled by a german shepherd puppy.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Re: 7 Months 3 weeks

Hi all!
STILL no teeth. I don't think she has any. No baby teeth. She'll never, ever have teeth and I'll have to chew her food for her and her 1 year old birthday cupcake is going to have to be pudding.

I'm attaching a picture of Piper that I put on FB, it's currently my favorite picture of her EVER, as it's just utter and complete bliss and ecstasy from being nuzzled by a german shepherd puppy.

I'm sorry, I know you're worried about it, but the pudding cake cracked me up SO MUCH. I can just see the mess of her mushing pudding everywhere, too. She will get them eventually, try not to worry! But holy cow I love that picture of her, all scrunchy face and excited and happy. She's so freaking cute.

Sha, omg, those cheeks! I love her little baby smiles, she has such a sweet face.

I am finally getting a new camera battery for my Nikon D300 (OMG THE HAPPINESS) so I will have a new picture hopefully later today. I am ridiculously excited!

I also got 12 hours of sleep last night because grandma kept Micah so his dad and I could have a date night. We saw The Sorcerers Apprentice and loved it, and then had steak fries (yayyyyyyy!) at Red Robin. Best date ever.

 

[Bliss]

All the babies are so cute!!!!!!!

Mara, I think you are absolutely right in keeping your baby from the party. Whooping cough is so contagious, especially while it's incubating where the person might not even be showing symptoms. You are *not* being a paranoid parent at all! If anything, you're doing a great job to protect your baby. That girl is really annoying and inconsiderate! I cannot believe she would want to attend a party with kids present when she was exposed to this very contagious illness. I'm sure it would make people uncomfortable; but thankfully you know and can take preventative measures. Good for you! Lately on TV we've been seeing more and more pertussis vaccination PSAs with info on how it is harmful to babies. Maybe there's an uptick in cases in the NE? Someone on PS posted a blog a while back about one woman's courageous fight to save her baby from pertussis infection. It was so heartbreaking I never forgot it. The baby ended up not making it.

Which brings me to a question: how do you handle exposure to the baby before they're immune? I wonder if our parents need to get vaccinated for pertussis since they'll likely be helping us out a lot once the baby comes. I'm sure as a first timer we're super paranoid but sometimes people who don't have kids can be careless and lax about not washing their hands and wanting to hold the baby or not disclosing that they're battling a contagious illness or were exposed to a disease at work. Do you just keep the baby away from most people until they're 1? Ahhh, or maybe we'll get more relaxed about it in our approach.

 

[KimberlyH]

Darling pictures, ladies.

PG, Claire and Jane look a bit alike.

Mara, what you said about her gaining weight cracked me up because it's the reason my husband gets so upset in the first place, people thinking small=bad, big=good. She's healthy, she's thriving, no need for her to pack on pounds, she just needs to continue to steadily gain and grow and be exactly what/who she is.

China, she is a perfect pixie. She's got big round eyes and a bowtie mouth and is a most delicate baby, very prissy (unlike her mommy!). I think she should be a fairy for Halloween!

Jcrow, I'd let her sleep, as long as you're supervising.

***

In baby news, she's starting to giggle, and it is the cutest damn thing ever.

ETA: Bliss, the first 29 days of a baby's life are the most delicate. During that time we limited contact to a few people (my parents, and a couple of close friends). My parents both had perstittus (sp) vaccinations, as did everyone who came into contact with her (not because we asked, it just worked out that way, but I wouldn't be afraid to ask if I felt uncomfortable otherwise). At about the 2 month mark we became a lot more comfortable with company. Everyone is different, some people take their newborns out immediately. For us, there was no reason to do so. We did leave baby with my mom once, for an hour or so when she was a week old so we could have some time together before my mom went home and we didn't have family around to care for her. At about 4 weeks we started going on walks around the neighborhood. At 6 weeks she went to a family gathering of about 10 people and we just asked anyone who held her to wash their hands first. You'll find your comfort zone, and your voice if anyone oversteps your boundaries.

 

[Bliss]

KimberlyH, thank you! That does make me feel a lot better... How kind of you to write all of that out and share the info!

And I would *love* to have a pixie baby!!! Pixies are the cutest!

 

[gingerB]

bliss - similar story to kimH. and i didn't hesitate to ask people to wash their hands and voiced my objections to anyone coming over with even a hint of anything contagious. it wasn't until after his 2 month shots that i relaxed a bit and became more comfy with him being around more people. although MIL came over once with a cold and didn't tell me or hubbs until afer the fact and i was furious. she said she just missed him so much...but hey if you love him..HIS HEALTH comes first over your desire to hold him, kwim?

kim - the baby giggle. best thing ever. EVER.

mara - not paranoid..just a good parent. and now you've warned other parents of the potential and i for one would be grateful. that really is annoying and inconsiderate, but in her defense, before i had a baby it prob wouldn't have been at the forefront of my thinking, y'know? not to excuse her or anything. and A lkes the thicker stuff too. i've stopped thinning out with BM.

amber - for crawling! and i also LOLed at the pudding comment

mp - yay for a great date night!

jcrow - ditto on the ok if supervised. but as soo n as we de-swaddled, there was no stopping him. at first it terrified me, but then i had to get over it because there was no way i could stand at his cribside and roll him back all night, i had to trust that he would be ok. but i def i mmediately put in breathable bumpers and do a sweep of the crib everytime before sleep to make sure there are no dangerzones.

viz - so happy to hear c is still sttn! A not quite there yet but making progress. we do the morning snuggle too

tao - now it makes so much more sense! shark tooth!

sabine - watermeoln -- too cute!!

vesper - aaargh! it makes me so mad when i hear ppl spouting off about things they know nothing about. and ditto pg. whatever your beliefs are, there should be nothing but sympathy when you here of something like that.

to everyone else i missed. hope every one has a good weekend! ours is gearing up to be jam packed!

 

[mtjoya]

Such cutie bebes! I need to re-charge my camera and take pics of Diva Jacky! hehe! I love all the summer pics!

Sha-Such a beautiful princess!

Amber-Soooooooooooooooooooo cute!

Tao-What a handsome boy! So cute!

Phoenix-What a sweet cutie! J makes that face too! hehe!

 

[taovandel]

Ha...glad the shark tooth reference makes sense now...I was hoping it would cause a few question marks to appear when I posted it on FB.


Super cute babies...


Soooo funny about her having no teeth and having to do the pudding. Evan and Piper can hang out in college together...Evan will still be having to drink beer from a baby bottle because he hasn't mastered a sippy cup yet...and Piper can be eating pureed food....match made in heaven!!

 

[AmberWaves]

Tao: Yep, Piper and Evan, out on a date. Piper can help with his bottle and he can help feed her since she's got no TEEF.

I attempted to give her a corner of a puff (seriously, like 2mm of a corner of a puff) and she totally gagged and was angry at me for doing it to her. SO I ate one and decided they are super tasty. I have now made myself sick off of my dinner of puffs, cotton candy from Knott's Berry Farm (the husband went with his camp today), and red vines. Paul just went out to get me some super tasty restaurant mac and cheese. YUM!

 

[Mara]

kim... i hope my comment didn't come across like i mean small=bad...that's not what i meant.

as a parent i often feel conflicted. the percentile charts totally mess with your head. i don't even know how big J is and yet i know he's big and i worry are we feeding him too much or will he have weight problems later (WTF?!) when really all i know is that he's THRIVING. that is the only word for it. i imagine that parents with small kids feel the same way on the flip side.

ginger...i gave J cauliflower, avocado and oatmeal tonite and he loved it. made me think of your whole 'avocado is great with everything' hehhe...he agreed.

amber...sooo cute..!! don't worry about teeth, they'll come!

mp...can't wait to see some pics.

viz...glad to hear everything is going ok..! i think DH getting a diff job so you can stay home is a fab idea! hehe.

pg..cute pic!!

jcrow...i'd let her sleep. i don't remember if you guys unswaddled yet but basically once she's unswaddled and she starts to roll, she will prob start sleeping here and here on her stomach. J is doing that sometimes and for a while i was really freaked out but there was nothing i could do but keep turning him over and he'd STILL end up on his stomach again so finally i was like ok fine.

bliss...thanks for the words. i was really worried at first about pertussis..i also read that blog link on PS and it was just heartbreaking. i remember thinking...well how can you keep the baby safe?! and it's frustrating to think that you bake them and then they are out and still in so many diff types of 'danger'. in reality you can do so much, but some of it is just going on faith. i knew i couldn't hide him out forever. we didn't really limit people who saw him, but no one could come over who was sick or touch him without washing hands first. we also took him out places but we typically kept him in the carseat and covered. he wasn't really 'exposed' to a ton before 2 months anyway. i am a little bugged that the kids are so unprotected til age 1, but again...there's only so much you can do, kind of like the sleeping on the stomach thing.

J's latest thing is to sleep on his side or half stomach half side (how i sleep actually with one leg up and crooked) and with his face totally smashed into the breathable bumper. and sometimes he grabs the bumper and tries to pull it down to snuggle with. the boy is CRAZY.

be back with a photo!

 

[Mara]

here's my baby man... 5m3w, during a nap earlier this week. my sis sends me pics every few days. my heart melted when i saw this one.

all the babies are adorable...of course!!!

 

[HOUMedGal]

Anyway, she posted something today about how ridiculous the ad campaign is for whooping cough (just trying to poison our kids), and I posted back that an acquaintance of my MIL had a baby who died this year of whooping cough, just as a reminder that many of these diseases are still fatal for infants. She posted back that as sad as that was, if the baby was breastfed (I have no idea if it was or wasn't) it probably wouldn't have died because of the immunity it would have received from the mother.

Obviously BFed kids get enhanced immunity from their mothers, but if all BFed babies were immune to every disease, then I guess no babies would have ever died before the invention of formula right? Because they were all breastfed, and according to her logic, immune to diseases? The fact is, infant mortality was much higher back then, and all kids were BFed, so it's not like it's the magic cure-all for every disease. It just steamed me that she's posting this nonsense that if you BF your kid they're not going to be able to contract all of those awful, serious, diseases, so if you're BFIng, you should just skip vaccinations.

This really gets the pediatrician mom in me all riled up. I have SEEN with my OWN EYES and treated babies who are incredibly sick with Pertussis. And yes, it kills some of them. Perfectly healthy babies. Many of whom were probably breastfed!!

The ONLY thing she's right about is the fact that breastfeeding is immunoprotective, since baby receives momma's immunoglobulins thru the milk. However, plenty of breastfed babies still get sick (exactly as you said, Vesper--why did so many babies die in the old days?!) and plenty of formula fed babies do just fine.

Pertussis is definitely a real danger for pre-vaccination aged neonates. Most adults have not received a pertussis booster since they were kids, so in the world as a whole, there is waning immunity to it, and when there's waning immunity, that's when these bugs creep in and start causing more disease. It doesn't affect vaccinated big kids, and if adults catch it, it's annoying, but not life threatening. However, when the sick adult comes home to their 4 week old baby and passes it on to them, the results can be deadly. The whole "campaign" she referred to as trying to poison our kids has nothing to do with changing how we vaccinate kids - the big push is to get PARENTS re-vaccinated. Now that pertussis is returning and causing badness, we have changed the way we vaccinate our big kids (when you're 11 or 12, instead of just getting the Td (tetanus/diphtheria) booster like we all probably got, you now get the TdAP (tetanus/diphtheria/acellular pertussis) booster. The simple fix to this problem is to have parents get the TdAP booster as well. I got it as soon as we started TTC, and DH will have it well before our LO arrives.

OK, off my soapbox. It just seems that it's the most ill-informed people who speak the loudest about that which they are ill-informed, and in instances like this, it really gets to me.

 

[HOUMedGal]

Speaking of drinking the kool-aid, a few weeks ago I was at playgroup at this coffee shop for parents and little kids (the same one where the nanny scooped up Claire and didn't return her for too long of a period), and this weird man was leering at me and my friends. He probably lives in this group home for the disturbed nearby. But anyway, the staff asked him to leave since only parents with small children are welcome, although they might make exceptions if you weren't some weird 55 year old man staring at women breastfeed, and as he we leaving he walked over to me, looked me straight in the eye, and said, "You should read up on Jonestown." You know, the one where 900 people drank poisoned kool-aid and killed all the little kids? I was the only person in the group who knew what the reference was, so maybe he thought he was being clever by making some veiled reference to killing little kids that we would only figure out later. I didn't respond, but I did glare at him with all the mama bear in me.

CREEEEEPY!!! He's probably just mentally ill, but still....CREEEEEEPY!!!

 

[vespergirl]

Houmedgal, thanks for the info. I actually got the new dTap when I delivered Connor in the hospital - they mentioned the risks and thought it was a good idea, so I was all for it.

I know I'm a day late but I just wanted to tell everyone that I LOVE your gorgeous baby pics! I'll try to get a picture of Connor up next Friday.

 

[waxing lyrical]

Wow Mara. I can't believe he's almost 6 months old. I still remember when yo announced your pregnancy. He's a handsome little guy. We have a bunch of cuties here.

My little guy will be 7 months on the 26th. He started crawling about a week ago and is now trying to pull himself up to stand. He's growing up so fast. He's getting so big.

Recent pics of Henry:

 

[Mara]

Lux.. the last one of Henry..SQUEE. those eyes!! and I know...where has the time gone?? I can't believe my baby is already 6mo.

one more thing re: Pertussis... if you are vacc'd you may not get ill with the virus BUT you can be a carrier over to someone who is not vacc'd or isn't entirely vacc'd. aka why we didn't go to the party sunday and leave J with Mom. if we came into contact with the gal and she was incubating, we could carry it home to J. we made sure all family members were vacc'd. it's simple to have the people call their dr and/or hospital and ask them to look in their charts to see if the last tetanus shot they had carried the booster, all of ours did.

tao i forgot to say that i loved the pic of evan in the shark with his big eyed look, he doesn't look any worse for the wear after the tooth bop!!

 

[jcrow]

thanks for all the feedback re: tummy sleeping.

lux - henry is gorgeous! love his eyes in the last pic. you take wonderful pictures!

re: newborn exposure, during he first 6 weeks we really limited e's contact with people. only immediate family came over to visit during that time and we didn't take her out in public. extreme i know, but that's what we were comfy with. at the hospital + the first week or so, we were really cautious about people washing their hands before handling e. after that, we got more lax or forgetful. once e got her first rounds of vaccines, we started taking her out and about.

 

[Bliss]

These gorgeous baby pics are amazing!!!! Oh, I can't wait to meet our LO, too! I am so in awe of your cutie pies!!!!

Thank you thank you for the great information HOU and Jcrow, Gingerb, KimberlyH and Mara! I think like you, I will ask immediate family members to get vaccinated for pertussis: me, DH and our parents. I'd rather be safe than sorry, especially after HOU's real life stories in the hospital. So thank you for the valuable info and advice!

 

[anchor31]

Lux - Henry is gorgeous! Jacob will be 7 months on the 29th so they're almost birthday twins.

vesper - Honestly, ignorant people like her can be very dangerous, and it makes me sad because the children always end up being the ones punished by this ignorance. BFing doesn't immunize kids to everything... J had his first UTI when I was still EBF.

Gorgeous pictures everyone! Let's see what I can dig up... Ah yes. We've been having a heat wave here and we pretty much moved to the basement, so I took a pic of little J sleeping in his pack'n play with his blankie. Forgive the blurriness, it's not easy to take a picture in semi-darkness with no flash.

 

[drk]

4 months!

I've also been reading more than posting lately. Must check to see if I got my pertussis last time I had a booster - I'm guessing not. No one has mentioned it being a danger to K though.
DH took her to a 4mo visit yesterday. She's finally up to 12lb, just over 25" long. The doc was pleased with things, and said whatever we're doing feeding wise is working well, and to keep it up. We asked about the EBM vs mix with formula for longer, and she said as much breast milk as possible for as long as possible is best. Not sure how much longer I'll be keeping up with her, since I struggle to eke out my 8oz a day for her while I'm at work. She recommended prune juice for constipation rather than any meds.
Other than that, she's getting very fiddly/fussy at the breast when feeding now. Grunts, makes noises, pulls her head back to look around. Doesn't seem to want to feed from me half the time. The only time we can have a peaceful feed is in the middle of the night when she's still sleepy. Last night I slept through my alarm, and ended up going 5h between feeds. I felt pretty bad about that, but apparently I needed the sleep. It also showed us that she can got 7.5h at a time while sleeping. And her nap this afternoon (after a crummy broken morning nap out walking in her stroller) was 2h long. Such a good baby.
My poor nipples are looking pretty raw these days with all the pumping and feeding. Ugh. I've kept it up for 5 weeks already at work. We'll see if I can keep on going a while longer. Thought I had a pump emergency earlier this week when the battery cover came off, the battery dislodged, the pump shut off, and then when I put it back together, saw that the battery was reading "ready to die" when I'd just charged it overnight. Didn't have my power cord at work, just the car charger, which only works when the auxiliary power is on in the car. I begged the ladies on the postpartum floor at work to lend me a hospital pump for the day, which they kindly did. And then my pump battery managed to hold out for another 2 pump sessions anyhow. Medela even sent me a new battery cover when I called to give them feedback - very impressed with their customer service. Good thing I decided to never go to work without the power cord again though, because the very next day the battery I thought was well charged acutally did die while I was at work. Power cord saved the day.
Sorry to be a day late for BPF! Love everyone's photos. What cute kids!

 

[MonkeyPie]

Ugh, I had a post all typed out and lost it because my files were too large. I HATE THE NEW PS. There, I said it.

And now because I'd busy, all you get is pictures darn it.