PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[somethingshiny]

I have a diaper bag from 31 Gifts. It's called "medium purse" and is awesome!


Lily had an episode of SVT last night. I think it may have been caused by some Benadryl I gave her for her swollen eye/face. We were able to convert her rhythm at home and then I took her to the ER for an EKG which turned out fine. She sees her cardiologist Friday.

That's all for now. Hope you're all doing well!!

 

[sugarpie honeybun]

Also wondering if anyone is from the Boston area and could suggest good Mommy-&-Me classes/groups and also a good gym!

Graff - Isis Maternity, My Gym and Gymboree offer great mommy & me and group classes. There are several locations throughout the Boston area. We usually go to the Newton locations.

Boston Sports Clubs are decent gyms, but Workout World is just fine if you are looking for something simple, no frills and inexpensive.

 

[Kunzite]

RT - C is such a cutie!

TT - I forgot to tell you earlier, but your little guys are adorable!! I'm sorry to hear that your birth experience (or after) was so rough. I have this diaper bag:

http://www.amazon.com/JJ-Cole-Collections-Theory-Diaper/dp/B002VJYEAK/ref=sr_1_3?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1306893311&sr=1-3

I adore it, but must admit that I'm pretty minimalist and don't carry much with me (wet bag, diaper, bottle, and one outfit are usually it!) when I go out. So it feels really roomy to me but I might not be the best judge!

shiny - So scary about L's heart rate. Is she on a monitor, is that how you knew? I'll be thinking about your family, I hope the appt. on Friday goes well.

It's official over here... we have a scooter! Oliver has been able to turn in circles on his tummy for awhile now but he's gotten to where he can scoot forward. It's like a two part crawl, the legs move up and forward, stop, then the arms move forward. The whole time he talks to himself. Soooooooo precious

 

[random_thought]

Ugh somebody shoot me please...I have the flu now and I am pretty sure Cayden has it as well. It's only a matter of time before DH gets it as well and we all feel like big piles of poo

 

[Puppmom]

Cupcake, Lorelei is just the cutest! I can see why you’re distracted. I could never work from home. I hope your hubby and boss gain some understanding soon of how difficult it can be.

Noel, yay for making your own food! It’s totally worth it. I mostly slack off and buy and it is SO expensive! Thank goodness I don’t have to buy formula too!

Lanie, I’m so glad the Baptism went well. I don’t think I’ve been to any where the baby didn’t cry. Funny story – we’re not religious but most of my family is. DD isn’t very familiar with church – in fact, she’s only ever been there for baptisms. When she was about 8, my middle nephew was being baptized and when it came time for the Sign of Peace, everyone shook hands as always and said “Peace be with you.” The woman next to DD, shook her hand and said the same to which DD replied, “Please to meet you too!”

Hou! I was hoping to hear from you! I can’t believe how much Ellie has changed. The blonde hair, the big girl push up. Sheesh!

Kunzite, I’m so glad O had a clear check up! He is just the most handsome little guy. Oh, and pretty present!

LV, S is just the prettiest – there is something about that face…maybe it’s the big brown eyes! N loves the wagon. I’ve noticed that walking with the wagon instead of the stroller, has given him lots more core strength. He just seems so free in there.

Tiffany, sorry so much of your leave was spent recovering. I seriously can’t believe your boys are 12 weeks already. I hope the transition back to work is easy. I’m sure you’ll be too busy to fret! I have friends who use a backpack instead of a diaper bag and they’re really happy with it. We have a Skip hop messenger bag and it’s just fine.

SS, sorry for the scare. I’m glad you were able to get everything under control quickly.

Graff, welcome!

RT, sorry you’re sick. My advice (not that you asked for it! ) would be to keep your distance from C unless you’re nursing and wash your hands A LOT. While the flu will probably just make you feel like crap, it can be really dangerous for him. Take care of yourself!

Allie and HH, I'm hurting over here - share some pics of those kiddos! Pretty please?

AFM, N was 10 months old on Monday! Where has the time gone? We booked his one year photo shoot which made it feel real. We’re planning his first birthday party. I’m usually pretty low key with this stuff but am feeling the need to go a little bigger. *Big* for us still isn’t much – just a backyard BBQ with friends and family. I don’t host guests often so hopefully I do ok!

We had a pretty busy weekend with out of town family and lots of commitments. I learned that the earth won’t implode if N’s schedule isn’t followed to the minute. It only took 10 months but I’m getting there!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

wow HH, thanks for all the great suggestions! and your post made entire sense while I was reading it, but it's strange that I never thought of it: how frozen veggies are more nutritious and it's best to get fresh veggies at a farmers' market. I never heard of edamame - I probably always thought they were snow peas or sugar snaps when looking at them. I read about mixing fruit and veggies but thought it personally sounded disgusting, but hey, I'm not the one who has to eat them, so I think I'll give adding apple a try.

by the way, when you started adding meat and fish, how did you prepare them? do you fry them in olive oil?

shiny - apparently I used to scoot as well and was walking by 1 year old. then again, according to my mom, my brother and I were both walking, talking AND potty-trained by 1-yr-old. I think she likes to adjust her memories to having the ideal kids.

puppmom - tripod sit! I like it. a robot party sounds fun! you should all dress up as them.

Lanie - so good that the baptism went well and A was on his best behavior. he's as big as his sheep buddy now!

HOUie - the last pic of Ellie with the cat is darling. it was when Skye started grabbing her toes that she began to roll over. is E doing that yet? isn't the cooing in the morning lovely? they can wake up in such a good mood. I hate when I have to be the one to have to wake her up for day care.

Noel, because BM is sweet a lot of babies have a hard time transitioning to non-sweet foods. Adding a touch of fruit to a bland veg like green beans will make it a little more palatable for them. As they grow you can put less and less fruit in until they're taking straight veg. And no, adding fruit to veggies wont make your kid hate vegetables on their own

After going through the basic list of simple purees we went right to table foods so the only meat A has had have been little pieces of chicken, beef, salmon and pork. Pureed meat is just vile and I don't see a reason to give it. Aidan can gum meat with no problems. Because dark meat poultry is usually the more tender of the two (L vs D) I tend to give him dark meat more. It's easier for him to eat and I think it's more flavorful. He likes ground beef and steak as well and he just tried pork this past weekend and liked it. We've only tried giving him salmon and he really wasn't a fan but I've heard of other babies going nuts for it.

We cook everything in olive oil per the doc's suggestion (it's what we have in the house anyway). Too much fat and calories shouldn't be a concern at this age so you can use oil and even unsalted butter in their foods and give them full fat cheese and yogurt.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

PUSH GIFT!! I ended up going with a diamond and blue saph band from ID Jewelry. I requested it as a 3/4 eternity with the intent of having the inside engraved. I didn't realize that it was a full eternity stock piece so instead of having a solid underside of the band there are galleries as though stones were set in it. So I need to take it to our local guy and have it tweaked. It took forever for them to make it (8+ weeks) because they were busy and they didn't upgrade the stones as we requested the first time. So I didn't want to send it back. It looks great though, I've been wearing it with just my wedding bands.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

shiny - ok, I will be persistent with the books! I thought "pushing" might actually have to do with pushing the child out... but then thought, nah, that's kind of weird. haha, but that is the case!

rt - can't wait to see your photos!

Or in my case it was a "force you to be induced early for suspected IUGR and then slice your abdomen open when your induction fails and the baby is at risk" present!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Also wondering if anyone is from the Boston area and could suggest good Mommy-&-Me classes/groups and also a good gym!

Graff - Isis Maternity, My Gym and Gymboree offer great mommy & me and group classes. There are several locations throughout the Boston area. We usually go to the Newton locations.

Boston Sports Clubs are decent gyms, but Workout World is just fine if you are looking for something simple, no frills and inexpensive.

Wait, how many new/newer boston moms do we have here???? Maybe we need to form our OWN mommy and me group!!! I know Swimmer is local and I'm south of the city, SPHB you're in Newton? Graff, where are you??

I love Boston Sports Club, I was a member when I worked downtown. Now I go to Planet Fitness (on the rare occasion I go to the gym).

All of the babies are SO CUTE!!! I really want to snuggle them all. Aidan and I are doing well. He'll be 9 months on the 9th! So crazy. We had his 9 month well baby last week because he was getting over an ear infection and needed a recheck. He's now 18 lbs 2 oz and 26.75." He has one tooth (bottom left front) and is FINALLY sleeping through the night on a consistent basis. He's mastered crawling and got over his aversion to hard wood floors just recently so now he's getting into everything. He's also pulling up to standing on everything, cruising and starting to let go when standing. He'll even "walk" if you hold his hands! *sigh* he's growing up way too fast. I too am starting to plan his first birthday party. I think we're going to do a family party over LD weekend at my parent's house in NH and then do a smaller neighbor/friend party at home the weekend of his birthday. I swear, watching your kids grow up is worse than getting older yourself.

This past weekend was a big weekend of firsts for us. Aidan and I went to San Francisco to visit my brother and SIL and their son Xander, who is about 6 weeks. We went by ourselves, which was an adventure, but we survived. We did night time flights both there and back and I think that saved us. Babies are most definitely affected by the time change. It really messed with him while we were out there. I just took a relaxed approach and let him sleep when he needed to sleep. By Sunday he was starting to transition to west coast time and fell asleep at his normal bedtime and then slept the whole way home, waking up when we landed. So that was good, it was morning and he slept well so we just went back to our normal schedule. While we were in San Fran he tried Indian food AND Vietnamese food and loved them both, especially the chicken korma. A lady at the restaurant paid me the nicest compliment when she commented on how well behaved and calm he was. She said I was clearly a wonderful mother because he was so good. I wanted to kiss her! LOL. Then on Monday after we got home and napped we went to a BBQ at DH's boss' house on the beach! Aidan spent some time in the sand and stuck his toes in the cold water. Then I scratched him on the face while putting on sunscreen (mommy fail!).

Here are some pictures for you all.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

and a few more because I'm a post wh*re today

 

[AllieLuv83]

Hello Ladies...sorry that I have been MIA. We have had quite a month. Illness after illness. We finally finished the 2 round of antibiotics. We have been giving him meds for 20 days straight. Poor guy. We went to DC this weekend. He did pretty well considering the heat wave we were having. He started to crawl and is eating a bit better. Still only so so about solids, so I will continue to try. We actually LOVE puree with meat around here. I make a chicken, apple and sweet potato puree that Charlie LOVES!!! It smells like thanksgiving dinner.

He still doesn't care for any type of fruit. Apples, pears, bananas, peaches, mangos, avocado, and yogurt have been nixed for the time being but I will continue to offer. We are going to try cauliflower, fish, beans, and maybe tofu. I really want to expand his palate. I will post pictures tonight

 

[somethingshiny]

Lily isn't on a monitor. I used to check her all the time with a stethoscope but since she's been doing so well I just keep my hand on her chest for a couple minutes to check it. I was giving her a bottle and put my hand on her chest and felt how quickly her heart was going. It's almost like it buzzes. I checked her with the stethoscope and then did the vagel maneuvers. Ice to the face, not welcomed by a screaming baby. And then flipped her to startle her and shock the heart into rhythm. If we can't get it back into sinus rhythm at home, we would have to take her to the ER for a dose of adenoseine. The drug is pushed to stop the heart and restart immediately in a better rhythm. (That's what they had to do when she was born.) So, as long as we're not stopping her heart EVER AGAIN! I'm fine with the occasional episode that we can fix at home.

Anyway, this afternoon will be the first time I watch the 2 month old for a few hours. He starts with me next week so today we're doing a trial run. Wish me luck!

 

[Graff_Pink]

Sugarpie - Thank you so much for the suggestions!

HH - Beautiful push gift, SUPER CUTE baby boy - and my husband, Ben and I just moved to Beacon Hill.

I have never heard of this push gift thing, but am wondering if there is a grace-period and if I can charge interest on the 5+ months I have gone without? ha ha ha

I am already enjoying our new neighborhood and can see what all the fuss is about Boston. It's such a beautiful area - and so busy! Ben and I have spent the past week making daily visits to The Commons walking the dogs and getting to know the locals, and have gone pretty far down (up?) Storrow Drive. Ben seems to have finally settled into a better routine and is getting acclimated to the new surroundings, as are my husband and I. I will be sad to start my new job in August - I was really beginning to dig this stay-at-home thing!

Now the focus and search begins with finding a Nanny. My husband would prefer someone to live with us so we don't need to be as concerned with schedules overlapping, but I am hesitant - also because I would eventually like to be able to work at home. Can anyone suggest any reputable agencies for a Nanny? I don't even know where to begin! But I know that this is going to be a huge undertaking and one I will not take lightly.

 

[AllieLuv83]

Here is my little guy. I can't believe he is almost 8 months old. TIME has really flown by.

 

[taovandel]

I just come here to post pictures! I seriously do read posts....but sometimes I have nothing new to contribute to a discussion so I feel lame being like Ditto!

I swear I read every single day!

RT: Sorry to hear about the sickness! Hope you all get healthy soon!

HH: A looks perfectly fine after the scratch--smiling away!

 

[noelwr]

hope everyone enjoying the long weekend. Skye loves food. I actually think she doesn't prefer sweet because so far she likes her veggies without fruit better (maybe because she never had BM? - I never tasted formula milk so no idea if it's sweet or not). I tried giving her juice, but she much rather prefers warm water. we also gave her brown bread crust to suck on which she also loves and makes her excited.

LV - S looks so pretty in her summer dress. nice idea about the yearly photo. wow, she is tall!

Kunzite - so funny, but right after I read your post I was watching Skye and she did the scoot thing, too! I guess O inspires her. you can buy a mattress cover and sheet that has got tiny holes for breathing in it in case baby sleeps with his face down. we have it for Skye, but if they know how to move their heads, it isn't a problem. lovely earrings, by the way. I am also getting some this weekend, but .4 each.

rt - hope your family feels better soon. must be scary for such a little one to have the flu. great pics, you should frame them one on top of each other like that. I like the one where you're making C wave. you guys are so cute together.

HH - love the pics of A looking out the window and asleep in his bouncy chair. fantastic on having high praise of your mothering skills. your ring is beautiful.

shiny - scary stuff with Lily's heart! how did it go with sitting the 2 month old?

Allie - is cutie Charlie a redhead? wow, what a push-up. I'm going to try puree chicken into Skye's carrots. she loves carrots, so I hope it's not bad to give them to her often.

taovandel - Violet's so awesome with her spiky hair.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Here is my little guy. I can't believe he is almost 8 months old. TIME has really flown by.

Squeeeeeee! CHARLIE!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG A, he looks JUST like you in that last picture!

 

[somethingshiny]

I only had the 2 month old for about 3 hrs. I ended up working at the cradle cap and giving him a bath while he was here. My friend got into some wild mustard weed and has blisters all up her arms so she can't get her skin near him for a bath. Her husband is one of "those" dads who has little to no part in child care. Anyway, it went well. I'll have him again to day for a few hours this afternoon. Lily did really well with him here yesterday, so I think today will be the test when she realizes that he comes back!

 

[AllieLuv83]

Charlie is not a red head, his color is like a dirty blond, it is just the light hitting the top of his head that makes him look red.

HH- Baby in the box and baby looking at plane has to be my two all time favorite pictures of A. He is just so squishy and handsome. That tush ...so cute.

Charlie really likes water, and although he is still getting all breastmilk, he doesn't like the fruits. He much prefers veggies to them. I wonder what it is. I tried different texture, different temperatures, thicknesses. He smells fruit and clamps his mouth shut. He had maybe 6 bites of apple puree mixed with oatmeal yesterday at DC, today I sent in peaches and he didn't even allow it past his lips.

Last night I tried a salmon and sweet potato mixture and he really seemed to enjoy it. I just poached a salmon filet and steamed a sweet potato and then threw it into the magic bullet.

 

[noelwr]

today's dinner puree of chicken, carrots and fava beans went down really well!

by the way, when S is tired she fiercely rubs at her head and face (which is why she still has to be swaddled), and the other day she managed to pull her earring out! luckily I could put it right back in after putting disinfectant on it, but I was sweating! first I had to find it in her clothes and then I was worried it wouldn't fit through the hole anymore.

Allie - how about pear or melon instead of apple? also, I find that fruit blends are often watery so sometimes I just let Skye drink it out of the bottle like a smoothie.

and here's her pic for this week

 

[AllieLuv83]

We tried pear a while back but not since. I think I might need to try to mix it with a veg. What veg. would be good with pear? I will pick up some melon and make a puree and see how that goes.

 

[somethingshiny]

Lily loves green beans with pear. Sounds weird, but she eats it up!

Tomorrow is the cardio appt. I'm a bit nervous because I don't want her to be thrown back on meds unnecessarily. I realize they're preventative and obviously that's great and they work. But, I don't want her put on them if her episode was caused by the Benadryl.

That's all I have time for right now. Baby T is arriving soon.

 

[amc80]

I posted this in the TTC thread, but it was recommended I post it here as well. Thanks!

My current gyno is just a gyno, not an OB. I just had a pap in March, but I'll probably want to go in for a pre TTC appointment. I figure I should do this at a new doc who will be an OB/GYN. I had a doc picked out based on recommendations from a friend (whose husband is a doc, so she knows tons of docs in town). This doctor and her group are located across the street from one of the two major hospitals in town, and is contracted with the other hospital in town as well.

Well, new job = new insurance, which means I won't be able to use that hospital, I'll have to go to the the other one in town. Hospital #2 has an OB/GYN group affiliated with it, and the group is located practically on the hospital grounds. I tried to read reviews about the docs in this group and there isn't as much info out there on the docs I've looked at.

So here's my question- how important is it to have an OB/GYN group that is located in close proximity to the hospital where you will deliver (or end up at if there are any complications at any point)? Does it even matter? The original group I had picked out has amazing reviews, but there's something comforting about your doc potentially being at the hospital within minutes.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Most doctors are associated with a local hospital so if you're in a metro area, chances are the closest hospital will be relatively close to your doctor's office. No, I would not choose my OB strictly because their office was near or right next door to the hospital. But that's just me. I'd be more concerned with how close the hospital was to my house.

OR, if you know there's a hospital you'd like to deliver at, use that as the top level screener and only consider doctors affiliated with that hospital.

Allie, Aidan likes pears with green beans, spinach or peas.

 

[sugarpie honeybun]

Also wondering if anyone is from the Boston area and could suggest good Mommy-&-Me classes/groups and also a good gym!

Graff - Isis Maternity, My Gym and Gymboree offer great mommy & me and group classes. There are several locations throughout the Boston area. We usually go to the Newton locations.

Boston Sports Clubs are decent gyms, but Workout World is just fine if you are looking for something simple, no frills and inexpensive.

Wait, how many new/newer boston moms do we have here???? Maybe we need to form our OWN mommy and me group!!! I know Swimmer is local and I'm south of the city, SPHB you're in Newton? Graff, where are you??

I guess you could consider me a newer PS'er, since I mainly lurk these days - most people here don't know me, but I've been following these boards for quite some time and have gained a wealth of knowledge and inspiration from all the regular posters! Thank you ALL!

A PS/Boston Mommy & Me Group sounds like a fun idea! I am on the Newton/Needham line.
My little guy is 19 months

 

[noelwr]

Allie - funny enough, Skye hates green beans, but when I mixed it with pear she ate it. I would just mix it in with whatever Charlie's favorite veggie is. I think brown beans would probably also mix well with pear.

shiny - do you want to come over and take care of my kid's cradle cap??? and also bathe her because she just scratches at the eczema on her belly the whole time in the bath?
I hope Lily can stay off the meds. I guess it's not one of those things you can just decide not to do as it's so serious.

 

[Skippy123]

Hi Mommas!! I had my sons early at 30 weeks and 3 days. Yesterday I brought one home. He is doing great and we are so happy to have him home with us.
I have a question.
The nurses feed him every 3 hrs and said to do the same when I brought him home. I pump breast milk for them. He hasn't learned to bf too well. Anyway he woke up an hour early and was hungry. The nurse said not to feed him, just every 3 hrs because when I bring the 2nd baby home it will be tough if I create a snacker. Does this sound right? I don't want him to go hungry. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks


eta: awww, such beautiful babies!!!! I LOVE all the pictures.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Congratulations Skippy!!!!! So happy for you and DH. How is M doing at home?

Aidan was a total snacker and it wasn't fun, especially when I was pumping. Even now he'd rather eat little bits here and there rather than a large meal. He's almost 9 months and the most I've ever seen him eat at one time from a bottle is 5-6 oz. Some of that could be attributed to his reflux though.

How much does M weigh these days? If he's back to birth weight or over then I'd consider stretching that last hour out to get to the 3 hour mark. Does he take a binkie? That might help get him through. However, I have a memory of Aidan going through growth spurt after g/s when he was really little so if it seems like he wants to eat more often and is sleepier than usual it could be a g/s and he might really need to eat.

Another option is use part of that hour to practice BFing. I've heard that some babies have a really hard time getting it when they're really really hungry, but maybe if he's just in a snacking mood he might be able to focus better? Worse comes to worse he uses you like a pacifier for the hour. Have you tried nursing with nipple shields? They really helped Aidan. He has lots of issues with BFing early on and the shields helped him a lot with his latch. The LC told me that babies who are early can sometimes have problems with it but they usually get the hang of it by 45 weeks. Sure enough, at 7 weeks Aidan figured it out. Unfortunately I couldn't nurse for long after that because of other issues.

 

[Kunzite]

Hi Skippy! I'm on my phone but wanted to answer this real quick... No, that doesn't sound right to me at all! Gaining weight is so important in preemies that I'm surprised she said that. LO is only 37 weeks, IIRC, which means he's not even a newborn yet. Most people wouldn't say to try to get a newborn on a feeding schedule and not feed when hungry. I assume you'll have a pedi appt today or tomorrow? Your pedi should be able to tell you what they're comfortable with. I'm surprised the dr that discharged your LO didn't say anything.

 

[taovandel]

I would feed Miles definitely. The babies know when they are hungry!