PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[pancake]

PT - those cheeks! They deserve their own zipcode!! Love that photo of little Ava, she seems like such a sweet tiny thing. What baby doesn't have fussy moments, hey! Re the jewellery question, when S was born I had a 1.12ct OEC set in a milgrain bezel pendant; I originally ordered it last year but only got around to having it made just before she arrived. When it got here, S was a few days old and my husband said, "It's delicate, round and sparkly - just like Sylvie!". So it is now my "Sylvie necklace" and I plan to give it to her later on - maybe when she graduates uni or her 21st. I don't think it will date, but as LC says you can always buy a loose stone for Ava and keep it for her so she can choose her own setting.

LC - how infuriating re the dressers! You are so much more even-tempered than me, I would have cracked it! I agree with PT, they should offer you some form of recompense for the inconvenience. I can't believe they pitched up so late! Your 1 month party sounds lovely! We were going to do one for S this weekend but long story short, my family has so much going on (not directly to do with me - each of my parents has a lot of difficult stuff going on right now) that we didn't after all. Sorry to hear about your "non-fight" with J, but glad it has blown over. Those things suck! Sleep deprivation doesn't help either...

I was reading the pumping thread, and LADY - that is some supply you have going there! That is amazing! I am a little envious of your ability to drink by pumping and dumping - I have had a couple of glasses of wine but only one at a time, and only immediately after a feed. Enjoy!

NEL, don't be discouraged - there is nothing wrong with formula supplementation, and I reckon as you keep pumping your supply will gradually increase to fit, it has to lag behind her rapid increase in demand I think. You are doing a great job! Don't beat yourself up about the bottle teat incident - I don't know that I would have been able to work it out by the time that you did. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be "perfect mothers"... have to consciously remind ourselves that there is no such thing and that mistakes are both inevitable and excusable.

Mannequin - Weston is looking adorable! Re mothers group, all first-time mums here get put in a local mothers group by their municipal council, and it's organised through the maternal and child health service (which is a universal public health service monitoring growth, development, offering support to mothers, etc etc). Other ways you might find a group would be eg. through your local breastfeeding organisation or local baby shops?

Charbie, Aubrey is going great guns, and man she is cute! Sounds like she is kicking goals developmentally and with her growth, and I am so glad to hear it. Looks like she is having fun with those solids!

AFU - we are going well. I think Sylvie had a "growth spurt"/"frequency day" on Friday - she fussed a lot all day and fed 2-3 hourly during the day (instead of 3-4 hourly) and 3 hourly all night (instead of 4 hourly). Back to normal since yesterday though. Had a little bit of tension with my mother when she came around to help out this afternoon - generally she is absolutely fantastic, but every now and then we have niggles where there are differences in our approach to doing certain things eg. settling Sylvie. Sigh. Trying not to sweat it as none of it is major enough to be worth getting my knickers in a knot about, but I did feel a little frustrated.

We are starting to get out and about much more. Going out for a walk/coffee (either just us, or with friends) most days, and today we went out for lunch and a walk with really good friends of ours who have a 15 monther. Working myself up to bringing her into my old workplace to meet the team - but probably not for a couple of weeks.

Any exclusively BFing mamas - when did you/are you going to introduce the occasional bottle? I hadn't really thought about it but in the last couple of days I have talked to a few girls who have had issues with bottle refusal when they were planning for their return to work. I figure that since my breastmilk supply is now well-established, I should start expressing a bit and offering the occasional bottle... thoughts?





Edit: Oh and I just bought an entry-level DSLR camera! I confess that I did this purely so I could take better pics of Sylvie Was tossing up between the Canon 550D and the Nikon D5100 (I am just not ever going to need anything fancier than these and will probably never get close to using them to their capacity!) but ended up buying the Canon as I am familiar with the interface and their entry-level AF 50mm/f1.8 lens is less than half the price of the Nikon. Very excited!

 

[charbie]

NEL- we recently aquired a piano, specifically for Bre. DH has 2 aunts who are very musically inclined- a choir teacher and a pianist,. The pianist bought a new baby grand, and asked if we wanted her old upright. She met Bre, saw her loooong fingers and said they are piano playing fingers if she's ever seen any we have plenty of extra space around our house, had a perfect place for it to fit into. We figur we have it, and hopefully one day she can at least have lessons to learn the basics. We have been told people with DiGeorge tend to be very musically inclined for some reason, so hopefully it holds true with her! Sounds like Katie (which is my name...love it is going through a growth spurt!

MQ- fisher price has this really awesome rainforest activity mat that I wish we had gotten. We have the baby einstein aquarium once. But I now wish we had the rainforest one, haha! I just think it is the cutest? Do you have a jumperoo? We have the Luv You Zoo jumperoo and ohmygosh my kid goes nuts in it. It is amazing to watch her learn something new each time she is in it. I had no idea that a5 mos she would have been able to figure out how to spin the stuff, move the stuff around- I could just sit there and watch her pla all day!

LC- your DH sounds like my kinda guy when dealing with horrible delivery people. A few weeks ago before I went back to work after surgery, our cable went out. It was acting up for about a week, and cable isn't cheap with all the crap DH has added in. I called and said I didn't want to have to pay for my DVR service for the two weeks it wasn't working, and the lady said she would have someone out to fix it in 2 days. The guy came out, and it still didn't work. So I got back on the phone with the supervisor, and she said she would have someone out the next day. They never showed up. Called the supervisor back at the end of the 4 hr span in which they said they would be there and asked where the tech was. She was speechless that they missed the appt after all our other issues. She said they would be there between 8-12 pm the next day, and I said, "Umm, no. I don't have 4 hours to sit around. They will be here at 9am or I am not opening my door and we will cancel the service. And I want to be compensated for my time that I wasted tonight." I got over $100 knocked off my bill
How great is it that E is such a good baby! Bre has never had an issue being passed around person to person...I wonder when the whole attachment thing kicks into gear. I mean, she knows who I amm, recognizes me, and will look around for me when someone else has her, but never cries when I pawn...I mean hand her off. And yes, the down and around approach to dressing really works best with the boat necks. That is the majority of Bre's wardrobe, tho. But you can try the other way if need be, especially since their heads are so much bigger than the rest of their bodies, you may be surprised at what can fit going from bottom up.

PT: oh dear lord, those cheeks are so squishable. I want to eat them. Seriously- if mean, she is perfection. Great score on the pnp! We don't usually travel with ours, but its where the baby has spent most of her nights next to our bed instead of her crib.

Pancake: those faces are the best! I have a Canon T2I and luuuuurve it. I actually am taking a class for introductory photography and am soooo glad that I did. Its taught me so much about my camera, concepts, and how to capture better pics. If you're going to have a nice camera, I figure why not learn how to capture the moments! We intro'd bottles around 6 wks. I had to go back to work at 8 since I needed to take more work off after her surgery, so started kinda early. She refused for a long time. I was petrified she would starve herself at daycare. And she did the first day. Part of it was that bottles were so much harder than BFing for her, and part of it was purely her not wanting the bottle. Even now, she eats the minimal from the bottle and I know she looks forward to booby time with mommy when I get home from work bc she goes to town and gets all excited when I am getting her ready to eat from the breast. Makes me smile

Thanks for the compliments- she's a cutie and heartbreaker. We went to a St. Pat's parade and she loved it! Kept waving her arms around, kicking, and then passed OUT afterwards. Got some nice use out of our city mini! I'm so proud of how she is doing. Being a parent of a child with special needs can be so tough, bc you are always waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak. I'm trying my best to just try to enjoy the moment, but sometimes I get really worried about her future. But, so far she is doing soooooo great, that I really do anticipate for her to be on the very mild end of the spectrum for her genetic condition. It can all change in an instant, but she doesn't have many of the deficits other kids have, so that's promising. We see an immunologist next week to get the scoop on her immune system, so hhopefully that is intact and we don't run into many illness issues. So far, she hasn't even had a sniffle, which is amazing!

 

[charbie]

Oh, and we do dabble in solids. She can sit up really well on her own now, which is what they say to look for. Some people start at 4 months, but we were not in a huge rush. So every day we give her maybe a half jar of some fruit or a veggie at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The majority of her caloric intake is still from BM. I'm actually glad we put it off a bit, since she is much more interested now and is better at it. I also will mash up sweet potatoes or avacados and add some breastmilk to make it soupier. She grabs the spoon tho and wants to feed herself, which ends with her stabbing her ear, eye, and flinging food all over.

 

[Skippy123]

Mannequin, awww he is so adorable!!

PT, aww thanks for the super sweet words on my boys! Oh I love Ava's chubby cheeks; I just want to smooch them! She is a doll!! That is a great deal on a pack n play!

Pancake, awwww she is a doll; I love her sticking out her tongue, waaay too cute!!!

LC, aww that is awesome you did a 30 day party for E!!!


I will have to catch up later but I needed to pop in and let you mommas know your babys are adorable!!!! My boys are 11 months today!!! eep! They love to fight over toys that the other one is playing with, oh boy! lol They like to hold hands too which is cute though!!! I can't believe next month they will be 1 years old!!!

 

[FrekeChild]

Quick driveby post as I'm a single mom for the next three days

NEL: re: Buddha belly. We freaked about this when she was tiny too and asked the ped. she told us that since her abdominal muscles are so new and tiny that they aren't really holding her guts in yet, but as she gets older and stronger, her tummy will flatten out, which it has, unless she's being held in a sitting position!

But really, her abdominal muscles are impressive right now. She can move them independently like a belly dancer! And she has a baby six pack!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Freke, thanks for the buddha belly info. Our pediatrician said the same thing about the abs not being able to keep everything in. I think my hubby is placated for now. Good luck being a single mom for a few days!

Skippy, happy 11 month b-day to the boys!!

Charbie, yay for getting the upright! I agree that it's nice to have for some initial lessons. Hopefully the piano bug will bite for both of us. And you have the extra space in the new house, which is nice. I would really prefer an upright, but my husband really wants a baby grand. I find this to be ridiculous since we can always trade in the upright for the baby grand if she does like playing. And while we have the space for an upright, the baby grand will take up an entire room (likely the formal living room). It's been a point of tension in our house for the past month.

I love hearing that your little girl is doing so well, I can't imagine going through what you've gone through. But you've always had such a good attitude. The St. Patty's parade sounds like a lot of fun, I'm glad she loved it!

Pancake, thanks for the encouragement! I'm also hoping my supply picks up a bit. If it doesn't, then what can you do? I only have so much control over what I produce, so there is no point in fretting. I'll just do what I can!

Sylvie is such a cutie!! Sorry to hear about the fussy day, we had one yesterday. The good news is that our fussy day fell on a day that D was home. It helps me so much when he can take her while I pump instead of me trying to keep her happy when she's in a mood. And yay for getting out! How was Sylvie during lunch? We get out every day, but I haven't braved eating out in public yet, haha. And I'm with you on visiting the coworkers--I have plans to go in next week.

Oh, and congrats on getting the camera!

PT, oh my gosh, those cheeks!!! Cuteness overload!!! I just went back and looked at some of the pics from the NICU and she just looks so big and healthy now.

I totally agree that the piano is risky. I was hoping it was just a phase, but apparently not. We haven't had an argument about it yet, but several "discussions". Oh, and woohoo for the pack and play score!

LC, thanks for the birth certificate issue and glad it all worked. I signed K up, but I think I need the bc for it to officially go through. I agree thta I think K is going through a little growth spurt. Yesterday she only wanted to sleep and eat. When she wasn't snoozing, she was crying for food. D is musically-inclined (he'd originally planned to major in music before switching to math), but neither of us are "musicians". The piano is a thorn in my side right now, but I'm letting it go.

I'll try to download some Katie beach pics. It's been cold, so it's been hard to get a pic of her since we keep her bundled up. Today is in the 70s, though, so we went back to the beach and could unbundle her. But then we forgot the camera.

I can't believe your dressers weren't delivered!!! SOOO ANNOYING!! I am glad to hear that the party went well! And woohoo for getting some bloody marys and mimosas. I could seriously go for a mimosa right now.

AFU:
- It is GORGEOUS here today! We took another trip to the beach (as I mentioned to LC, I forgot the camera). The windows in the house are open and Katie is in a short-sleeved onesie for the first time!

- So Katie has decided that instead of pooping several times a day, she would like to just have one huge blowout. Today's was while she was in her carseat. And also, as soon as she was dozing off, so I had to wake her up to rinse her and change her, which did not make her happy. At least she waited until we got home to do it. A blowout in public can't be fun.

- K is 4 weeks old today! And tomorrow she is officially 1 month old. I know it sounds crazy, but I already feel like time is slipping away. I wish I could freeze time and save it so that I could revisit all of these happy moments. I don't want to forget the cute little noises she makes or the way she smells.

 

[Mannequin]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions on where to look for mommy groups. I will be investigating my options in the area soon. I also discussed the situation with having to go back to work with my mom and my hubby's mom, and we have two grandmas willing to help share babysitting for W during the two weeks in June when I would have to go back to school.

LC - I've noticed the difference in the foremilk and hindmilk with the shields. I can see the bluish tinge when W starts nursing, and when he pulls away at the end, it has changed over to the hind. I think that at the rate this kid is growing, we'll be using both sides pretty soon. He was eating a TON today - he must be growing again. Glad your brunch went well and that you were able to enjoy yourself. Yesterday, I had my first beer in nine months and it went down really well. I planned ahead, too, and I had milk pumped and ready to go!

PT - Awesome deal on the PnP! I think my parents took advantage of a deal like that at Sam's Club, because they bought one for their house recently, too. I don't have to pack up mine and haul it up there when baby goes visiting with me. Sounds like little Ava is doing well!

Pancake - I can't recall if you had pictures of your necklace posted? Sylvie will love it when she gets older - a pendant is a perfect gift idea for a special birthday in the future. Love the picture of Sylvie where it looks like she is sticking her tongue out - so cute! My breastfeeding class information suggested introducing bottles to BF babies at least two weeks before a return to work to help them adjust to the change gradually.

Charbie - We don't have a lot of active toys for the wee man yet. I spent about an hour looking at all the playmats online today. The rainforest one is super cute, and I like the one with the kick piano on it, too. I am going to look at some of them in store before I purchase. We have a BE Discovery Center for when W is older - looking forward to watching him play in it like you enjoy watching your baby girl. I hope Bre's appointment with the immunologist goes well. It's good to hear her health and well being is great. Having a fabulous supportive mommy like you will be the best thing for her in the future, regardless of how everything pans out.

NEL - Glad you are getting out and enjoying the nice weather with Katie! W and I have been out taking walks in our neighborhood with Daddy since we have an unexpected heat wave going on, too. A baby grand piano is awfully large to bring into the house when you are not sure how much it could be used. I would try to go with the upright. We have an upright piano in our house, and my hubby plays it occasionally. He is very talented and can play songs by ear. His whole family is musically inclined - both of his parents are music teachers, his bro is a professional double bass player and has a PhD in performance, sis used to play cello, uncles and cousins play in bands, etc. I really want him to teach our little boy how to play!

AFM- We took Weston on our first extended family outing yesterday and things went well. We took the baby to my parents' house (about an hour away) and stayed for dinner. W was wide awake for about two hours, much to the delight of his grandparents. They had a blast interacting with him. The family dogs loved the baby, they kept trying to lick his toes! We were almost home when W woke up and started screeching in the carseat. Poor guy, we had to keep driving and couldn't stop to help him! We had three separate visits to the house today by friends and family. Weekends used to be our time at home to relax, clean and get work done. Now, we are entertaining or visiting with the baby all the time. It's fun, but I get NO naps durign the day when people are over. Tonight will be exhausting!

Sink baths are proving to be way more fun for Weston than sponge baths ever were - he loves them, and seems to enjoy getting massaged with lotion afterwards. I wish our kitchen sink was bigger, though. He just barely fits in there on the diagonal!

 

[pancake]

Mannequin - I haven't posted pics of the pendant. I was going to start a SMTB thread but it's one of those things that has fallen off the list of things I can be bothered doing amidst the new motherhood chaos! I haven't taken any pics of my own but I'll put one of BGD's glamour shots at the end of this thread. Weston is delicious! Look at that wee round man!!

NEL - oooooh re the piano! I come from a really musical family (my sister and I play violin and piano, my brother plays cello and piano, and I used to also play the Vietnamese zither and oboe - spent the first half of med school agonising over whether to move overseas and study violin instead) and D has really good pitch although never got serious about learning music himself. Several people have looked Sylvie's hands and said, "Ooooh...[piano]/[cello] fingers!" A piano is not in our budget at the moment, sadly. Our house would never fit a baby grand though, we would definitely have to settle for a good upright.

I giggled about Katie's daily blowout. I actually wish Sylvie would do that - she definitely has a poo routine but basically it involves pooing from the second she wakes up in the moment, and pooing continuously until about lunchtime! It makes morning outings difficult - we are always late (because she inevitably sneaks in an extra stealth poo right as we're about to leave the house) and then she gets ratty when we're out because she poos again... and often again!

Skippy, I can't believe your boys are nearly 1! I will miss you in this thread - hope you will still pop in from time to time with your words of constant encouragement

Charbie, I have been thinking that Aubrey is doing really well. I have looked after quite a few kids with DiGeorge in my work, and the clinical spectrum is SO broad - but she sounds like her development is going great guns, and had no infective issues so far. Go Bre! Re the camera, I am really excited about getting it, but I don't think I'll have time to do a course for the next little while, so I am going to read lots of internet tutorials and watch tutes on YouTube as well. Hopefully that'll give me some rudimentary idea of what to do so that I'm not always shooting on auto mode! I am so heartened to see stories of mums who are able to continue breastfeeding after returning to work. That is one of my big anxieties! Not because I am militant about only giving my baby breastmilk - I'm not - but more just because I LOVE breastfeeding! I have the City Mini as our second stroller too. Only just got it a fortnight ago, but love it!

Freke - LOL re the belly dancer comment! Come back and post more pics of your adorable A when you have time!

AFU - we are starting to have a "typical" day emerging from the initial blur. Basically S sleeps 4 hour stretches overnight, then from when she wakes up in the morning (somewhere between 6 and , she starts pooing for the country! On quite a few occasions (when she's been particularly, erm, explosive) it wakes her from sleep and then spends a good deal of the rest of the morning awake because of the ongoing emissions! Then the afternoon is usually much calmer and her biggest sleep is the one that starts around 4 or 5pm - she would go for 5 hours (?longer) if I let her, but I wake her around 4 hours to feed. We now have the "squidgy period" about 50% of the time after that, during which she often won't settle properly until after her next feed, but then she's out for the count after that.

She is starting to interact so much more with her surrounds now, it's lovely! Also loves gazing out bright windows and at the skylight in her room.

Here's a pic of her on her playmat, and another of my "Sylvie pendant" (fixed milgrain bezel from BGD) - it's a 1.12ct OEC which is ungraded, but Brian said it was VS1-2 and colour around L. I LOVE it, and it flashes chunks of light like nobody's business!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Pancake, I didn't know you played so many instruments! That's fantastic! I only play the clarinet, but my best friend was a piano performance major in college and plays beautifully. K has inherited D's piano hands, which is how this all started. I've always worried about being a bit of a tiger mom, but it turns out that I should have been more worried about D being a tiger dad.

Isn't it funny how the poo affects your plans for the day? Sylvie's schedule doesn't sound very convenient, either. K's blowout is usually mid-day, which is when I try to go out. I'm hoping she goes before we leave for the grocery store in a bit.

Interesting to hear about Sylvie's schedule--I just like comparing since this is all new to me. K's overnight schedule is the same, though lately she's been waking up around 5 am and is WIDE AWAKE until 6:30 or so. And K's long stretch is usually in the afternoons. I'm admittedly afraid to let her sleep for too long of a stretch after 5pm or so because I'm afraid it will keep her up. So I do bathtime around 7pm, but obviously she's been up early these last few days, so I don't think it matters.

The pendant is GORGEOUS!

MQ, yay for a successful family outing!! And W gets a gold star for being awake for the grandparents. D's parents love it when K is awake and inevitably try to lure her out of her slumber while we're there. The carseat screeching is the worst--you feel so bad for them back there. I've tried to do the "stop at a red light and give her a paci" move, but I'm not very good at it.

Glad to hear W is loving the baths. In our house, there are only two ways to soothe a fussy baby. 1.) Put her in the Ergo and 2.) Bathe her! The bouncy seat, yoga ball, swing, etc. never work as well as those two things.

AFU, I'm posting some pics. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm a bit frustrated with my stretched out tummy and overall appearance. Part of it is that I feel crappy all the time--I'm leaking everywhere, I now use cheap shampoo + conditioner in the shower to save time, I haven't worn makeup in forever. I never thought I'd care about having some stretch marks and I know I need to give myself time to get back into pre-pregnancy shape, but with the weather warming up I would really prefer for that to happen faster!

I found an old comparison from our JBP days comparing my 6 - week belly to my 13 week belly. I took a pic of my tummy today for the heck of it. And my post-pregnancy belly still looks bigger than my 13-week belly! I'm not posting this for sympathy, but it is kind of an interesting comparison. I'll also post some K pics.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

And a few Katie pics to make up for my whiney me-centric pic.

LC, no good beach pics--the one of me is from last weekend and the one of D is from this weekend. Plus bath time!

 

[janinegirly]

Pancake, Mannequin PT - baby pictures are soooo cute!!!!

NEL: Awwww, Katie is just adorable - I love the tub shot and how she gazes at you. No better feeling than that - it's true pure love. I am very impressed with how often you go out with a barely 4wk old. We did not go out at all...granted it was winter and had that lovely power outage October storm.

And on the PP belly, I would like to join the me-centric rant and say my belly absolutely looks 3 mo's pregnant. I used to laugh at spanx, now I truly understand the purpose (that and tummy tucks). For you, you're only a few weeks out..so honestly it's normal and the uterus is not yet totally shrunk. Me, I'm in trouble!! To boot, the hair loss stage has kicked in - nature is cruel that way. Once the baby's out you're nothing but a depleted pod! I kid...

Re: instruments, you are all so musical. I want to get a piano for my girls, but need to find an economical way since there are none in the family to inherit!

 

[janinegirly]

Also for those introducing solids foods - how did you incorporate these feedings (I have totally forgotten) - did they replace bottles, or in addition and if so is it before the bottle or after?

 

[Skippy123]

Also for those introducing solids foods - how did you incorporate these feedings (I have totally forgotten) - did they replace bottles, or in addition and if so is it before the bottle or after?

are you talking puree's? our Ped and nurse said give bottles like normal and then after feeds give them puree's. I guess they should be getting about 2 tablespoons after a bottle.

 

[Skippy123]

Pancake, awww she is so cute! OH MY, I love your OEC, what did you find it? It is stunning, congrats

NEL, awww you two look beautiful; you look great for being 1 month PP!!! awww she is so precious!!

MANN, awww you and your son are adorable!!!


anyone have any tips on how to get 11 month olds (9 month olds adjusted) table foods? They don't seem to like it unless it is puree; we are doing puffs (the organic kale ones) but otherwise they aren't interested. Is it just try try and try again sort of thing?

 

[lliang_chi]

Hey everyone. This is a weird day, I'm kind of "out of it" for Ethan's normal schedule, if I can say he has one. I've been trying to transition him off the nipple shields and it's not going very well...

NEL, aw, our babies are 1 month old, I can't believe it. Sorry to hear about the super poo's, but at least you were able to clean her up at home. Wow, your DH is quite the musician. I'm totally NOT musically inclined, neither is DH, so I'm totally impressed. Sorry to hear you're not quite agreeing with the piano right now, but you and D have a really good team communication I'm sure it'll work out. Love the pics at the beach! I'm hoping it stays warm for you to enjoy it.

MQ, when you nurse Wes on just one side, do you pump your other breast? Hooray I'm glad Wes was soo good on the family visit. yes I agree about getting no naps when family/friends are visiting. It's HARD! Wow, I'm so impressed by your IL's musical talent. I hope Wes inherits some of that talent too.

Pancake, GORGEOUS pendant! Beautiful just like your little S, so it'll be perfect for her! Wow, you are very talented I hope Sylvie likes music too. LOL about Sylvie's marathon pooping. At least she settles down in the PM. Thanks for posting Sylvie's schedule. How did you get her to a 4-5 hr stretch at night? Right now Ethan goes for about 3 hrs. I'll post his schedule below.

Charbie, I"m jealous you got yourself a nice camera. I'm still trying to lobby DH for one, but I think we're going to have a diet on big purchases for a while. Sad... Would love to hear your tips on breast feeding when you're back at work. Are you pumping too?

Janine, I'm so impressed at the talent in our PS community too. Does your DD1 show any interest in piano? DH and I were thinking we'd eventually enroll our kids in some piano lessons, but neither of us are musical AT ALL, so I don't know how much it'll make sense to push it. No advice on solid foods, but wow, I can't believe you're introducing purees already! Where does the time go!

Skippy, I can't believe the boys are going to be 1!!! OMG! Do your boys have preferences on purees, e.g. realy likes carrots etc? If so can you try table food of just that? I honestly have no advice just a layman's suggestion.

Do you ladies do bath time every day? The hospital people say that we don't need to do bath time every day, maybe once or twice a week. But Ethan's been getting really sweaty with the warm weather I think a daily bath might do him good. Plus his diaper butt is starting to come back a little, so again I think daily baths might help.

Ethan's typical schedule: Wake 5:30-6AM feed. Wake up again around 9AM for feeding, sometimes awake enough to do tummy time. Wake again around 12N-1PM and normally does tummy time. 3-4PM feeding and snooze. 7PM feeding. Then I "cluster" feed him, every 2 hrs from 7PM -9PM - 11PM (started doing this 2 days ago). Wakes again around 2:30AM for feeding. He usually only goes 3-3.5 hrs between feedings. Any suggestions to stretch it 4-5 hrs?

ALso does anyone have sleepy eaters (eat while sleeping?) Ethan can snooze and eat at the same time. And he usually gets really drowsy after snooze. Do you keep them up after they get sleepy after feeding? Or do you just put them down when they're drowsy like that?

Thanks

 

[Skippy123]

LC, they love pears! I tried chopping up some pears really little but I think the texture is bugging Miles especially; he then tries to throw up. oh boy! lol Yes, my boys were sleepy feeders; I would burp and then put your little guy to bed. you are so sweet, thanks friend!!

Happy 1 month NEL and LC!!!

 

[lliang_chi]

Hm... if the texture is bugging Miles from knowing puree to firm pears, can you try maybe cooking the pears so they're soft but still solid? So when he puts it in his little mouth it'll mush? Then gradually firm it up? Again I'm speaking from ZERO experience but just an idea. Otherwise my friend had an issue with her 3rd child (out of 4 ) he wouldn't eat veggies. (He was much older than M&E are, he's like 2+) But I loaned her my Breville juicer and he started having juiced fruits and veggies. Then like 1.5 wk later, he started eating his veggies. I'm not saying that's the reason, but I'd like to think it helped.

I really can't believe your boys are almost 1 yr old!!!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Janine, I laughed at the depleted pod comment. I can understand why women feel a little...well, deflated after giving birth and nursing. I've been waiting for my hair to start falling out. I'm not sure which is worse: when the hair actually falls out or when it starts growing back in and you have this awkward layer of short hair. And I was JUST growing out my bangs, haha.

Skippy, so cute that the boys like pears--do you give them pure pare puree (that sounds like a tongue twister) or do you mix it with other fruits? I obviously have no handy tips for the transition to table foods, but LC's idea about boiling them to soften them sounds like a good one to me. Based on what I've read here on PS, it seems like it's a trial and error thing--like you just have to keep trying until they find something they like? I can't remember who was sharing her story about her son not really liking purees, but she offered him the soft inner part of bread while at a restaurant and he loved it, then started eating other table foods after that. I'm so dumb about this kind of stuff.

LC, we do bathtime every day, but only because K really likes it. I sort of view it as more of an "activity" than anything. Before K's belly button had healed, I only did the sponge bath every 2 - 3 days (because she hated it), but my pediatrician said I could go ahead and give her a submerged bath every day now that it's healed. I'm a little afraid of drying out her skin, so some days the bath is warm water only (no soap). I actually have no idea if not using soap helps at all, haha.

As for the sleepy feedings--in my book, there is no better feeling than a sleepy 1am and 4am feeding. When she has a sleepy feed, I know she's going right back to sleep and that makes me a happy mama. Now that she's no longer pooping afrer a nighttime feed, I change the diaper first (as gently as I can), then feed her with minimal light and burp her on my chest because she's mostly likely to fall asleep in that position. It's unusual for her to have a sleepy daytime feed, but when she has one it just takes awhile to feed her. She's definitely a sleepy nurser...or more accurately, a lazy nurser.

We also cluster feed in the evenings. Her best stretch of sleep is after the cluster feeds. She was too sleepy for her 11pm feeding last night (we also do 7, 9 and 11 or something close to it), but she still slept until 1am, so that was good. It's rare for her to do a 4-hour stretch as well. Usually 3.5 is about as long as she goes at night. Lately each night has been different.

Sounds like Ethan is still sleeping a good chunk of the day, which is good! And I'm sorry to hear the diaper butt is returning...JUST when you thought it was all gone!

 

[Mannequin]

Quick post - Someone replaced my sweet baby with a cranky, fussy one last night! From about 5 pm until 1 am, Weston did not want to be put down at all. He wanted to be held and he was feeding about every hour for fifteen to twenty minutes. He screamed for nearly an hour straight at one point. He seemed really gassy even after burping/rocking. Pacifier and bouncy seat didn't work. I even gave him a small bottle of formula in the middle of the onslaught. It was EXHAUSTING. I slept on the couch with him and he is now wide awake and playing (I bought him the FP Piano Playmat). I hope he takes a decent nap today - we could both use one before his newborn photo shoot.

 

[pancake]

MQ - you poor things! I hope you did get your nap. How did the shoot go? A lot of babies fuss in the late afternoon into the evenings, it seems to be a common "witching hour" (witching period!). Would love to see some proofs when you get them!

NEL - agreed, I love the sleepy night-time feeds! That said, S never seems sleepy when she wakes for the feed - she is always DESPERATE (even if her eyes are shut!) We have the same baby bath as you! I didn't really "get" how to use the ledge though (it seemed like the water would be too shallow?) so we took it out - great for me to see the pic of Katie using it, I might try it with S over the weekend.

I know what you mean with the PP body. I suspect I'm actually below my pre-preg weight now (I don't have scales though) and all my clothes fit (except a few pieces through the, ahem, bust area) but I still have the excess tummy flab and the dark pigmented line on my stomach is really pronounced. I never wore makeup or anything anyway so that's ok, but it is kind of confronting to look down and see my tummy and the stretch marks on my boobs...sigh. I am glad that my hair and skin are no longer oily, though - I hated washing my hair every day. That said, now my skin is getting quite dry... where is the moderation, o body of mine??

Oh - and I COMPLETELY share the sentiment about things going too quickly! Sometimes I have these ridiculous moments of sadness when I realise that another week has passed by and I feel like I didn't relish it enough, you know? Earlier I also found myself envying mums-to-be who were close to their due date as it meant they hadn't delivered yet and they still had those first weeks to look forward to! Silly, I know.

Skippy, are they interested in finger foods? That might be one way to start introducing new textures without pressure. Otherwise I think the idea is that you keep offering it, but don't push the issue (so as not to end up with aversions). They are only 9 months corrected so it's still early days!

LC - S often falls asleep whilst feeding (although will always keep feeding until she's full). Definitely more so at night, which is great, and in which case I just change her and plop her back in her bassinet (and she is usually comatose well before that!). During the day I kind of play it by ear. If she hasn't had much awake time and it's the afternoon, I'll often keep her awake for some play time, and often if she has slept a fair bit through the day up to then, she'll actually be really alert and play for quite a while. If she's had an unsettled day (like the last couple) then I just let her sleep.

Unfortunately I don't have any tricks to offer re getting the feeds stretched out more... I just demand feed and she kind of decides her own feed frequency! All babies are different and the patterns change a lot over time, so Ethan may well settle into a longer cycle at a particular time of day over the next few weeks.

Janine, I also giggled over the "pod" comment! Oh, the glamour! Lucky our babies are just so loveable and gorgeous!

AFU, we're trucking along. However, over the last few days S has been much more unsettled during the day (thankfully, not at night). I think the following things are contributing:

1) She's 5 1/2 weeks old, so coming to the natural peak of her crying

2) I am having issews with milk oversupply from the right breast. It means that when she feeds from it she gulps, and sometimes coughs and splutters and pulls off - makes her much gassier and more unsettled after a feed, and I think that it is probably also contributing to the daily "poo marathon" as NEL coined it! Think this was all exacerbated by that day last week when she fed much more frequently than usual...

I actually rang the helpline of the Australian Breastfeeding Association today (equivalent of LLL in the States, I think) to see what I could do. They suggested allowing her to feed only off one side if that's all she wants (which currently it is, but I have been pushing her to take at least a bit off the second), and minimising expressing apart from taking a small amount off for comfort (I haven't expressed much but I did pump the right side for 15 minutes the other night when she didn't take it at the last feed). Hopefully this will help my supply regulate a bit over the next couple of days... if not I might try "block feeding" and offering the left first 2 out of 3 feeds. Sigh...

Otherwise, all is well. She's a delight and we are getting smiles and occasionally a purposeful "goo"! She is becoming a Houdini at getting her arms out of her swaddle when she's hungry. I don't know how she does it - I'm not sure that I could get out of a wrap that firm! Fortunately she only does it when she's demanding a feed so far...

We have mothers group today! Looking forward to it, apart from the fact that the weather has abruptly changed from warm and sunny to cool, windy and rainy

Here is a phone pic I took after the last feed (whilst I was on the phone to the helpline!)...

 

[lliang_chi]

MQ, Ethan also went through a Mr. Crankypants Day not so long ago. There was NOTHING I could do but ride it out. It actually lasted for two and a half days. I hope Wes's Cranky phase passes and you get your sweet boy back.

Janine, when does your hair fall out? I"m getting a haircut next week. I'm hoping I can still rock a nice hair style for a few weeks before being "depleted" LOL!

NEL, Ethan really enjoys bath time too, I"d make it more of an "activity" also. I like the idea of using just warm water too. The weather's been so nice here, I almost want to run a cooler bath for him since he gets so hot. He's SWEATING during his naps if he has anything more than just his diaper on (and being swaddled).

Pancake, Ethan's been coughing and spluttering during nurses also. I never thought it could be an oversupply issue. I'll try

So Ethan's going through this weird feeding behavior. He nurses for a VERY short time (less than 10 mins) then passes out. I'm perplexed. I doubt he's *that* efficient of an eater. He then has ZERO interest in taking any more milk, either from the boob or from the bottle. This has been going on for two days now... The doctor said, just wake him up. But I wake him up and he STILL doesn't want to eat.

 

[pancake]

LC, I know you have a big supply from the volumes that you've been expressing - do you find that your breasts are quite hard (esp around the areola) before you nurse? Today is the first day of trying things a little differently but - touch wood - it looks like it MIGHT be going a bit better already. I am feeding only one side per feed, and if the breast is really firm/lumpy I am hand-expressing just a minimal amount to soften the area around the areola. Then I put her on, and if she starts gulping excessively with letdown, I take her off and let the really strong "fountain" stream out into a towel (will actually start collecting this for the freezer if I can). Once it settles, I put her back on. I haven't had to express for comfort so far today, but the day is young!

So far she's had a 1 hour nap after the 7am feed, then woke at 9:15, took the other side (which is the "problem side" at the moment), did one poo, had a play, and is now asleep again (it's 11:30). Not as settled as she was, say, a week ago, but much better than the last 2 days. Poor little thing has been absolutely exhausted by the late afternoon since Monday. Fingers crossed!

Re the falling asleep after 10 minutes thing - S often only feeds 10 minutes before she pulls off too, and the breast feels much softer afterwards. She is definitely getting enough and she will settle afterwards (without help at night/with help during the day) for a decent period. If Ethan is settling well after a feed and isn't demanding again soon after, and if he's pooing and weeing good amounts, I don't think you need to worry. They say that most babies by 4-6 weeks only need 10 minutes (or even less!) per side to get what they need.

 

[lliang_chi]

Pancake, I'm hoping S is doing better with your new plan. Thus far when I've gotten breast hardness, I have not had hardness around the nipple/areola. Just around the outer breast. I always forget to try expressing some milk befor putting him on the breast but I'll try that next time. I definitely think it'd be useful to have a freezer stash built and sounds like you have enough supply for it. Wow, I didn't think 4-6 wk babies can get everything they need in a 10 min nursing run. Ethan has been doing 10 mins, snooze for an hour, 10 mins on the other side, snooze for an hour, repeat. I"m definitely not liking this new regimen, so I'm trying to break his habit. The only way I know to really wake him up are: diaper changes, wardrobe changes, bath.

 

[pancake]

What about doing a diaper change between sides? We have tried all three variants - before, between, after feeds. I can't decide which is best. I am beginning to think that at night time it might be best to do it before or in the middle, just so I can pop S back in bed after burping. Most of the time I'm still changing her afterwards though, day or night. During the day it's useful as often if she wakes up with a change she will then have a decent period of non-grumpy, non-sleepy playtime afterwards.

Trial and error, this parenting business!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

MQ, I'm so sorry to hear that you had a fussy night. In my experience, the fussy nights are usually followed by an easy night. I'm hoping last night was actually relatively peaceful for you!

LC, Okay, so I know you are feeding every hour and that's no fun, but the fact that E will nurse in 10 minutes is so fantastic. Like Pancake said, given your supply, it doesn't really surprise me! Today is a miss piggy day for us (we have them about once a week). K has been eating every 1.5 hours since about 1am. Usually the hungry days are also sleepy days, but today she's very awake and hungry. I was planning to go to Target and the beach and am hoping she isn't too fussy at Target. I have no good suggestions for keeping him awake during feedings--I do the same thing (burp, diaper change, etc.) sometimes I wiggle the bottle in her mouth to wake her up, but can't really do that when nursing.

Pancake, glad to hear that S is slightly more settled now. Yesterday was a good day for us and on those days I am one happy mama. Well, I'm a happy mama even on the fussy days, but the good days are like icing on the cake.

AFU, a couple of things:

1. The mom group was great! There are only 4 of us in class and the babies are 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks. We just talked about the biggest challenges to date and then the instructor talked about soothing techniques. One mom lives just down the street from me, so I'm hoping we can meet outside of class to take walks in the park or on the beach. I also found out that our local theater shows movies for moms on some Monday mornings, so I'm planning to go to the next one.

2. Last night was the worst to date. K was a bit fussy at night, but not too bad. She woke up at 1am (normal) and had her usual sleepy feed. Right before I was about to put her back in her rock and sleep, I heard her poop. And K doesn't just poop, she has blowouts. So I tried to very carefully remove her diaper. Poop was everywhere! I put a cloth diaper under her and she just kept pooping! Long story short, I had to rinse her off and change her and she didn't go back to sleep for a couple of hours. Then she barely slept because she kept farting and waking herself up. I figured she'd be really tired this morning, but she's barely slept! She just wants to eat.

 

[lliang_chi]

Hey ladies!

NEL, so glad Mom's group was good. It's great that you have one mom that's so close by to you. I really hope you can hit it off with some moms there. Do any of them plan on going back to work? I like my friends' "Mothers group" but they're all SAHMs, so they're not exactly in the same situation as I am. Granted it's great hanging out with friends, and they have some really good advice, but I also have an aspect of Mommy-baby issues that they kind of don't need to deal with. Stuff like pumping, and later on daycare, etc.

MQ, Is little Wes back to being sweet again? I hope so!

Pancake, you're so right with the trial and error thing! I usually change Ethan before feeds. DH changes him after feeds. But to work with Ethan's new nurse-snooze habit, I'm changing him in the middle of his feeds. So far this AM is the first one I was able to do. And it worked out pretty well.

So yesterday Ethan slept 4.5 hrs from 10:30PM to 3AM! Probably had more to do wiht having such a packed day yesterday. Mommy group, then a visit to the pedi office. But my breasts were FEELING IT by the time I woke up. DH was going to take the feeding when Ethan got up, but I was like, "No way, I need him to nurse or to pump or something." He did nurse about 10 mins each side but it was a struggle since i was pretty engorged and he was cranky.

 

[lliang_chi]

Another thing, have you ladies found yourselves still in your pajamas at 12N??? I seriously don't know how I'll get back to funcitoning normally and going back to work if I can't seem to get out of my PJs until the afternoon!

~LC

 

[parrot tulips]

Quick little drive by post - Ava learned a new "trick" today. She likes to spit out her pacifier when I put her down for naps. It doesn't just fall off to one side or the other. She likes to spit the paci with such force, that it lands on the floor (usually between the crib and the wall). I'm telling you - those cheeks of hers are pure muscle!

 

[Skippy123]

Quick little drive by post - Ava learned a new "trick" today. She likes to spit out her pacifier when I put her down for naps. It doesn't just fall off to one side or the other. She likes to spit the paci with such force, that it lands on the floor (usually between the crib and the wall). I'm telling you - those cheeks of hers are pure muscle!

haha too CUTE!! I love it!!!

Pancake, awwwww she is a doll!

these newborns are killing! eeek, they are making me want another!


Thanks for the food suggestions; we are trying it here and there! They love spinach and pears. Pears and squash, pears and peas.
okay time to put the twins to bed.


More pics please, love all the newborns

 

[Mannequin]

Not enough time to catch up with everyone in individual posts tonight, rats.

Yesterday was a bit better for Weston, and he was awake and alert for about half of his newborn pictures. I can't wait to see them! He had his first trip out for a restaurant meal at Applebees, and slept through it with the exception of a diaper change. Last night, he was a bit fussy again, but was not cluster feeding like a crazy baby. He slept for a little while on his tummy - again, I am a bad mommy for breaking all the crib rules. He has incredible head control and upper body strength for a not quite three week old baby, and we have no SIDS risk factors, but it still made me a little nervous to let him sleep like that. He slept better in that position than on his back, less startling and not batting his face with his own hands.

Today, he was awake and taking little catnaps all afternoon, and he is trying to use both breasts now at feedings, with a nap break in the middle. He is now snoozing away in his bouncy seat. I have not been pumping after feeding him and have started trying to get back into the habit of doing so because we had no extra milk on hand. My entire day is broken into 2.5 to 3 hour intervals for feed/change/pump/sleep. I feel like nothing is getting done in my house, but I am quite content to just sit and watch him grow. He won't be this little for very long.

Made contact with a local mommy group, but I am not sure how much I will be able to interact with them. It's a group for part-time working moms or SAHMs and many of their activities are scheduled during mornings. That won't work for me when I have to go back to school. I am going to keep looking, as I am sure there are other options in the area.