PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[NewEnglandLady]

Bella, I can't believe E is 4 weeks! That's crazy! And he's already rolling over? He's such a strong boy! What does that mean for swaddling, do you have to leave him unswaddled now? K never liked a swaddle and so far C will only tolerate it if I leave one arm free, so I never had a tough swaddle transition.

Good to hear he's such a great sleeper, I think that helps so much. C has a very similar schedule-- she cluster feeds all evening, passes out around 10:30, is up around 2:30, then again at 5:30 or 6. She'll go back to sleep while I get K ready in the mornings, so that works out well. K went to a sleep, eat, play routine every couple of hours pretty early on, but C still only has a couple of wakeful periods during the day.

Last night I tried the technique you use with B--telling E to be patient while you focus on B. Last night C was crying during Ks bath (the start of cluster feeding) and I told C it was Katie's time, which seemed to make Katie happy.

C had her first submerged bath last night and loved it. K also loved baths as a newborn and it became a critical part of the bedtime routine, so I'll be doing the baths with C every night.

Decided to take C to Target this morning, so I fed her and thought shed sleep through the trip. HA! She started crying as soon as we got there and I ended up nursing her in the bathroom.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

NEL-Cora is adorable! She looks so alert!!! You are so brave re Target! We've gone out to church, moms groups, babywearing workshops, my office, and B's school, but haven't made it to an actual store. For some reason that just seems so intimidating and public nursing is still a little (a lot) intimidating for me.

Well, I spoke too soon. Today E has been a screamer! This is new and not so fun. I think his tummy hurts and he keeps spitting up. I had Dominos pizza last night b/c neither DH nor I were up to cooking and that's the most processed food I've had since he was born. I think it might not be agreeing with him...

But after a few more spit-ups and a good swaddle in the miracle blanket he's chilling on the couch.

Re rolling, he can't roll when he's swaddled and he can't break out of the miracle blanket so far, so we are still swaddling. During the day, we watch him closely and at night he's in his rock n play (he can't roll over in that yet either) so we're comfortable with it. I think we'll be deswaddling around 10 weeks though (or whenever he gets better at rolling over).

Poor little dude has baby acne, cradle cap, a plugged tear duct, and this screaming colic thing today...I think he's cute but he's my baby. I would understand if other people didn't think he was so cute today

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Missy-Hope that all is well and that you are having a wonderful time with baby Jenna!

Nel-How is Katie doing? I meant to post in the other thread that I am not a fan of screen time for B (though DH is a lot more liberal), but the first 4 weeks post-partum the little to no screen time rule went out the window! Especially on nights when DH has class and I had both boys, starting 2 days post-partum, sometimes an episode of Curious George or Jeopardy was a big help!!! It's so cold and we've been cooped up and we basically did whatever was needed to keep both boys safe and happy during the first month of transition.

AFM-I start working from home on Monday We'll see how this goes. Hopefully it will work well and then when I go back to the office after Easter I can continue working from home at least 1 day a week. If DH were also working I wouldn't feel so much pressure...I really need my job to support my family, but I also really want more time at home and to swap commuting time for more time with my boys, etc.

DH is considering being a SAHM dad next year which would be great. EMTs in NYC make less than babysitters/nannys, so it would actually save us money if he were at home and E will still be so little that I would feel way more comfortable with DH being home with him than starting him in daycare...DH wasn't such a fan of being an SAHM dad when he did it with just B for a while, but 2014-2015 will be his lag year when he's waiting to hear about med school acceptances so that's a way different scenario than being depressed and unemployed...

On a way more fun note, we got E's newborn and family pics I love them!!!

PS isn't accepting my photos right now and E is waking up to nurse, but I'll try to post later...they are worth wait

 

[Bella_mezzo]

tons of photos

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Bella, the pictures came out beautifully!! I love them! Are you trying to figure out which ones to frame? that is always difficult for me.

I was going to post on Monday wishing you luck with work, but cant find a spare minute. One of the moms in my mom group is a doctor and also the breadwinner--her husband is a SAHD on the days she works. She admits it's really tough to be the mom and the breadwinner, but she is happy her husband can stay home.

C is doing well--8 lb. 6 oz. on Monday. More alert these days, but still pretty laid back. Katie and DH are both sick. So is our babysitter, so I've been on my own and I'm exhausted. At least I'm not sick! But being on my own with a sick toddler and constantly-nursing newborn is tough. I got K some dvd's to watch, so she's been getting more screen time these days. DH cant complain since he's no help.

 

[Missy0483]

Hi ladies! All is well here. I love being home with Jenna, she's such a blessing. She's still only doing 3 hour stretches at the most at night but I'm fine with it! We had her 1 month checkup on Tuesday. She's 8lbs 10oz and 20 1/2" long so growing just fine!

Bella - Those pictures are adorable!! I'm a little sad that we didn't do newborn pictures, but we're having pics done of the 3 of us on March 16th.

Attaching a picture from yesterday! Shs was just about to yell at me for taking too many.pictures haha. She'll be 5 weeks old tomorrow.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, Cora looks so much like big sister K!!! D is going to have THREE BEAUTIFUL ladies surrounding him, how will he cope? Sorry everyone is sick, but dust that it stays away from you and C.

Bella, OMG I about died from the cuteness overload. Much luck for your DH's acceptances. I hope the SAH-dad works our for you guys for a while. Gosh, your family is so handsome!

Missy, adorable picture of your princess. I'm so glad J's growing so well. And 3 hour stretches at this age is great!

Need to stay out of this thread, too much squishy cuteness.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

thanks Liang, I hope that you are healing and your return to the TTC thread is very brief.

NEL-thank you, we are thrilled with how they turned out and have 330 images to choose from, so there is a lot of indecision re which to frame

Missy-Jenna is adorable and I love her rainbow outfit. You and your DH have found such special ways to celebrate Blake as part of your family and Jenna's big brother! Can't wait to see your family pics!!!

AFM-I talked to my boss yesterday and she's totally fine with me working from home on Wednesdays on a perm basis when I go back after Easter. I am so relieved!!! That makes everything seem so much more manageable.

 

[Puppmom]

Bella, what a looker! I have a sneaking suspicion that E is going be on the move early. He just looks so alert!

Missy, J is such a beauty! And that hair! A sweet little something from her big bro.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Missy, J is so cute and it's so sweet to see you continue to celebrate B and incorporate him into your family's life. 3 hour stretches are good and it sounds like J is doing well!

Bella, working from home 1 day per week is going to make such a big difference! I'm so glad your boss is being flexible with you!

AFU, it's been a rough week. K caught a stomach bug, then we all got it. Everyone but Cora, thank goodness. It was just really hard--first taking care of a sick, clingy toddler when you have a nursing newborn. Then trying to take care of a healthy toddler and newborn when you don't want to move. Today is much better though. Everyone is feeling better and K could go back to daycare.

Also, I'm having supply issues. C started nursing more last week and getting really mad on the boob after nursing for an hour or more. So I suspected she wasn't getting enough and started my old Fenugreek + extra pumping sessions routine. Then I got sick and dehydrated and it got worse, so last night I gave her a little formula with pumped milk before bed. She drank 4 oz. (!), then slept for 5 hours. She was up at 3am, then nursed on and off for the next few hours because I'm not producing enough to satisfy her. I'll just keep nursing and pumping and if she's still hungry, I'll supplement. I'm not beating myself up about it like last time.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Just posting a couple of pics from our newborn shoot. Cora is a month old today!

Also, supply has been better (yay!) and things are just getting easier. Last night Cora slept for 6 hours (10pm - 4am). I usually let her sleep until at least 8am once she's back asleep, but always end up having to wake her in order to drop K off at daycare.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, beautiful pictures of your sweet C!!! I'm sorry you got sick this weekend. I'm glad everyone is doing better this week.

Bella, glad you can work from home once a week. That's great!

(Butting out of this thread now and going back to lurking)

 

[Bella_mezzo]

NEL-So cute!!!!! Ah, little girls...pink and tutus and bows...

 

[tammy77]

I've been MIA too long....SO MANY CUTE BABIES!!!! Bella, adorable little one and so happy to see B loving his little brother. I love the little rainbow onesie, Missy. I agree, it's wonderful that you're keeping Blake's presence in your lives. I think of you and your DH often and am so glad that you have your little rainbow baby. She's beautiful.

NEL, Cora has the BEST hair! I'm still waiting for Hannah's to grow in. She's getting some cute little peach fuzz though!

I can't believe that she's over 5 months now. Every time I look back at her newborn photos it makes me nostalgic. We're absolutely done having babies (DH had the big V, woohoo!). That said, she's amazing and if we didn't already have two pre-teens driving me crazy and if I wasn't turning 37 (ugh!!!) in a few days, I absolutely would have wanted another.

I'll have to come back with some photos, but for now here's a little one of her newborn to 4 month progression.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Aw-Tammy, she is getting so big!!!

NEL-I hope that stomach bug is gone form your house and that you are all doing well now.

Working from home is actually going pretty well, and now I wish I would have asked to work from home 2 days a week on a perm basis...we have half day Fridays in the summer, so maybe I'll revisit it in the fall if things are going well...

We've had a rough few days, E, B, and DH were all sick with some virus. E has had serous congestion for the past 2-3 weeks and has been running a slight temp (99.8ish) me and the Nosefride are BFF now! DH was sick for the last week with a respiratory thing, and B got a virus with a 104 temp spike!

So far I've stayed basically healthy, but I have some weird, red, itchy, painful splotches on my n*pples that are likely yeast

E doesn't have thrush and I don't have any other symptoms, but I am terrified that this is the beginning of a long battle with yeast. For now, I am treating with lotrimin and baking soda water per my midwife, but I am going to try grapefruit seed extract today and have a prescription for All Purpose Nipple Ointment that I am going to fill if things don't start to improve by this weekend. E is still nursing great, but I feel awful that he's getting these small amounts of drugs from the cream on my nipples and that I may be putting him at risk for thrush but I really want to keep breastfeeding and it is supposed to be safe...

Has anyone else dealt with this?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Bella, I'm no help with the yeast issue. Great that E doesn't have thrush, but totally understand your concern. It sounds like your midwife isn't concerned, which is encouraging.

And your poor family! Everybody has been sick! Hopefully that means you'll have a long stretch of being healthy soon. Hope everybody is on the mend. We're finally healthy here.

So glad that WFH is making life better--love the plan of asking for another day after summer.

Tammy,such adorable pictures!

AFU, same ol', same ol'. Really enjoying life with two and still think the toughest part is ahead of me. Right now I get everything done while K is in daycare and D is at work. And on weekends I can wear C and spend family time with D and K. K started a 3 nap schedule at 12 weeks, then transitioned to 2 naps starting at 6 months. I'm not worried about the 3 nap schedule, but it will be tough when C is doing 2 naps and I basically have one kid up and one kid napping all day. Plus ill be back at work, so all chores and errands will move back to the weekend. Typical,of me to start worrying now.

I think I've gotten a couple of real smiles from Cora!

C is starting to move to a sleep, eat, play routine during the daytime. She'll wake up and drink 2 or 3 ounces, then stay awake for a hour or so, then want another ounce before falling asleep again. I don't let her fall asleep with the bottle or boob in her mouth, I just think she likes the sucking. She refuses all pacifiers, so I'm just working with it for now.

 

[CurlySue]

Hello, ladies! I pretty much never post anymore, as this thread got really slow shortly after my LO was born, but I do lurk relatively frequently and always love hearing about everyone's mommy journeys and experiences. And the baby pics are THE BEST! I figured with the new influx of sweet babies I'd give a quick update and say hello.

You all sound like you are doing well with your new additions - very glad to hear it. I just swooned over your beautiful babes. NEL, the pictures of C are just gorgeous - I love her hair and how sweet she looks sleeping. Missy, J is such a precious little peanut. Her onesie made me smile (and I love the legwarmers!). And Bella!! The pictures of your boys are absolutely heartwarming! Love them! Tammy! I cannot believe Hannah is (at this point) almost 6 months old!! Time flies. She is a beauty!

Could I possibly use any more exclamation points? Ha.

Em is about 10 and a half months now, and she is doing wonderfully! She is a pretty happy baby, though she is starting to show us that she is not a pushover. She'll assert herself when she wants something and will let you know when she's frustrated. She laughs and smiles a lot and is extremely silly with us, which is very fun. She currently loves waving bye-bye and hi. She waves to whoever she can, including our dog whenever he enters the room. Super cute.

She is still getting breast milk 5 times a day, but she's also eating 3 solid meals. I provide daycare with purees and oatmeal, but at home she's doing wonderfully with table food. She eats everything, mainly b/c I think she loves feeding herself. Fish, pork, chicken, all sorts of berries, waffles, cheese, peas, green beans - you name it, she eats it! It's fun to watch her try new things.

She's been crawling, pulling up, and cruising since about 9 months. It was crazy - it all hit at once. It seemed like she was mobile overnight. Even though it's exhausting, I love watching her explore the world more independently.

Her sleep had been all over the place since about 4 months old - she had periods where she'd be up multiple times a night, or didn't want to go to sleep at all (that's the worst), or would only wake once... but it was a rare occurrence for her to sleep all the way through the night. I don't want to jinx it, but she has been sleeping through the night almost every night for the last week. I realize how quickly these things can change, so I am enjoying it while it lasts (please, please, PLEASE let it last)!

I LOVE being a mom. I really do. Life is exhausting, as we have no family nearby, I deal with a long commute, and my DH has been travelling for work more often over the last few months, but we have hit a good parenting rhythm and have found a balance. I've learned that outsourcing is my friend and don't try to jam all my home-related responsibilities into weekends. So a finding a housekeeper to come every other week, having groceries delivered, and using Amazon a LOT has saved my sanity and allowed me to enjoy Emily to the fullest whenever I am home.

My current struggle is what to do with nursing and pumping. I love nursing but am SO OVER pumping. I am committed to doing it until she's a year old but am conflicted about what to do after that. I'm thinking I could still nurse before bedtime (and maybe in the morning) but give cow's milk during the day. I guess I am just clueless about how to taper down/introduce cow's milk. I swear I saw a thread on that a few weeks ago... I suppose I should go off and find it...

Here are some recent pictures of her.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Curly, she's adorable!!!!

AFM-I think I may be getting my period starting yesterday?!?!?!?!? This is kind of crazy.

E is great, he is an amazing sleeper and great nurser. I still haven't gotten the nerve to pump, but I have to do it this week so that I have some milk stored b/c the following week we are going to see DH's family and then I go back to the office...

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Curly, Hannah is so cute! I'm so glad you're loving motherhood and that she's starting to STTN, which makes a huge difference. Our pediatrician said it was okay to start introducing cows milk at 10-11 months. Good luck with the pumping, I know it can be a drag, but I don't mind it so much.

Bella, so glad everything is going well! Like I said to Curly, I don't think pumping is so bad. I exclusively pumped with K and I'm pumping a lot with C. I like nursing, but I like pumping because my analytical side likes knowing how many ounces C takes per day.

AFU, C is doing great. Her night routine is developing. I give K a bath at 7pm, then we all do storytime together. K is in her crib at 7:30, then I give C a bath, then bottle and she's asleep at 8:30pm. She wakes at 4:30am, takes a bottle sleepily and is back to sleep until 8:30 or 9am. Daytime naps are less structured, but she'll usually give me a long nap in the middle of the day. Problem is when I go back to work. I have to be out the door by 7:45am with both kiddos, so I'll need to start adjusting C's routine soon and I'm not sure how I'll give both a bath at the same time.

C is getting stronger--I can put her in the bumbo for a few minutes now. She's still very easy, not much of a fusser at all. She's even more settled in the evenings now, which is nice since there's a lot going on between dinner time and bedtime. Definitely not looking forward to going back to work. I'm paid through mid May, but am thinking of taking some unpaid time until June.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

OMG--we are at my in laws for 9 days. I love them, but with small kids am glad that our visits are limited.

DH missed our flight, so I flew down on my own with the boys. Then the next flight out was canceled due to weather, so DH had to sleep at the airport and fly standby on the first flight out the next day.

His sister came to pick me and the boys up at the airport with two uninstalled/partially installed car seats in the back seat. I've been telling DH to check with them re brand and installation of car seats that they would have on hand as we got burned before with this (even though BIL is a cop and a "certified car seat installer" he had no clue how to install the car seat last time). I spent over an hour at the airport installing two almost expired car seats with dubious latch systems that seem to not be fully operational any more. Plus the infant seat has such huge cupholders on each side (WTH does a non-convertible infant seat need a cupholder, let alone two cup holders?) that I had to wedge myself under them to cram myself into the middle back seat.

My inlaws house is LOUD (FIL is mostly deaf and has early stage dementia, MIL is used to talking/yelling to half deaf FIL, DH is one of 6 kids and they all live within a 10 minute drive of his parents (2 of them still live with his parents although they are in their 30s) and are all in and out late into the night with their grown children), and at least 1 TV is blaring, BLARING 24/7...

MIL is all "I had 6 kids, I know babies...you can't (fill in the blank--put him on his tummy, kiss him on his face, let him nap in the afternoon, etc.)

Our cloth diapers, ring slings, regular nap schedule, breastfeeding, etc. is a total anomaly.

Here's this afternoon (and every afternoon for the past 3 days)

E is down for a nap, FIL is chasing B through the kitchen (right next to the room where E is) yelling and loudly whacking a ball onto the counter, MIL is hollering to FIL, E is waking up, MIL is like "I have to go get him, see he doesn't want to sleep"...I am like, "no, we all need to be a little calmer/quieter and let E go back to sleep...DH goes in and rocks/shushs him back to sleep, FIL turns up the TV to the full max volume, E wakes up again...rinse and repeat)

Love my inlaws, not loving this visit so much...plus, I am working from home, so am juggling conference calls, emails, etc. through all this.

Next time, we are just going to bring our own car seats or order the cheapest, safest seats from Amazon prime and just leave them here...

 

[lliang_chi]

Bella, Cosco Seneca seats are <$40 and 100% safe. They might out grow the seats quickly but if you're looking for ones that E & B can safely sit in, try those. Also we always travel with E's seat for the same reason you state. Sorry your visit is difficult. But just keep reminding yourself how it's good for your ILs, you sons and your DH. And it's few and far between.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Thanks lliang,

I checked and the huge, double cupholdered infant seat is a Cosco so hopefully it's very safe. I installed with latch and lap belt and we aren't riding in them except for when we go back to the airport.

The seat for B is an older Evenflo and I think I got it in securely, again with latch and lap belt.

I have bruises all over my arms from the install

it is great to visit my inlaws, but also very challenging!

 

[S&I]

Hey Bella, just popping in to say that I read somewhere that you're not supposed to use both the latch and seat belt installs together. Only one or the other. Something about using both ends up making it too tight so theres no room for slack in case of an accident, which could cause more harm. In general, lap belt is safer for older kids since latch has a maximum weight limit. Just an FYI to hopefully help you out!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Thanks S&I, I just read that last night too. The lap belts in SIL's car have way too much slack, so I am having DH look at them today. Thankfully we are only using twice, once to get from airport to here (already done) and once to get back to the airport.

The Okkatots bag is working out brilliantly for this trip! Makes a perfect changing organizer and holds a weeks worth of clothes and a days worth of cloth diapers! When we got separated at the airport so DH could park the car and I could try to catch our flight, I just grabbed the boys and the Okkatots and took off running through the airport and had everything I needed.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Bella, your trip sounds kee-razy! Nine days with the in-laws is a LOT of time! And sounds like the airport was chaotic--you had to sprint to make the flight with the boys and DH missed it. Kudos to you, my dear. My sister is getting married in a month and I'm still not sure if I want to go because flying with two is daunting and that is WITH DH's help. Sounds like you're coping really well, but, yeah, in laws can drive you nuts. Especially when they think they are "helping" by telling you what you should do. My in-laws are the type who think kids just nap when they're tired, so I feel like getting the kids to nap when they are around is so much harder. Wishing you tons of luck with the rest of your trip and fingers crossed that the flight home is uneventful.

Oh, and the car seat situation sounds like such a pain in the bum. I drove around with my car seat incorrectly installed for MONTHS, so I'm obviously no expert. If you can just get to the airport, you'll be good!

AFU, nothing new. Cora gave me a few nights in a row where she slept for 12 hours straight (8pm - 8am) and I really thought she'd dropped the MOTN feeding, but she broke her streak. I'm now bathing both girls at the same time, which is great because it makes bath time more fun for Katie and Cora falls asleep earlier, which gives me more freedom in the evenings.

 

[S&I]

Bella, glad the okkatots bag is working out well for you! Hope the rest of your stay with the in-laws isn't too bad, and hope your return flight is way less chaotic than your flight there!

NEL, aww so cute about bathing the girls together, and woohoo for C doing a few 12-hour stretches! She'll do it again soon, I'm sure.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Yeah, DH's family lives in Louisiana and we live in NYC so we typically see them for 7-10 days once a year. We are at the point of the trip now where it feels very long...

The car seat thing got worse yesterday when SIL brought over the seats and had returned the infant seat to her friend and pulled some infant seat out of her garage that was covered in cobwebs and mold. (We had to go to BIL's yesterday for a crawfish boil and I realized, we have to go in the car Sunday too to get to church...)

Even DH got pissed about this seat (and he now is starting to understand why I was pissed about the airport seats). We cleaned it as best we could, put a blanket over it, and today are thoroughly scrubbing all the straps and putting the cover through the washing machine.

Next trip, without fail, we are bringing our own seats (plus B will probably be in a booster which will make everything easier).

Can not say enough good things about the Okkatots bag for a long trip with two kids!

We started bathing the boys together too, it's adorable!

B is a rockstar sleeper and I think just had another growth spurt! He's quite a chunky monkey. I'll try to get pics of the boys Sunday in their matching easter outfits

 

[Bella_mezzo]

It's my first day back at work

Missing E but due to some unexpected circumstances (my friend who picks B up from school, her son has strep, so E's babysitter has to take him to get B and my office is on the way), my babysitter is going to bring him to the office this afternoon to nurse...yay!

I just did my first pumping session, I only pumped for about 3 minutes b/c I thought I had to go to a meeting so I had a hard stop and it took longer than I expected to get the pump set up, but I got 1.5 oz from one and .5 oz from the other. I wish I could have gone longer b/c I still feel kind of full and since he's coming at 1:30 I am not sure if I should try to pump again before he comes...maybe I'll try again at noon.

I am more worried about keeping up my supply as I have a strong hunch that he'll nurse more in the evening and at night to make up for any feedings he misses during the day.

So far today, E's refusing the bottle at home so not sure how much I'll need for tomorrow...but I usually manually pump 2 oz in the morning from whichever side he doesn't feed on so I am slowly building a little back-up stash.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

The first day back in the office is really tough. I'm glad it's the end of the week so you can look forward to the weekend, at least. And having E stop by will help!

Did you end up pumping again? How did the nursing session go?

Tough day here. C is off of her routine so I'm just sort of haphazardly feeding her and putting her down for naps. The next few weeks will be tough because our babysitter is on vacation, so I'll have both kiddos full time. When the babysitter is back, I'm back at work. And I still have a bunch of maternity leave home projects that I want to finish. Just feeling very blah this week.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

hi NEL, I survived actually, it wasn't so bad...I pumped again at 12:30 and got 1.5 oz from lefty again but only a few drops from righty...saw E at 1:30 to nurse which was great! ...and then went home at 4:30 and they were near my office so the babysitter waited for me and we all went home together...so I nursed him again at home at 5:30.

He definitely nursed longer at 1:30 and 5:30 but it wasn't crazy and he seemed calm.

She said he took about 2oz in the morning and he slept from 1:30-4:30, all pretty normal for him, so I think we'll find a groove soon.