Hey girls! I'm sorry I'm offline so much right now. We are well and I'm reading everything, just rarely get time to post much. We are still nursing during the days (thanks to nipple shields!) so far, and doing formula supplementation during the day and formula only overnight. Can only find time to pump once in the morning and last minute before bed, but he is nursing pretty well so far. The daytime routine with two is pretty hectic, but in a good way of course!

Hugs and love and more updates as I'm able!

Angela it is good to hear from you. I can only imagine how hectic it must be! I look forward to finding out. Post when you can. Is Ethan adjusting to sharing Mommy and being a big brother? I think you had said you were holding off on taking him to daycare at the church for a bit.

Good to hear from you!!! Big hugs!!!

Steph

Oh forgo to mention we are officially TTC. I haven't been tracking well the past month keep forgetting to enter stuff into my app. I will keep everyone posted.

Hugs,
Steph

Yay steph! I'm so excited you will be ttc too! So if I remember correctly you, Bek and Beth are all ttc now! So exciting!

Ethan is doing pretty well, thanks, he is tolerating it all better than I hoped! Snuggles up in my lap while i hold the baby which is so sweet! Mommy's boys!

Hi Angela!

I expected is much. I hear the transition to 2 is a challenge. I've also heard that the challenge from 2-3 gets slightly easier for some reason.

How are you doing with the nipple shields. I'm watching YOU this time. Everytime I used them I got criticized because it's supposedly causing air between the nipple and the shield OR it would cause depletion of milk. I of course never saw any of that but they made me feel as though that's the cause of all Amelia's woes.

Hind site of course, I would brush it off and not worry so much. I'm noticing a trend with medical care here that they REALLY like to freak people out with weight, bf'ing, etc.

I was just wondering since this is your second time if YOU noticed anything or if you noticed things were actually BETTER with the shield as I felt.

Next time I'm going to check in with you about bf'ing during the day and bottle feeding at night. Have you noticed that it is reducing your milk supply by doing that? I remember you saying your friend did it and it worked well.

Anyways, no more questions. Just thought I'd ask in case you get a little time to post. No worries if you haven't time. I understand completely.

Love to you all!!

Bek I too have heard the second is exponentially harder than having one, but then the third and fourth aren't nearly as much of a strain once you already have two... After a few weeks of two, I think it must be because you have to learn all sorts of ways to juggle two ( or more), but once you learn the skills and get your routines/coping mechanisms down, the same skills will serve you no matter how many kids you have...just my thoughts!

On the nipple shields, I can't say enough good things about them! I use the medela; we tried tommee tippee but he orefers the medela. I seem to have plenty of milk so far, as can get 2-3 oz every time I pump and that even if I've nursed him recently. Id never survive the pain of nursing without the shields, though I'm hoping my nipples will toughen over time and we can stop using the shields, if only because they have to be washed and I have to have one handy to nurse. I'm letting him nurse about once a day without them so far, and my nipples are holding up okay with that. As far as air I think he gets no more than he would otherwise.

On formula, we supp during the day then do formula only overnight, which holds him longer. It's my compromise to get some sleep... There is just no way I could handle both kids all day long if I was up all night nursing. He doesn't yet nurse long enough at a sitting (before falling asleep) to fill him up, so he gets a bottle after nursing that is part breastmilk and part formula. So far he is gaining great!!

More in a moment. Nursing pause!

The medela were the only brand I used as well. Your method sounds like it's a bit easier for both baby AND mommy! We'll see if it will work for us. FIRST things first. I have to actually be pregnant and have the baby. rofl

It's official everyone! (no not pregnancy...lol) Amelia's bottom looks better! I can't say what fixed it as I didn't think some things were working. We used a mixture of EVERYTHING. Upon last nights bath I even used drops of vinegar which one of the Dr.'s mentioned 2teaspoons per inch of water. I'm also doing keifer, some thick antifungal butt paste, the nyatatin cream and bum drop water drops that have herbs in them to wash the bum with. SOMETHING is working. At least her bottom isn't bleeding anymore. I was getting frustrated and felt so bad for her. It HAD to hurt terribly. Praise God for that!

Not sure if I mentioned this to anyone. Since having my first acupuncture treatment I have gone from sleeping less and light sleeping to a deeper sleep and waking refreshed and energized the rest of the day!! even the chronic anxiety I have has lessened a great deal.

I went from skeptical to really surprised it worked like that. I just thought I'd share that piece of goodness with you all. Anna, didn't you have acupuncture as well??

Hope everyone is doing well.

Angela, thank you for sharing when your SO BUSY.

Steph, thanks for dropping by. I miss you!

Yay for improvement on the rash!! And so glad acupuncture worked for you. I tried it years ago when the disc issue in my neck flared up, and it really did help! Like you I was skeptical at first but it really did help.

Anna, Ethan is a pincher, grabber too. I think it just goes with the territory, sigh. In his case (and remember he is a few months older than Jo) he is definitely doing it out of frustration. He pinches and grabs when he gets mad, and will try to bite me if he can if I make him do something (like wiping hands and face after eating) that he doesn't want to do. we know he is doing it intentionally, so we do discipline him, but Jo may simply be playing and you should go with your instinct about that. It's definitely something that goes along with this age though. Oh, joy lol! So sorry about your snarky coworker, what a and how dare she!! You are an AWESOME mom and don't feel guilty for one SECOND. We all do what we can. Heck, I'm SAHM and my kid doesn't get probably half as much outdoor mommy time as Jo, mostly because i was preggo but still...you are doing an awesome job!!

Re: breastfeeding/formula feeding, I definitely think what we are doing this time around is MUCH easier than the first time. I learned a lot from that first experience and am trying to implement those lessons now. Reece gets most of the credit though, lol, as he has started off from the beginning as a great sleeper. His current night schedule is a formula feed from 11-12 (takes a while, as he usually poops and pees a couple diapers mid feed and then takes his time falling asleep and fishing bottle etc,) then down around midnight. Hubby goes to bed between 9-10 and gets a block of sleep from roughly 10-3:30 or 4:00. I pump once the midnight feed is done (so i will be able to sleep a while and go roughly 7-8 hours till nursing again) and get to bed about 12:45, and hubby takes the 4 am feed. This way I sleep roughly 1-6 or 7 and get a block of sleep and we both feel much more rested this time around. Hope that idea helps you bek, or anyone else who needs it. It has really been a miraculously different and easier experience this time. I think just not putting so much pressure on myself has helped too... I swore I would not obsess over bf'ing this time, and I haven't. I will do it as long as I can or as long as it is working for us, but with Ethan involved now and needing my time and attention as well, I won't continue with it if it becomes something that is stressing any of us out or causing me to have to sacrifice a lot of time with ethan (to nurse, pump, etc.). It's super important to me to do it for at least a few weeks, so reece gets antibodies, but beyond that I will consider it something we do for as long as it works. I know some folks feel very strongly about it and that is totally fine, but for our family this is what will work, and hubby and i are on the same page about it so I'm happy with our plan for now.

Okay done pumping so off to bed - hugs to all and love!

LOVE the idea Angela and I'm betting I'll come back for reference someday.

I think that's why I'm starting to relax a bit more with Amelia. My issue was anxiety from what was supposed to be a fairytale pregnancy with Jackson. Thereon in I felt I had to be on the ball because I couldn't trust anyone. Dr.'s always made it seem though that she were going to die if I even touched her the wrong way.... a bit of an over exaggeration but I think you all know what I mean.

Hopefully next time around I'll be a bit less anxious. I WILL be alert, just maybe not so freaked out all the time. Allow myself to enjoy being a mom. Even while Amelia slept I felt like I had to be on the ball for sids.

By the way, how are you this time around with Reece about that? Do you check on him a million times or does THAT feeling go away after having been through the first child??

Enjoy your rest dear friend.

I think i am definitely more relaxed and confident about most things, but SIDS still scares the pants off me. I freak out about that for at least the first 7 months or so. Sigh. But i am trying to remember God is in control and so every night I pray over both kids, and then i try to relax, leave it with Him and let myself rest. It is easier right now I think because hubby and i have both noticed that the hormones from breastfeeding are keeping me happier and more relaxed (a known side effect of oxytocin and prolactin) so I am stressing less (so far) than I probably otherwise would. Hoping I can nurse for a while then lol!!