1 day DPO and in need of buddies :)

[BeachChica]

Lindsay - just checking in for an update on the membranes and I see you're on the way to the hospital!!! How exciting!! I hope you're little guy is on his way! Keep us posted!!!

Kelsey - that is so frustrating on your house! I can't remember but do yiu have a family member in real estate? Can you try to lower the price a bit or do an open house to help get things moving? Fx for your BDing!! Are you going to do it tonight, tomorrow, etc until you know for sure you've O'd?

 

[korink26]

Lindsay Miles is so beautiful! I hope labor was quick for you!
Speaking of labor, Rach I don't think I ever heard how yours went! I know you were worried about getting induced, but it must have went smoothly for you?
Yes Jess my mom is our realtor. We've kind of reduced as far as we'd like. I think if it were up to me, I'd want to just get rid of it regardless of losing money on it but Ryan's always the level head of us 2 and he wants to wait. We've had open houses about once a month, any more than that mom said doesn't really pay because it'll just cause market wear. We bd'd yesterday morning and last night, and then we wil again tonight and maybe tomorrow depending on my temp. I'm 99% sure I ov'd at some point yesterday/last night. But, I want to cover our bases!

 

[babydust818]

Congrats Lindsay on your handsome little man!! How is Mr Oakley liking being a big brother?!?

Kels my labor wasn't too bad! I started the cervadil at 745pm and they stopped it at 530am the next morning. At 6am they started the pitocin at 2cc and gradually went up each half hr all the way up until I got to 30cc which was somewhere around 1/2pm. I was having contractions but they weren't too bad until about 830am. Dr came in and broke my water some where around 10am. After that I started being in a lot of pain contraction wise. Nurse checked me and I was 5cm so I got the epidural. So from like 1030/11am until I had Rowan at 637pm i was well medicated. It wore off twice and had to get another boost of epidural through the catheter in my back. Felt all my contractions in my back and crease area where leg and vag meet. I was completely numb on left side but not nearly as numb on right. i pushed 45 mins before Rowan was out. Andrew had to hold my left leg for me bcz is so numb on that side lol. He said he saw Rowan's head was coned shaped and thought something was wrong with him. He had no idea babies heads do that lol. He's such a good dad.

 

[pinksmarties]

Linds -Said it already on FB but huge congratulations on the beautiful Miles. I bet you are glqad to be home now and settling in as a bigger family. Can;t wait to hear your birth story.

Rach - sounds like a great birth. My epidural only worked down one side and could still feel it all down my left side. Rowan is such a cutie. How are things going? Are you pumping exclusively now or still doing some bf'ing?


Kels - sounds like the perfect bd timing, fx'd. I really hope you sell the house soon and get your new one. Could you still afford to get the new one if you drop the price down further? I know Ryan not keen to drop the price but maybe its worth it not to lose out on your new house. Glad everything is going well with your sister and she can relax a bit more, never heard of a cyst on the the cord before, I bey she was scared.

Jess - the late nights are a killer, I had to work late one night a week and I felt as though I never saw him at all that day. Glad she is sleeping through the night, makes such a difference when you get some sleep too. Does she have any teeth yet?

afm - O is 11 weeks old. I think he is a much more settled baby than B ever was. He is going down at night now 7.30 and generally not waking up (proper - he still makes lots of pretend waking up noises at times) till 3-4am then back to sleep till 6-7am. He is starting to has a semblance of daytime routine but its still really variable. We are going away next week for my step mums 60th birthday and the whole family will be there so really looking forward to that. B's speaking/vocabulary has really exploded in the last 2 weeks and its great to hear.

 

[confusedprego]

hi ladies!

Thanks for all the congrats! We are settled at home now - had lots of visitors since we've been home but I think today will be a bit more low key so I finally have a chance to get on here
Things went really well at the hospital. Monday night I had a lot of pretty intense contractions 3-4 minutes apart and they had me walk the halls for an hour and rechecked me and I didn't progress at all, so they sent us home. Once we got home, I was able to sleep for a few hours and by the time I woke up the contractions were pretty spread apart and much milder. I got up to go to the bathroom and as I was about to sit my water broke. It was a decent amount of water that came out but it wasn't like it was with Oakley (it just kept coming and trickling out!). This was at 7:30 in the morning and I had a doc appointment at 8:40, so I called the doctor and they said I could either go to the hospital or go to my appointment to confirm my water breaking (since I was questioning it). I felt more comfortable going to my appointment since my SIL was there and I knew she would scan and confirm lower fluid, etc etc and I knew the hospital might be slow. SO, we went to the appointment and they said I still had fluid but after look at my CM on a slide, it was consistent with amniotic fluid and I needed to get to the hospital. We got there and they put me on Pitocin because my contractions were 7-10 min apart and they hardly made me uncomfortable. We upped Pitocin for hours until finally they hurt enough and I started progressing - got an epidural and they upped it even a bit further. Epidural was great, worked both sides - not quite as well on the right side but I liked being able to feel a little something. It took me about 9 hours to get to 5cm and then an hour to go to 8cm and maybe an hour to delivery from there. My doctor had to go to an emergency C-section when I reached 8cm and ended up running in to take over for the 'fill-in' doctor for my episiotomy and final push I had some pretty excessive bleeding that they had to give me a shot for but I didn't have the issues with peeing afterwards like I did with Oakley.
Long story short - it went great Little man is eating like a champ - had his first appointment this morning and he already weights 3 ounces more than his birth weight! He's a total natural at breastfeeding - I just have to put him in the vicinity of my boob and he takes over!! I'm a bit engorged right now...hoping they'll get a bit softer soon - making Miles choke a bit every once in a while.
Oakley is an amazing big brother! He's fascinated with Miles and is trying to be so helpful! He can be a bit rough every once in a while and I get a bit overwhelmed but overall, I really couldn't ask for more - I expected to deal with much worse! Hopefully he'll keep it up!

Kels - your chart is looking great! Fingers crossed you'll have the June baby in your family!! how exciting!! Glad your sister's cyst cleared up! I bet the whole family had a sigh of relief! Good luck with your house - I know how frustrating home sales can be!! If this new house doesn't happen then I'm sure you'll find something even better!

Sounds like everyone else is doing great too - I have to run but I will try to catch up with everyone else later!!

you guys!!

 

[confusedprego]

How's everyone doing?!

Sam and Rach - how long do you guys get to be home?

Rach - I saw you're struggling a bit at night with Rowan - any improvement? I definitely struggled with Oakley for a month or two at night. It calmed down completely by 3 months but it was definitely exhausting! Hang in there and def mention it to your doc - they may be able to give you some reflux meds to try.

Sam - glad O is sleeping pretty well/predictably at night! The daytime routine will come. Miles seems to be more settled than Oakley already as well - hoping it stays that way! It seems the only time he cries is when he's hungry, although it's still very early!! O's crying sessions didn't start until he was around a month old.

Kels - your chart is looking good - a little early for implantation dip but all my positive pregnancies have had a dip like that! Fingers crossed for you!

Jess - your pictures on facebook make me drool!! Although I am enjoying the beginning of fall but I know what's coming... :/

How's everyone doing with breastfeeding??? I'm so relieved breastfeeding has been so much smoother this time for Miles. We had Miles 1 week appointment yesterday and he was 8lbs 11 ounces - again! They think the scale at the other appointment was off a few ounces but they're really happy that he's already above birthweight and said we don't need to come back until he's one month, which is nice. I had to go back weekly with Oakley for a couple weeks to be sure he was gaining. I was engorged on Sunday and thought I wasn't going to survive without pumping and I resisted knowing that could put me in the overproducing problem I had last time and I've made it passed that stage - I still think I'm producing a little too much but I'm sure it will all sort out in time.

 

[BeachChica]

Hi girls! Sorry I've been away but trying to keep up with you all on FB!!! It's been crazy at work with quarter end!

Lindsay - sounds like overall delivery went well. Miles is a cutie for sure!!! That's great he's back up to his birthweight!! How is he doing at night? Is he sleeping for longer stretches or up every couple hours? I know you were going to try him in his crib, did that work out or is he staying in your room?

BF has been going about the same for me. Can't really seem to increase my production at work more than about 7-8 ounces. I exclusively BF Isabela in the morning, she has 1 of 3 of her daycare bottles of BM and then in the evenings I do a combination of BM and formula. I guess it's better that she's at a least getting some BM.

Kelsey - I have everything crossed for you this month!!

Rach - how are things going with you and your little man? How is yiur milk production going? Are you just pumping or do yiu BF too! I love all the pics on FB!!!

Sam - glad things are going well with O and so nice that he's such a good sleeper!! I am looking forward to the days when Isabela starts to talk. It must be so amazing to hear all the things they have to say!!!

 

[babydust818]

So happyto hear Miles is doing so great !! Hard to believe a week has already passed. I must say I am completely jealous that you are an overproducer with bf. I literally cry everyday because my production will not go up. I've tried eating oats, flax seed and taking fenugreek but seems nothing is really helping. Rowan doesn't latch so I got a breast shield. He will with that but I don't produce nearly as much as he has been getting so he's constantly hungry without the bottle. So I've just been bottle feeding. I cant seem to produce more than 8oz a day it's so hard bcz I feel my body isn't geared for anything. I can barely produce milk, took me 2 yrs to get pregnant, couldn't produce enough progesterone. Ugh just feel like my body fails me every time.

As far as going back to work... I have an appt Tuesday. I'm sure I'll know then. Really not looking forward to it.

I did tell Rowan's pediatrician about his fussiness. She thinks it could be colic. Said if it gets worse to come back in.

 

[confusedprego]

Hi ladies!

Jess - Miles is sleeping really well for a one week old, I think! He goes for 2-3 hour stretches, we do a 20-30 minute feeding and then he goes right back down from around 9PM to 9AM before he stays up for a bit. We've had 3 nights in a row like that and he's in his crib from 9PM until 7AM when I get up to get Oakley ready for school. The crib works best for me - otherwise I wake at every little movement/sound and no one ends up sleeping.

Rach - I struggled a lot with Oakley with breastfeeding and I think it's from putting too much pressure on ourselves to do everything the way we "should" but every baby is different and we have to do what will make us the most comfortable and keep our babies (and ourselves) happy. I definitely suffered from the baby blues and I think a lot of that was because of feeling like a breastfeeding failure. Try to not put so much pressure on yourself - you're a great mom and you're doing the very best you can for little Rowan! I also think once you start supplementing, it's really hard to up your production - do you have a lactation consultant you can chat with?

 

[BeachChica]

Hi girls! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Lindsay - so glad Miles I'd doing great with the sleeping and I am sure it will be good in th long run that you started him off in his crib right away.

Rach - Don't be hard on yourself with the BF. Anything you can give him is better than nothing. I agree with Lindsay that once you start supplementing it's hard to increase your production. I try hard even now to just BF Isabela. If she's still wanting more afterwards I top her off with a partial bottle. It will increase some but it took me a while. It's probably close to half and half for her. I try to pump whenever I can just to keep production up... 3 times at work, sometimes during dinner (LOL) and at night after she's gone to bed and right before I go to bed. I saw you post on FB about the leaking. I have that too. My doctor called it stress incontinence. Mostly happens if I have a full bladder and cough or strain (like lifting). I have an appointment tomorrow with a pelvic therapist so I will let you know how it goes.

Sam - not sure if you are back from your trip yet. Hope you had a great time with your family. So glad things are going well with O! How is the BF going this time for you? Was it better than last time?

AFM - we had a nice 3 days out of the boat. The weather is amazing now, I love this time of year! It did mess with Isabela's sleep a bit though (being so close and not being able to let her cry like we would at home) so last night we had to let her cry it out a couple times to get her back in her routine. It was only about 15 minutes each time so that was good. We also lowered her crib all the way down yesterday. Saturday night she was standing in her crib crying and I saw the side of her leg in the camera. I thought she had pulled herself up into the railing of the crib and was ready to go over the side. Chris and I ran so fast into her room and she had actually just pulled the camera into her crib. Whew! So the next day we lowered the crib and mounted the camera on the wall!!!

 

[BeachChica]

Lindsay - somehow I lost part of my post to you above!!! I was having trouble posting this morning. How has your production been? Have you been able to regulate it better this time or are you still producing a lot?

 

[babydust818]

Hey Ladies!

I always feel like I'm trailing behind. Can't keep up with everything. I hope you all are doing well. Haven't looked at your chart in awhile Kels. Guess I better do that.

Sam how is life going with being a mom of two? I hope you're doing great and adjusting well. Is Oliver a different baby than B was? How is B like being a big brother? Wow seems just like yesterday you, kels and I were on that other thread and here we are now with LOs and yyou with two!

Lindsay are you doing okay? Is it a lot harder with two than you thought? Or is it easier? Is Oakley doing OK? Did you end up going down into the basement and use the crib down there to start out for miles?

Jessie can not get over that pic u posted on fb of isabela looking so grown up. She is beautiful. I know I've said this before but Chris seems like such a great father. Your family is beautiful.

Mar and Alyssa if you're still checking in... Hi and I hope you are doing great.

AFM I have a Dr appt tmrw. I was suppose to go 2w ago but never made the appt. So this appt is to look at my stitches and maybe release me back to work. We really need the money so I have to go back. We were talking about me staying home with Rowan, but we cant afford it. Still will be working part time, just won't ever get to see Andrew bcz when I have Rowan, Andrew will be working and vise versa. I'll be working 2nds and him 1sts. We can't afford daycare so we're doing it this way. No one to help watch him in the family nor do i really trust anyone. Hopefully this will be temporary. I've been going through a lot of depression lately. Going to talk about it to the Dr tmrw. Hopefully get that sorted out.

What is everyones LOs going as for Halloween?!

 

[confusedprego]

Hi Ladies!

Jess - let me know how your appointment with the pelvic specialist goes - I'm doing a lot better this time around but I haven't tried exercising yet, which is where I really had issues last time.
Miles has been in his crib the whole time - we just had our first rough night last night. He was cluster feeding and was really agitated at the breast, so I got really upset thinking breastfeeding wasn't going to work again and Kirk thankfully calmed me down and so I think we've survived our first round of a growth spurt! I see why women give up breastfeeding early on!!
I think my production is OK - much better than last time! I still produce a lot and leak quite a bit - hoping that will slow down a bit. I've started pumping one boob a day to put in the fridge in case I'm out at the store and Miles is hungry, Kirk can feed him. I get about 3 ounces per boob right now in the late morning and give Miles the other boob. He gets a little mad at me afterwards sometimes because he wants both boobs but he's been spitting up a good amount lately so I'm trying to not 'overfeed' him because he just keeps going and going!

Rach - Definitely good to chat with your doctor about the depression - it's tough as you get closer to going back to work. I wish you could stay home with Rowan - maybe you guys will be able to figure it out eventually.
I am doing good with two - it's actually not as hard as I expected. I have my moments that I feel like I'm going to lose my mind but honestly Oakley is the biggest challenge. He's doing great with the baby but definitely demands more attention now (which I didn't think was possible haha). We also struggle with him napping now which is definitely a challenge. 'Sleep when the baby sleeps' is pretty much impossible with a toddler, haha.

Kels - I'll check your chart now!

 

[confusedprego]

Kels - your chart is interesting - have you tested again lately?? implantation dip and spotting?!

 

[BeachChica]

Hi girls!

Rach - saw you are going back to work. I know it will be tough but I am sure it will be nice to have the extra money and honestly, as much as I love Isabela, it's nice to get the break from her sometimes. Makes me appreciate our time together so much more! How is Rowan doing with the fussiness? What did the doctor say about the depression? Are you feeling depressed about going back to work or something else? You know we are always here for you to talk about things. Try to keep your head up, look how far you've come in a couple years... You're married and have a beautiful, healthy baby boy! I'm so happy for you!!!

Lindsay - love the pic you posted today with your 3 children! So cute! So with Miles in his crib do you just keep the monitor on and go in there when he's hungry? I think you mentioned before maybe sleeping in another room so I'm not sure if you ended up doing that.

So for the doctors appt... Basically she wants to see me 1x/week. My pelvic floor is very weak, particularly my right side. I need to strengthen this. Right now she has me doing Kegels (I hate those things). Pulling up and holding for 10 seconds and then releasing for 10-15 seconds and repeating 5-6 times but working my way up to 10 reps. I need to do this a couple times a day. Also, instead of holding your breath when you lift something (which pushes your diaphragm down), blow out. That will help reduce the pressure on your bladder. All right girls, start your Kegels!!! We'll get better together!!!

 

[confusedprego]

Kels - saw your chart what's next? another round? Your cycles look good at least!

Jess - yea - I keep the monitor right next to me on a generally "high" volume so I can hear him fussing and go in to nurse him and then put him back down. it works out pretty well - I've been sleeping through is fussing a bit more lately - guess I'm more sleep-deprived than I feel! - but will wake up to him crying and go in.
Ugh - I hate kegels but I will do them - I can't 'let it out' for 10-15 seconds - I even have a hard time holding it for 10 seconds! Guess that's why I leak!

Rach - hope you're doing well, hun - how is the fussiness going??

AFM - Miles has been spitting up a lot more than we ever had with Oakley and it keeps coming out his nose so he has this chronic stuffy nose that makes it difficult for him to feed and sleep. He deals with it pretty well but I'm not sure what to do about it. My doc office is very anti-Rx meds for reflux and I know they're going to tell me to change my diet, etc etc and I don't think that's the problem. I'm already avoiding dairy and it doesn't seem to be helping. He really has trouble at night when he cluster feeds and is in his fussy hours and gets upset and just keeps eating until he pukes (and it comes out his nose). Last night I broke out the noise machine and it worked really well to distract him and not continue to nurse constantly. The problem is he keeps Oakley up when he screams at night so I try to keep nursing him to keep him quiet but then he throws up haha so now I've moved on to taking him in the bathroom with the shower running or the noise machine. Hopefully that will keep working!

 

[babydust818]

Lindsay I hope the spitting up issue gets better. Rowan was doing it so much. He's better now that we changed his food. Still does it every once in awhile. Are you getting much sleep? I can only imagine how difficult it has to be with a toddler too. It will all get better with time.

Jessie kegals is what my dr suggested too. I need to start doing them. They're so simple but finding the energy to do anything is a joke. What is isabela being for Halloween?

I told my Dr about depression, he seemed more concerned about birth control. So I didn't get much feedback other than its normal fora FTM. Things are actually getting better though. The fussiness is becoming non existent!!!! Which has made things much easier and I'm able to enjoy him. About 3 days ago things started to change. Which is when I put him on rice cereal. He's been content lately and actually acknowledging me and smiling. It's been so great. Makes me not want to go back to work even more.

 

[confusedprego]

Thanks - I just talked to a nurse and she said if Miles is gulping while feeding (which is does sometimes and now that I think about it - that's when we have the spit up issues) that he could be swallowing air and having trouble because of that. She suggested hand expressing some of my milk before giving him the breast to prevent the forceful letdown and that may reduce the air he's getting. I hate to waste milk but I'll give it a try. I usually have trouble with him spitting up at night - I wonder if I should express my milk and feed it to him in a bottle at night before bed.

Rach - I know it seems like it's going to be so hard to leave Rowan, but like Jess said you might actually enjoy a break eventually and getting some 'adult' time can be healthy, I think! I'm really dreading going back to work this second time around but there have been moments that I have missed work and interacting with people.
That's great you and Andrew can split watching Rowan - I hope that won't be too hard and you two! How much will you work being part-time?

 

[confusedprego]

Hey Ladies!

How is everyone doing?? I'm taking Miles into the doc at 11 this morning. His spitting up has really become an issue - he doesn't spit up that much fluid but it's after nearly every feeding now and every time he does, he's so stuffed he can't sleep and is just miserable. He's also gotten more and more fussy at the breast and we're only sleeping in an hour intervals at night (sometimes two) and it's just draining me. I knew it was time to make an appointment because I was considering stopping breastfeeding so Kirk could help me with bottles more. I haven't had any caffeine or dairy for over a week and he still seems to be getting worse, I got a wedge pillow for his crib so he's sleeping more upright and it's just not helping. Anyway - sorry for the rant, just kind of discouraged. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Hope you're all doing well!!

 

[confusedprego]

Hi girls - I'm back from the doc and Miles was a perfect patient and didn't make a liar out of me - he demonstrated every issue I've been having with him right there in the office! He was gagging, burping up fluid and gulping to swallow it down and struggling to breathe all in the office so it was obvious he was having issues. They put him on reflux meds. I asked if there was any alternative and she said based on everything she saw, she really wanted to push the meds to make sure he doesn't do damage to his esophagus. So, I'm hoping we'll see some improvement in the next couple of days.