Assisted conception success - due 2018 xx

[scoobybeans]

Hello ladies! I finally just caught up on reading through all of the posts. It sounds like everyone is doing great!

Juliet- Congrats on getting a C-section date! You really are getting so close now.

dogmommy- Awww, I love that she is strawberry blonde. We should get her & Finn together... Finn & Quinn lol. And two little redheads! I hope the nursing calms down a bit so you aren't as sore.

star- So glad Caleb's gaining weight now. He's such a sweetie! And so lucky to have a big sister that loves him so much

wish- I wasn't sure how to wean either, so what I ended up doing was just dropping one pumping session every 5-7 days. So I went from 6x a day down to 1x a day now (just in the morning, when I've always had the most milk). I'm already producing about half of what I used to in the morning, so I'm guessing just about one more week or so and I'm done for good. So glad to hear the boys are healthy! If they are overly fussy, have you considered that it could be colic? Do their faces turn red like they are in pain, or do they wake up from a sound sleep by crying or screaming?

3c, dancing, koj, October- How are you ladies?

Finn's colic got worse after my last update, but now I think we're slowly and steadily improving. I'm in my office with him in his sling as I type this lol. He has his 2 month checkup this afternoon (with first shots ) so we'll find out how much he weighs and if he's grown at all. He's not really eating any more than he was a month ago and doesn't seem like he wants to at this point, so we're sticking to small & frequent feedings during the day. It seems to help with the reflux. At night he's just started going 7-8 hour stretches. It's amazing. We put him down around 9pm and he wakes up around 5am. He takes another bottle and then usually sleeps for another 3 hours until his next bottle. He's a great sleeper! He's smiling a lot more & laughing & making the sweetest little cooing noises. He's such a joy when he's feeling good!!!

 

[star25]

Juliet how are the bh now? So exciting, final countdown! Hope appointment goes well tomorrow

Wish, you’re doing so great! And breastfeeding for as long as you have is amazing too super mumma!

Scooby, sorry finns colic got worse, dd had reflux bad too so know how you feel , but wow what a good sleeper!! I’m so jealous haha
Can Caleb join the little red head gang?!

Wee all good, the last week has been a nightmare for sleep , I’m guessing it was due to the 5 week leap as he just would not settle, were back now to 4-5 hour stretches then up for 1-2 then sleep for another 2 roughly, luckily dh stays in the morning until im ready to get up if it’s been a bad night! Well he stays until Caleb needs feeding again lol

 

[Juliet11]

Scooby how did the shots go??? So glad he’s sleeping so wel!!! You’re so lucky to get some good chunks at night like that!

Star, so glad hubby can help in the AM and wait till you’re ready for the day. My hubby does that a bit too, if I’ve had a bad night with kids waking and having to go pee constantly and not getting comfortable.
The BH are long and strong but no pattern.
I saw my doc today and it was a good appt. My BP was good, no protein in urine, wait on the group B strep swab thing.... got lots of questions answered. Baby head down and 144 HB. Just everything falling into place. Back to her in 2 weeks and then in 3 weeks she takes him out! I’m getting excited. Final stretch now for reals!

 

[star25]

Glad all went well today!

It’s defi a relief that dh is self employed and doesn’t have to rush out for work, there’s some mornings I would have found it physically impossible to look after a newborn and a toddler lol

I’m doing my blood test in the morning ready for the diabetes appointment next Thursday so fingers crossed it’s actually gone! It’s a fasting one so I’m hoping the queue isn’t massive , one because I will need costed (it’s currently 3:20am and I’m
Up with Caleb after he didn’t settle til 10:30 tonight) and 2 because it’s Madeleines one day a week in nursery so my free day is being wasted!

Hope you’re all well

 

[3chords]

Scooby, that's insane that you're already getting 7-8 hour stretches of sleep. I am so, so jealous. I am getting 5-6 hours at best and I think that's pretty good given her adjusted age (almost 5 weeks) and the fact my son never slept at all. But 7-8 hours seems like such a dream. How did the appointment go?

star - my DH is out of the house at 6:15 am every morning so I am on my own and it's truly hell some days. If Tessa is still asleep it's not so bad as I can get up with Henry and dress him and do our breakfast but if she is up then I end up having him watch Paw Patrol which I feel so guilty about.

Juliet - how are you feeling?

wish - when I weaned Henry at 6 months I just dropped pumps about once a week. Once I got to 2 pumps a day I wasn't making much milk and could have gone cold turkey.

We had our 2 month appointment today. Tessa went from 6 lb 12 oz at birth to 11 lb 6 oz, she is little Jabba the Hut haha! Her reflux is much better and her colic is also calming down so we are having better days around here. She started smiling too and it just melts my heart! I am still pumping 4x per day which isn't a lot but I make enough milk to feed her + store a bag or two. I will go down to 3x at some point, maybe after the 12 week mark. So far I have lost a ton of weight with the breastfeeding so I am partly selfishly keeping it going.

 

[Wish2BMom]

thanks for the weaning advice! DH doesn't want me to stop yet - wants me to go 6 mos. I think he's nuts and he'll see next month (he has a month of paternity to take) that I can't do it all - work and pump enough for both to have a full day of milk. I only pump 2-3x now since I feed T all during the day. I stop feeding him around 1/2:00 and store up until first pump at 7/8:00. I can get 8oz from that and then I store up again until about 3/4:00am and pump another 8oz. And that's for M the next day. I will try to make it a little longer but mentally I'm pretty done. Except for when I come home and can pop a boob into T's mouth and he loves it. I love providing for them so I'm torn.

juliet - not long now!! I'm so glad everything is fallng into place for you!!

scooby - 8 hrs?!?! SO jealous!! The boys still have us up every 2-3 for a bottle. And if they are on opposite schedules, that means we're both awake every hour/hour and a half. The boys aren't as fussy now - I think it was just a growth stage or something. M is going through one right now (T was the witching hour) but I think it's b/c he's more aware and doesn't just want to sit in the recliner with DH. He wants to be out and about walking around the house, facing out. It's fun but so challenging learning THEIR wants!

loving all of the little redheads!! M looks like he could be turning that way too but I think it's still just light brown.
They are such loves, I literally melt every single time I look at them!! Who knew kids could be so awesome!!

 

[star25]

3c, ahh glad tessa is better with the reflux and gaining weight well, she’s so beautiful, Caleb has started smiling too, it’s just too cute when they start!
Sometimes dh has had to go out and it really is hard, I don’t know how we ever leave the house sometimes! I always can’t wait for him to get home again lol

Wish, I can understand your need to wean, I don’t know how you have done it this far, it’s amz to be able to breastfeed but you need to look after yourself too lovely

Caleb is now 10lb 3oz and doing great, night time he will have about 4 hours then be up for about 2 hours, just because it’s hard to settle him back in the cot, then he will sleep another 2.!he doesn’t even slee much during the day!

 

[Juliet11]

3chords, feeling big and so ready to pop!!! the last couple weeks are always the most uncomfortable for me! i loved loosing the weight when i was pumping too... it didn't work after the second pregnancy though for DD... hopefully something works this time cause I want this weight off! YAY she is doing better with the colic and everything!

wish, i would totally be torn too! it is hard to make the change.

my group b or whatever that test is came back negative, so that is good but i wonder if it isn't pertinent since i am planning on a c-sec. but good to be tested and be in the know about everything.
my next appt isn't till april 9th. feels far away actually. i am SO uncomfortable, especially at night but also the second half of the day.
i have major nesting days, which really means organizing because we don't have a nursery. in our room we will have a co-sleeper or bassinet next to my bed. my dresser has a the changing pad. his clothes will be in my dresser and closet. then an extra crib is setup in our office for maybe daytime naps with baby monitor on him there. it will be much quieter in our office than the other rooms. then each room, family and living room, and playroom will have a rock n play or bouncer thing or a pack n play. so any room i am in, there is a place for him to be. ultimately i am hoping he takes to baby wearing, but those wraps are always hard for me... i feel nervous!

how is everyone else doing??

 

[Juliet11]

hey ladies!!! been quiet in here as you are all tending to your sweet little ones!!!!

i can finally say, i am having a baby this month!!! in fact, in 13 days! so excited.
i continue to nest, but at a slow pace. i set things up one way, and then rearrange. takes awhile to find how i really want things.

can i vent about sleep? it has been hard. so i will lay on one side with a pillow under my bump and then a pillow between my legs. but like gravity pulls him down and then an hour later i need to flip to the other side and it is so uncomfortable bump wise. then i have to reset my pillows. just a pain. then every night some kids wakes up! so feeling sleep deprived. but the heart burn has gotten better. still gassy as ever. braxton hicks still sometimes super strong. but actually doing pretty good for 37 weeks!
i think i am mostly just worried about having a c-sec, and stressed about setup, like getting the co-sleeper ready, and carseat installed, etc. i have lot of lists shared with hubby so hoping he helps some more as it gets closer! he has been great but there's a lot i just rather he do and not me!

how is everyones weeks going??

 

[star25]

Hi Juliet, sorry you’ve been so uncomfortable, night times being pregnant is the worst! Omg 13 days , almost there! I’m so excited for you it’s finally almost time
Try and cram in as much sleep as possible lol, I’m sure you will get all done what you need to

We’re all good here thank you, calebs now going 7-7 and half hours at night, doesn’t really like to go back in the cot after that though so means I can’t put him down too early as Madeleines now sleeping til 7am thanks to the clocks going forward yay!
I’m sure calebs good sleeping won’t last though lol

 

[3chords]

Juliet, the sleep was the worst for me in both my pregnancies after 32 weeks. I would only sleep 3-4 hours a night if I was lucky. With my first one I could at least nap on weekends, but this time I had a toddler terrorist to take care of lol. I hope time flies for you the last few days.

We are doing well. Tessa is growing like a weed and is such a little fatty now lol. She has rolls all over the place, it's too cute. She still isn't sleeping the super long stretches some of you are getting with your babies. Most nights she will do a 5.5 hour stretch and then another 3-3.5 hours and then another hour or so. At most she's done 6.5 hours which was nice. I have just started her on a schedule where I force wake her up at 7 am every day and that has finally resulted in her going to bed much earlier at night. Last 2 nights I got her down at 8:20 which is awesome. Then I do a dream feed around 10. So technically yesterday she slept 8:20-3 which is over 6.5 hours but she fussed a lot between 8:20-9:30, cried 2-3 times. We'll see if tonight is better. I am a huge fan of schedules so the sooner we get on one the better.

I am battling a kidney stone obstruction unfortunately. It has traveled down the ureter almost to the bladder but is now stuck. 6 mm. I had passed an 8 mm one a few years ago. It is very excruciating and I've spent more time than I care to at the hospital the last few days. I will meet with the urologist next Monday who will decide how much longer they will give me to pee it out before it needs to come out surgically. Definitely not what I was hoping for with a 2-month old and 2.5 yr old at home.

 

[star25]

Oh no 3c, definitely not what you need, fingers crossed for you that you don’t need surgery
Sounds like tessa is doing well with her sleep, calebs done another 7hrs again but then the problem is him going back down so it isn’t great, tues night I did get him back in for an hour, we’re up now and have been since 4am after he has slept 7 hours so we will see if he goes back down soon, be nice to get another hours sleep before Madeleine wakes up as that seems to have gone back to 6am again rather than 7

Diabetes appointment tomorrow and calebs check and first immunisations
Hopefully both goes well

How is everyone and all the little ones?

 

[3chords]

Good luck star! My diabetes went away last time and I think this time as well since I've tested myself randomly and numbers are always low and they tested me 2x at the hospital this week and also fine. My appointment isn't until May 1 though for the 3 month a1c test.

Tessa finally did a 7 hour sleep last night. 8:20-3:20 on the dot. Very happy. She is really easy at night in the sense that when she wakes, she feeds and is asleep instantly so I'm never up more than 15-20 mins at a time. Since I started waking her at 7 am she gets tired towards the end of the day which helps with earlier bedtime. Henry is still up at the crack ass of dawn but he is trained with the Gro Clock not to yell for us until 6:10 on weekdays and 6:20 on weekends. Today he "slept in" until 6:25 and we were both like where is he?? Ha!

Kidney stone still here. So annoying honestly.

 

[Wish2BMom]

OUCH, 3c!! I'm so sorry you're going through that (again!)! Sounds like Tessa and my boys are on the same sleep schedule. It's much better than it was for the first few weeks of every 2-3 hrs, but still a broken night nonetheless. I'll take it, though - I'm sleeping much better than I was when pregnant!
Juliet - that's exactly how my last 1.5-2 months were and why I slept in our spare room. I needed pillows all around me so I didn't have to keep adjusting them when I flipped over every hour (which I still did anyway..). I remember getting so sore on my bump too and wondering if I was squishing one of the boys. I'd poke at him if he didn't start to move when I got up. So anxiety while trying to sleep too!!
But you're SO CLOSE! 11 more days!! WEEEEEEE!!!

star - how did your appointments go today? first immunizations - Malcolm cried so hard, it broke both of our hearts. Timothy cried and then fell asleep. Easy peasy for his chunky thighs.

The boys are doing really well! Timothy is so smiley and talks a LOT! He's going to be a chatty cathy. Malcolm is starting to smile a lot too and starting to talk and wiggle like his brother. They are insane, we love it. We had to take M into the doc today though b/c his nose has been bleeding a bit and we wanted to make sure we didn't inadvertently hurt him with the bulb or Nose Frida we've been using to clear out his snot (we didn't). THankfully it's just aggravated membranes, like I used to get in the winter too. We have the humidifier going, are using saline drops, etc. But his nose is just extra sensitive. Timothy laughs when I suck his nose out!

 

[star25]

3c I hope you have relief from the kidney stone soon, I haven’t had one before so can’t imagine the pain you’re in , not what you need
Yay for tessa going 7hrs and clever Henry using his gro clock, Madeleine yesterday was 5:20 again, give me back my 7am!!
Calebs done 9-4 the last 4/5 nights now, most of the time he’s asleep before this but I hold him upright for about 20-30 mins so he doesn’t get hiccups when I lay him down
He feeds for about 45 mins to an hour once awake and then he will go down for another hour or so
Madeleines been awake last couple nights from coughing so I’ve been awake since 3 tonight and it’s now 5 and Caleb has just finished feeding
Hopefully dh isn’t planning on going out to work early lol

Wish, he cried pretty bad but I had a boob ready for immediately after and he was happy and went straight to sleep, poor babies
Poor Malcom, fingers crossed the nose bleeds stop for him

Diabetes has gone! I ended up calling them just over an hour before my appointment as thought it wouldn’t be a wasted trip when they can just tell me over the phone, really wasn’t in the mood yesterday and all turned out fineness so glad I didn’t go!

Juliet how have you been? Been thinking of you and hope you have got some sleep somehow!

 

[Juliet11]

star, how has the sleep been lately? that is one thing i am always worried about, baby waking a lot in the night as a friend with a 6 month old is struggling with this a ton and she is so sleep deprived.
yay for no diabetes! so smart you called! if that was all the appointment was for then a phone call totally is all that is needed! i would dislike going all the way in for an appointment when it is just to find out something like that, that can be found out over the phone.
did DH stay home long enough in morning to help out on that night where you had been awake since 3am?

wish, before twins we had a spare bedroom with a bed and i could also do some pillow setups but not now and my only choices are to live with it or kick DH out of the bed but then he will end up on the couch or with the kids squished or on the floor, and then he will be cranky. i told him we need somewhere for an adult to sleep in this house. well for an adult to sleep comfortably... we have a futon pad and plenty of blankets/pillows but it just isn't the same as a bed.

3chords, sorry to hear about the kidney stone, sounds awful!!! not what you need right now! yes i wish i could nap more! but with the other kids it is impossible.... except i do catch up a bit on weekends.

tomorrow is the twins 5th birthday!!! very mellow get together we will have as i am 38 weeks preggo and not in the mood for some huge all day party. so really hoping friends only stay an hour or so, haha.
but it is a good distraction, twins birthday, and then it will be sunday and then a week that is spring break which means no preschool. not sure what we will do all week as my energy is low and even loading the car to take kids to a play place sounds horrid to me,
lots of anxiety swirling around in me about having a c-sec, then having a newborn and just everything!!! i don't feel ready but i don't know what else to really do! my c-sec will be at 4:30pm that day, so i will fast almost all day. it's going to be crazy!!!! ahhh well better get to sleep now as it is almost midnight. 10 days left but only 9 when i wake up!

 

[star25]

Happy birthday to the twins!

I’m sure you will cope when the baby is here Juliet, understand you’re worriss though, especially about the sleep! Dh generally stays til Caleb is ready for husband next feed so I get an extra 60-90mins in bed
He has been sleeping 7 hrs then getting up for an hr then going back for an hr but last night he slept 5 then up for 2 and a half then slept another 2 so although I slept for about 6 hrs although that 2 and a half hrs wasn’t great lol

 

[Wish2BMom]

Happy birthday, twinnies!

not long now, juliet!! a week!! holy moly! I remember you saying the twins' bday was near your due date and now IT'S HERE!! You've done so amazingly well with all of the challenges you've had with this one. I forget, do you have a name picked out yet? i'd assume so...

star - ugh, sounds like our sleep too. Last night my boy T (DH and I have assigned boys - I take T and he takes M) slept 3.5 hrs (but I only got 2), then 3 (but M woke up in between so I helped a little with him), then about 1-1.5. We were both up around 4 today, with pumping before work and all that. I tried to sleep from 4:30-5:30 but little Malcolm had different ideas about anyone going back to sleep. Then got his brother in on the deal around 5:15 so everyone was up. So I jumped in the shower and got ready for work...coffee is my friend today!

I start my full days/wfh schedule this week - fulltime in the office M-W and then home Th, F. So I have to pump during the day now. Blah. We'll see how this goes. I have some Mother's Tea in my cabinet at home, I'm wondering if I should use to make more. The boys are going to need more and more and I could either allow myself to dry up easily enough or keep this party going and try to make more. DH really wants me to stick it out to 6 mos but I don't think he understands that I can't will myself to make more. I only probably pumped enough to get both boys through til noon - MAYBE. Then they'll be all formula until I get home. And I'll most likely only pump once today, around noon, and get 8oz. That's only 4 each for them when I get home - not a lot at all. Soooo - either try to make more, keep going at this rate, or soon wean. I dunno!

 

[Juliet11]

Twinnies had a great birthday! It was almost 45 people in all i think... so a bit bigger than i thought but it all went well and kids were happy and friends only stayed 2 hours at the longest so it worked out just fine i was tired the next day though.

star, so great you get that extra 60-90 mins before hubby goes!! has he gone back to his 7 hour stretches? i hope so... those sounds lovely.

wish, we think we have a name but i second guess myself and always wait till baby is born so we haven't really told anyone yet.
wish that sounds so busy to be back in the office 3 days straight, and trying to keep up some pumping. you are doing great and you will figure out the best plan for you and the babies! does work make you feel comfortable about the pumping? i think here in Cali we have laws that make it so you have to get time and a private area to pump. So hoping you had some support like that.
But whatever you decide, it will all be okay!

Well had my last appointment. Everything looked good, like my blood pressure, no protein in urine, had her check down there that the discharge was normal and it wasn't any fluids leaking so that was good, his heart beat normal. So everything good and normal. Only bad news was she was scheduled to do my c-section which gave me lots of comfort, she did my twins. But has a husband/family situation come up and not sure if she can do it anymore which wasn't what I was expecting to hear so she will let me know for sure later in the week and tell me who will be doing it if she can't. I was really sad at first but have begun to except it. Just ready to get this little guy out and into the world!

 

[Wish2BMom]

omigosh he's almost here!!

thank you for the encouragement and support. Yes, I think it's Federal law now for companies to provide a Mother's Room of sorts? or at least a state law in some states, so is here in NH. So there are 2 rooms, outfitted with a sink, shelves, a mini fridge, comfy chair and side table. It wasn't bad! Hell, I may even sneak a nap if the boys have a crazy night! What's 10 mins with my eyes closed, right?
I was actually pretty sad, though - I nursed T for the first time this morning since Sunday! I didn't realize how much I'd miss it. But I'm not going to be able to do that very much. Only on weekends when they get into daycare and I don't know if that's even a thing - to nurse on weekends?? I'm assuming that will cause some kind of confusion?