June Angel Baby Mommas Hoping for Rainbows!!

[angel2010]

Vegas, I think my mil is meeting with the oncologist next week to see if she can stop treatments. She is back in the hospital now and they did surgery to insert a feeding tube. She can't swallow a single thing.
I am sorry about Grace's rash, has it gotten better? When do you go to the pediatrician or have you already?
I am so happy the hear that Charlotte has taken well to her and that Grace isn't giving you guys too hard a time.

Meli, I looked through my facebook and can't find any post about a carrier. I have a moby wrap that I love and an ergo carrier. I used the ergo a couple of times when Cart was a toddler. I haven't used it with Emma because she is too small.
I do like the bassinet. I would have the same worry Vegas does. It really depends on how long you plan to keep him in your room. If you plan to start putting him in his crib after a couple of months it should work. But, it is very nice and if you have the money, why not spend it on the convenience. I love how you can transfer him and you could always keep the changing station around after he outgrew the bed.
Xzavier's weight loss makes perfect sense, when do you think you will bring up the feeding strategy?
They haven't lowered my thyroid dose yet. My tsh went up high again in the last month of pregnancy, I think because my heartburn was so bad, I had to disregard the calcium rule. So anyhow, I am still on my high dose, doesn't seem to be helping with weight. I am so hungry all the time with breastfeeding.

Stef, Middy and Jen, how you ladies doing?

 

[vegasbaby]

Angel: I hope your mil gets good news next week. Although no one wants a feeding tube, it's good she is getting some nutrition. How is Jeff doing with all this? I couldn't even imagine.

Sorry your thyroid is still out of whack. I hear you with bf'ing and hunger. My hormones are still going crazy. I'm freezing at bedtime despite it being warm here and then I wake up covered in sweat. Luckily this means the weight is dropping off, but I have a ways to go.

Afm: Grace is doing quite well. She stayed up from like 5:00-10:00 yesterday and then only woke twice last night for feeding then right back to sleep. I'm combo feeding as she always wants a little more even after she's done nursing. She stays on each side for like 20-30 minutes so I'm confident she's getting all there is to get. I don't mind giving her the formula and know she needs to know how to drink from a bottle for when she starts daycare. I'm doing well too. My incision is healing nicely, but I do get a burning sensation if I stand for too long.

So funny little story. Last night Charlotte came into the bathroom right when I got out of the shower. She wanted to know why I had band aids on my tummy, which I explained, and then she wanted to know why I have hair down there. Well, normally I keep well groomed, but with the stitches and what not I've been forced to revert to nature. Charlotte mused that she has hair on her legs, but not on her butt (which is what she was calling the area). Lord, please don't let her talk about this at daycare!

 

[angel2010]

I am glad Grace is still doing well and last night was an easy one. That is so cute about Charlotte, and calling it a butt.

I am always waking up sweating, I didn't realize it was the bf or hormones. I made Jeff turn on the ac last night!

Jeff is having a hard time with his mom. It doesn't help that his brother isn't really being helpful there and Jeff knows that is we lived there still he and I would both help.

 

[vegasbaby]

Angel: we will be using our AC for sure this weekend as it is going to be 88 degrees! Not very Christmasy. It should cool down to 70 on Wednesday, but geeze!

I'm sure Jeff wishes y'all could do more. Are you planning on going for another visit anytime soon? I know it is a pretty long drive with little ones, but at least it's doable over a weekend.

The hormone thing is crazy. I woke up weighing 2.5lbs lighter than the night before. I'm cool with that. Of course I plan on doing some serious baking this weekend and Monday/Tuesday so that will put a stop to the weight loss.

Jen: I'm guessing you are here in Orlando. Hope you are having a great time. The weather has really been nice even if it does heat up this weekend. I want to hear all about your trip when you get back.

 

[jenkb123]

Hello from Orlando. The weather had been fabulous for us so far. Waiting in a really long line at Epcot (for Soar). Having a great trip so far. Its been really busy. We have done Magic Kingdom (with the Mickey parade and christmas party), Outlet mall, Sea World, Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios/Island of Adventure, Typhoon Beach and today we are at Epcot for the morning and shopping this afternoon. Tomorrow is Kennedy Space Center. Christmas day we have nothing planned and 26th home. I'll need a holiday after the holiday. Af was kind enough to arrive just before we left so I've been able to go on all the rides I want. No big roller coasters though. Too scary!! Hope everyone is doing well. I'll try to reply better later!!

 

[vegasbaby]

Jenk: you've now been to more places in and around Orlando than I have. We plan on going to a Sea World for Charlotte's birthday this year, and Ben won passes to Kennedy SC, but we haven't had time to go (well, it was just too hot to go this summer, so maybe this spring). Let me know what you think. Glad you are having such a good time and getting to ride the rides.

 

[angel2010]

Jen, have a great time!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[jenkb123]

Merry Christmas girls!!! Hope you all have a wonderful day with your families!!

 

[Meli_H]

Hi everyone,

thanks for all your input about the bassinet. I think we will go with that one.

Vegas,
LOL at the Charlotte story!! I was rofl. Glad to hear Grace is sleeping better!

Angel,
Thanks for the info on the carrier. Now I remember what I was referring to. It's a seat to use at restaurants or even at home.

jen,
Glad u had a wonderful time in Florida.

Stef and middy, hope all is well!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Xoxo

 

[StefNJunk]

Angel, the acne is doing somewhat better, on her face anyway. It's spread down her neck and onto her chest, where it's actually pretty bad, but to be honest I'm not sure it's acne on her chest. We're going to switch to Dreft for her clothes just in case. I stopped trying the breast milk because it didn't seem to be working too well, but I tried it again Christmas Eve and yesterday it looked much better, so I think I'm going to try it again.

I loved being in the tub, I really wish I could have had her there. A shower is better for the pain, since you can direct the hot water right onto your lower back, but the tub was easier when I was exhausted.

Is Emma's reflux doing any better now? How is Jeff's mom doing?

Vegas, not in a hurry to do it all again, lol. I do want a second to be close in age to Sienna, but if we stick with what we talked about before, we'll be waiting until she's 2 to start trying for another.

Angel's right, I had A LOT of swelling after, along with high BP. It was in my ankles, feet, legs. My feet were HUGE. My midwife diagnosed me with postpartum pre-e. It ended up going away on its own, though. I forgot just how skinny my feet and legs are until it went away. How is your swelling doing now? What about your porn star boobs?

That story about Charlotte and your "butt" made me lol!

Meli, loved the pics of Xzavier in those outfits! He's such a cutie. Glad to see that he is back to gaining weight, too!

Jen, glad you enjoyed your trip!

AFM, doing well here. Sienna has gotten so much better at night (except Christmas Eve, the one time I have to get up early the next morning, of course). It may have been a combination of things keeping her up - I'm getting better burps out of her now (I was having issues getting her to burp before), so she has less gas problems; I think the boob that has the forceful letdown doesn't produce enough milk (I thought it was over producing, thus the forceful letdown, but I pumped just that side once last week and it only gave me an ounce, while the other side gives me 4, and the side that gave me less is the one she usually ate from right before bed, so she may have been left hungry); I'm holding her upright for a few minutes at night before laying her down for bed. She's still spitting up a lot, but she's not screaming all night anymore (or rarely now).

Getting all our labor and birth bills in the mail. Up to 13k+. The midwife is billing us for the birth anyway in spite of being transferred to the hospital because of the hours we spent with her before the birth. Blake is pissed - she told us if we didn't give birth at the center, we wouldn't be charged for it. I'm super upset because it means with future birth(s) we won't be going through the center and I either have to find a new midwife (the center was the only option here for midwife care that doesn't include a home birth or hospital birth) or do a hospital birth.

Other than that, we're doing well over here. Christmas was good. Hope everyone had a good Christmas as well!

 

[vegasbaby]

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas yesterday.

Meli: it is so great to see that Xzavier is putting on weight again. Loved all his Christmas outfits and loved even more that one was intended for a wine bottle. Lol.

Stef: hospital bills are crazy expensive. Make sure you negotiate. I bet you can get up to 50% off, maybe more, if you ask. Also, I noticed on my bills that they'll let you pay over three years. Sucks that the birthing center is also charging the full amount. Will they negotiate with you? I know Blake is good with negotiating. Honestly, if I were you I think I'd consider finding a midwife in an ob's office for any subsequent pregnancies. That way you can keep it natural, but you'll have MD's available should you run into the same issues again.

Btw, I can't see any baby candy on Sienna in any of your photos. Also, All makes a dye free detergent that is way cheaper than Dreft if you're looking for options.

Afm: So all my swelling, including the boobs, has reduced dramatically. I've lost all but six pounds, so that's a relief. I think Grace is starting to get a touch of reflux as she gags after eating on occasion. She still hasn't put her weight back on so we have to go back to the doctor on Tuesday. She also still has wicked diaper rash that now has prescription meds being applied to it. Her cord finally fell off toddy so I can start giving her proper baths. I think sitting in some warm clean water will help her sore bottom.

So we are combo feeding Grace. Is anyone exclusively breast feeding? Just curious. I've already started pumping so I'll have a stash for daycare and can get about four ounces total now. She only likes to take one side per feeding and I'm not sure if she is getting enough. So hard to know what they need.

 

[StefNJunk]

Vegas, I'm not sure if the hospital will go down any more; the bills we have now are already drastically reduced for being self pay. We do plan to try, though. And the midwife refuses to negotiate, Blake did try. Her response to me - "Please understand that I care a lot about you and I am not charging for a lot of extra time I have gladly spent with you. But we have to pay our bills, too."

It's the lighting in the pics I've posted that hide the acne. Took this pic purposely in lighting that shows it, Today the left side of her face is worse than yesterday and you can see part of her chest.

Spoiler

https://i.imgur.com/bFlB2gi.jpg

Glad your swelling is better! As for Grace only liking one side while feeding, do you let her go until she stops on her own? With Sienna, I pull her off right when she starts to get a little lazy with sucking, burp her and put her on the other side. I was letting her finish on one side before, and I don't think she was getting enough. And we are exclusively breast.

 

[vegasbaby]

Stef: the baby acne should clear soon enough. Like you, I'm not sure if that's more baby acne on her chest or not. What does Google say?

That sucks that the hospital has already lowered their bills and it's still that expensive.

Yes, I do generally let her finish a side so she gets the fore and hind milk and so she builds up my supply. I always offer the other side and sometimes she goes a good while and other times she pulls off after a few minutes. If she's still hungry after all that then she gets a few ounces of formula. I'm shocked she hasn't put on weight as she's always eating, but she's also always pooping.

 

[Meli_H]

Btw I don’t think I mentioned that we finally purchased Zavy’s nursery furniture. You know me; all about reduce, reuse and recycle and was planning to buy furniture secondhand. Well, dh was shoping online Black Friday and found a set he loved at JCPenney. It’s white, which is what I wanted, and it matches the crown molding and baseboards. Needless to say, he fell in love with it and it was a great deal. It’s a 3 piece set; crib, dresser and changing table. He also purchased an organic mattress, organic sheet sets and organic changing pad and covers. Came out to $950 for everything. I about had a fit about the price, but my mom said “Let him spend the money. It’s his last child”. Soooooooooooo I relented.

I did find a white Bellini glider with blue cushions from Craigslist, he was asking $200 but I got him down to $150. These gliders cost around $400-$500 brand new so I think I got a good deal. (I had to fudge the price to DH and tell him the seller agreed to $100; I had to make it a price he couldn’t refuse or else he would have bought a brand new glider).

So get this. On Christmas Eve he says “We make beautiful babies. Don’t you want another one?” I was like “What?! Let’s get Zavy settled in home before we even talk about it”. That night, I mentioned the conversation to my mom and auntie. Well, the next night I had a dream. I don’t remember all the details about the dream, I think I overheard doctors discussing my situation and my successful term pregnancy odds, and in my dream I made the decision to not have any more babies! Well, you know how much I believe in my dreams now,; remember I had the dream at 6.5 weeks pregnant that God told me “your baby will be fine” and then at 10 weeks I dreamt that Zavy was a boy? Since those dreams came true, I pay attention to them! I shared the dream with my mom and auntie the next day, and told them I am sharing with them to back me up if in the future dh truly wants to try for another. I don’t want to tell him the dream now, but I don’t want him to think I am making the dream up in the future if he broaches the subject. Makes sense?

Oh and idk if you guys read the comments people post on fb for Zavy but it cracks me up because lots of my family in Mexico, especially the older generation, post in all CAPS. I joke to dh that there must be a law in Mexico that keyboards sold to the older generation must just have the CAPS function and not lower case LOL.

Vegas,

Thanks for the tip about All making a dye free detergent. Good to know! I will start buiying it after I use up the Dreft I spent an arm and a leg on. And you’ve lost almost ALL your pg weight?!@?!?@# I am so jealous!!!

Stef,

That STINKS that you have such large medical bills.

Angel, Middy and Jen,

I hope you guys are doing great!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Xoxo.

here is the crib, but ours is in white.

https://www.jcpenney.com/savanna-tori-convertible-crib---espresso/prod.jump?ppId=1be69e0

 

[StefNJunk]

Vegas, I actually use the All detergent now which is why I wanted to try the Dreft. I'm not sure if she could be having a reaction to the Free & Clear... I'm hoping not because Dreft is crazy expensive. I did quite a bit of Googling and another option is a reaction to something I'm eating / drinking. Apparently a reaction to dairy is common, so if things don't start clearing up with switching detergents, I might try eliminating some things from my diet (although milk is going to be TOUGH, I'm all about my chocolate milk, lol).

That is odd that Grace isn't gaining weight with eating that much. Make sure you let us know what the doctor says next week!

Meli, the crib is beautiful! I would have KILLED Blake if he spent that much, too. Good deal on the glider!

Do you think DH will be very upset about not having another baby?

 

[vegasbaby]

Anyone need/want a free pumping bra? Saw this on bnb, plus a friend saw it on another forum too. I paid $7.95 for shipping, but that's it. Really hoping it's not some sort of scam, but I did get confirmation from Simple Wishes that my order has been received.

Anyway, here is the bnb link with all the info: https://babyandbump.momtastic.com/breastfeeding/2091565-wow-free-simple-wishes-pumping-bra.html

 

[Meli_H]

Stef,

I am hoping that DH's comment was just him caught up in the moment

vegas,

Thanks for the info. I already have 2 but I think I will buy at least 2 more. Can't go wrong at that price!

Ps re the comment u made on fb re Charlotte beingso difficult and looking forward to daycare opening next week: I wanted to say "I hope she doesn't muse out loud about your hairy butt" but it wasn't appropriate nor would anyone get the joke

 

[Meli_H]

Stef,

I am hoping that DH's comment was just him caught up in the moment

vegas,

Thanks for the info. I already have 2 but I think I will buy at least 2 more. Can't go wrong at that price!

Ps re the comment u made on fb re Charlotte beingso difficult and looking forward to daycare opening next week: I wanted to say "I hope she doesn't muse out loud about your hairy butt" but it wasn't appropriate nor would anyone get the joke

 

[angel2010]

Stef, I hope the detergent change helps, maybe when she gets bigger you can switch back. I am glad she is sleeping better. You may be right about that boob producing less, but remember that pumping amounts are a lot of times not accurate measures of how much we are making.
As for the bills, I can't blame the center/midwife for billing you some since you did use there services, but they shouldn't have told you they wouldn't. All the terms should have been spoken up front.

Vegas, glad your swelling went down. Is the cream helping for Grace's diaper rash yet?
I feed Emma the same way as you. She pooped like 10 times a day for at least 6 weeks.
Thanks for the link, I got one of those bras! I have been using the sports bra idea Stef gave us. I don't pump much though. And when I do I don't get much.

Meli, yay to purchasing furniture!! Sounds like you got a good deal. There is a set I really from JCP too.
I would go with you gut about having more babies. I am sure a frank discussion with Raul would do the trick.
And lol about the old people and caps!
Ah!!! Just clicked on your link and that is the set I want. I love the dresser/hutch that it has.

I will do my own reply a bit later. I hate typing with one hand!!

 

[vegasbaby]

Meli: I think it's sweet that Raul wants another baby, but I completely understand your hesitation. As I've mentioned my SIL has had two more since her 29 week old premie was born due to an incompetent cervix. Both of the younger kids were born at week 37. So it is possible.

I can't believe how big Xzavier is looking in that latest photo of you holding him. He'll be home before you know it!

And I try not to think about what Charlotte tells other people about us. As of last week my "butt" is no longer hairy as I was able to shave.

Stef: how's the baby acne doing?

Afm: my inlaws are in town. I took Grace in for a weight check-up as she wasn't gaining, but she gained 11 ounces in seven days! The doctor said she'll be back to her birth weight in four more days. Once she gets back up in weight I won't have to wake her to eat any more. Of course, she'll still wake me. Lol.