May Marvels 2018

[cheluzal]

I burp after every ounce, use the extra slow nipples unless he's annoyed, and hold him up 30 minutes after feeding...guess we deal. We too have burpies all over the house on every furniture and in most rooms, lol. He's a happy spitter though; no signs of reflux, thank goodness.

So I guess with babies, just when you figure them out they change, huh? No true routines. He was sleeping well with only a 4am fussy and now it's 2am and 4am. I changed him at 2am and he refused a bottle and went back to sleep, then fussed at 4am. He was dry and refused paci so I had to pull him in bed next to me...arg...thought we were out of that!

I am wearing him in a sling. He was too small for our carrier.
Well, some hand-made ugly contraption that we got for free but he snuggled down and went right out. I'm finally able to move off the couch and do stuff! I fear moving him though but I need to shower and pee, haha...

Upping Fenugreek for milk supply and it tears my stomach up. I went at 2am and 7am...oof. But Siler eats more and I need to make more. Really trying to get him breast milk as long as possible. But I won't lie: not doing it or pumping anymore will be a welcome relief. I'm aiming for 3 months now and will set another goal if I make that one.

 

[Reiko_ctu]

Chel will you try again to breastfeed him or are you stuck on just expressing and bottles? If he can latch now that he's a bit older that will help your supply a lot. Pumping doesn't transfer the milk as well as a baby so that's why you're finding your supply isn't enough for him.

 

[cheluzal]

I do try to put him back on the boob every week. He still can't latch; his mouth is so tiny. I'm also waving the white flag on the Fenugreek. It's not worth it; my gut is messed up and I feel better making that decision.

His poo isn't green anymore and I'm still pumping 4-7 ounces. We shall see...he had 1 4am feeding last night but stayed in little bed! He didn't need to lie by me afterwards, although he did scratch the mess out of his face. I mean a nasty red bloody scratch from eyebrow up to hairline.

 

[ReadynWaiting]

Poor little thing! I hope his scratch heals quickly.

I’m having a heck of a time with Dylan sleeping on her own. I can get her down sometimes but she usually wakes up crying. I’m just going to keep trying daily and hopefully she catches on.

 

[cheluzal]

Is that at night or naps too?
Siler will give me no more than 30-45 tops during the day. He only wakes around 4am for a snack and sometimes I have to lie him by me from 5ish-when hubs wakes up, so not too long. It's not worth the fight. The little dude will get it eventually.
We'll worry about hardcore sleep training around month 6.

I'm just really trying to enjoy him and not resent his need for me, since it won't last long and I'm not having another kid/another chance for mini snuggles.

 

[Reiko_ctu]

So had our last Midwife appt today. Summer is 7.5 weeks and 11lb14oz and 60cm long. That’s 76% for weight, 95% for height. And 85% for head circumference at 39cm. Midwife was so happy with her development and growth and said she’s very active! When she went to put her on the exam table she said she was worried she’d roll off because she’s so active!! I thought she would be my chill baby but it seems like she’ll be just as active as her sisters were from the first few months experience here.

 

[yazzy]

Chel...totally enjoy all those snuggles, the time really does fly by.

Reiko...sounds like Summer is doing great and growing well.

Ready....they get there eventually. My son could only sleep on me really for the first 6 months or he would only do really short naps. Then one day he just started sleeping for longer.

Thea is doing well, she will be weighed again next week. She doesn't like to be napping on her own during the day so I'm generally holding her or she is in the carrier but at night she does ok. Sometimes feeds all night til 12 but then sleeps til 6'ish or she might feed after a few hours.
Just trying to not melt in this heatwave and keep Thea cool!

 

[KittenLifter]

So it seems like some babies are doing well with sleeping!! That’s great you lucky mamas!!

I have a question, Summer is noe 6 weeks and is rarely interested in BF anymore. She was feeding every 2 hrs and now she’ll go 3 or 4 hours and if I try and feed her before then she vomits it all up. She’s doing 4-5 hour stretches at night. My precious babies have wanted milk ALL the time, like every 2 hours until they’re on solids at 6-7 months!! Is this normal for a 6 week old to spread out feeds that much?

I only have my new one but he's done 3-5 hour stretches pretty much since birth. He never did 2 hours and we've never had more than 1 feed in the night his entire life. He has had random sleep-through nights since 3 weeks.

Today he eats 5.5 and spits up like 2 ounces! Maybe less but soooo much. But he cries if you take the bottle away sooner....think his later ounces need to be in a smaller nipple.

Anyone dealing with serious spit-up? Like the volume scares me but he's gaining weight and it never bothers him.

Reiko, Astrid has gone longer stretches almost since the beginning. I haven't tracked it in weeks, but she'll regularly go 3-4 hours, and much longer at night (I think we often get 4-6 hours?). I'd worry, but she's gaining weight beautifully, and my milk is hilariously ample (I thought I'd be past spraying her in the face by now, but no). So it goes!

Chel, we've absolutely had some epic spit-ups...we call them cheese fountains. Usually at night (although once I noticed this pattern, she managed a few during the day, too). Usually preceded by frantic hungry crying and a lot of smashing her face desperately at my nipple (it is SO HARD to see her so upset). And yeah, the volume is absurd when this happens (I will spare you the gory details), and aside from the times when she's managed to cover her whole face, she is GREATLY calmed afterward. The parents...well.


Things are overall going well here! My husband went back to work a week and a half ago (he'll take the next two months of his leave when I go back mid-August), and oh my god the days are so much harder without being able to trade off. I'm so grateful to be able to do it, but it's intense sometimes. Been trying to check out a bunch of new parent/mom groups & storytimes, just to have something to do outside of the house, and it's been a really nice way to pace the days/weeks.

Also I realized I haven't shared any pictures of her yet! Here she is at 1 day, 3 days, 5 1/2 weeks, and ~6 weeks (a week ago).

 

[ricschick]

Kitten what a gorgeous baby!!

 

[ricschick]

Billie had her 6 weeks hv check and all was great! She too said that Billie is a little wriggler! She’s weighing over 11 pounds now, she’s also had her hip scan which was all fine. She’s sleeping well at night 5-6 hours.

3 more weeks of 3 a day school runs then we’re done! And il be down to 2 a day come September 🤩

 

[cheluzal]

Chel, we've absolutely had some epic spit-ups...we call them cheese fountains. Usually at night (although once I noticed this pattern, she managed a few during the day, too). Usually preceded by frantic hungry crying and a lot of smashing her face desperately at my nipple (it is SO HARD to see her so upset). And yeah, the volume is absurd when this happens (I will spare you the gory details), and aside from the times when she's managed to cover her whole face, she is GREATLY calmed afterward. The parents...well.


Things are overall going well here! My husband went back to work a week and a half ago (he'll take the next two months of his leave when I go back mid-August), and oh my god the days are so much harder without being able to trade off. I'm so grateful to be able to do it, but it's intense sometimes. Been trying to check out a bunch of new parent/mom groups & storytimes, just to have something to do outside of the house, and it's been a really nice way to pace the days/weeks.

Cheese fountain, lol. Yesterday Siler spit up righteously while he was on my shoulder and his face was kinda buried, so it smashed it all over. It looked like someone smashed his face in a cake with with frosting! It was funny for a second, then I had to quickly clean it. He's never bothered and is up to 10 pounds.

I hear you on FT mommy duty in the day. I hate how hot Florida summer is, since I can't do anything outside until at least September. I have started going to museums and the aquarium (I'm a teacher and many are free). Plus they have a free water babies swim class that we're going to start weekly. You know it's horrible when I look forward to getting out of the house---at a funeral. :/

 

[cheluzal]

PS. Anyone dealing with the 6-8 week growth spurt? Fussy, eating more...just a different child for a few days?

 

[Reiko_ctu]

Kitten shes sooo cute!!!

 

[KittenLifter]

ricschick, that's awesome that she's sleeping so well! And I'm rooting you on for these last few weeks of alllll the school runs!


chel, A+ to getting on the museums and aquarium! I've been finding every storytime (one at the children's bookstore, and a super lovely one at the library) and new mom group in the area. But also apparently one of the second-run theaters has "crybaby matinees" (first show of the day is "bring your baby, we leave the lights on, we don't care if they cry"). Haven't been but it sounds fun!

And WOOF. 6-8 week growth spurt, you say? Maybe this is the growth spurt turning our easy baby into a fussy one. She's done a ton of feeding cues lately, but as soon as I put her to the breast, 90% of the time she gets a few sucks in and starts screaming. Like, just WAILING. And she hasn't been much of a crier until now. The past couple days, she also just doesn't seem to be eating MUCH, but tonight I pumped and put it in a bottle and husband fed her just fine (with a small amount of baby-yelling). It exhausts my heart and my mind. I'm hoping this is just a developmental thing and not A Problem starting.

 

[cheluzal]

The baby theater sounds great! Mommy groups....not so much, lol.

I read the 6-week growth spurt (usually coinciding with smiles) can be one of the most brutal for parents.
Siler is great usually (another 5 hour sleep last night) but he's fighting sleep lately. He's hungry and tired and whines and fusses at the bottle, trying to decide which to do. Hubs gets super frustrated and I think baby picks up on his negative energy because I can get him to sleep much quicker.

 

[KittenLifter]

I feel like when Astrid fusses hardcore, it's the opposite in our house! She wails at me and eats peacefully if my husband offers her a bottle. Babies!

Not gonna lie, one of the storytimes made me freak out hard about the extremely mommy energy everywhere. (I 100% do not identify as "mommy" at this point & am surprised by how much I care about word choice.)

But one of them had this woman in a great dress, and she happily noted "you know what, this is the only thing that fits well right now. So I wear it every day! I don't care anymore! My husband thinks it's weird, but maybe I'll wear it every day when I go back to work, and my patients can deal with it. It's even got a little bit of poop on it today, but I don't care!" I identified veeeery strongly with the changing definition of what "clean" is.

 

[Reiko_ctu]

Kitten just wait until you have a toddler who says mommy 509 times in a day XD

 

[cheluzal]

"Mommy energy" is a great descriptor. I'm extremely introverted and anti-social, lol, and the mommy app during pregnancy (not this board!) was overwhelming and annoying enough. So many sanctimommy experts. Yeesch. I get it from family and church enough....I enjoy NOT talking about baby some moments of the day. I don't think I would fit in well with a large group of women.

I still am identifying as a mom. It's very surreal. I handle transitions shockingly well, and it takes awhile for the reality of the newness to set in.

I do like wearing the same dress. That lady knows her needs. I wear the same stuff in the house and have a few outside dresses. I never wore jeans and only wear dresses in life so most are nicer work/church ones, not just museum ones. Guess I could really dress to the 9's for that, rofl!

I hate how my feet are still wider than normal and most of my shoes are still snug. UGH.

 

[BrokenfoREVer]

Kitten she’s beautiful!

Ricschick I’m counting down the last days of school runs as well. Mostly because it’s so flipping hot!!

Ryan got weighed last week and he’s up to 12lbs 8oz. He’s up half a centile from his birth weigh. He did a 7.5 sleep last night. Half 10 to 6am. So proud!!
He had his 8 week jabs today. Handled them like a champ. The nurse was shocked how fast he calmed down. But he’s been very unsettled today. And ofc we had a million things to do instead of being able to chill at home with him.

 

[Reiko_ctu]

Broken my 2nd was so good with her jabs too. Ended up being like that for all of them. For her 18 month old ones she didn’t even cry. She’s an extremely stubborn toddler now though ha. From Summers reactions to pain so far she’s going to be inconsolable at her shots in 2 weeks!!

I love being a mom so much but I do find it a bit awkward when people can ONLY talk about their kids. Especially when we are around childless friends. Especially when some of those are struggling with infertility, not by choice. So I make an effort not to make all my conversations revolve around them.