May Marvels 2018

[ReadynWaiting]

Kitten I’m loving the expressions on Astrid’s face, so cute!

I’m amazed at how well everyone’s babies are sleeping! I guess that is the difference between bottle fed and breast?? Dylan has a schedule going but it’s more like 3-4 hour sleep, 2-3 hour sleep followed by another 2-3 hour sleep. So that’s between 9-8am. She basically wakes up to eat and goes back to sleep.
Good for those of you going to groups. I did with ds but didn’t like the baby comparing.
We had our last MW (6 weeks) appt last week and I was pretty sad about it. My MW has been with me To catch both my angel ds and Dylan. Through it all she has gone over and above. We plan to stay in touch which is great.
Dylan gained another 13oz from week 4 to 6!! She is also super active, holds her head up fairly well, smiles when I talk to her and has started ‘talking’ back. I love when they become interactive and am trying to take it all in as this first year goes by in a flash.

 

[cheluzal]

Them becoming interactive and social is definitely better than the instant newborn. I love getting daily smiles and Siler is now babbling. Holding his head up like a big boy (with a little bob here and there).

He's nearly consistent with sleeping 11p-4a then napping by me until daddy get up around 630. I can take 5 hours. I ask him to go to 5am every night though, rofl! I expect good things this coming month as we edge towards 3 months.

If only he would stop fighting sleep now...and go back to the longer naps, ha.

 

[Reiko_ctu]

Ready I do think formula fed babies sleep better but some babies are just better sleepers too. Some nights I get 5-6 hours out of Summer and she’s EBF, has never had formula or even a bottle of expressed milk. My previous 2 girls never went past 4 hours (and that was their good stretch - it was more likely 2-3) even when they were older, so I’m definitely shocked. Even at a year my 2nd was still up every 4 hours to eat.

I felt sad at our last mw app too, my mw said she is moving back to Ontario so even if we do get pregnant again she won’t be catching my baby. I wish midwives would do the whole first year of care for babies .

Summer is a smiley baby which is nice. My first was really smiley and my 2nd made us work so hard for smiles hah, so I’m excited for another happy girl!

 

[yazzy]

Ready I also think bottle fed babies can sleep better but then chatting to someone today who bottle feeds hers and the second she puts him down from a feed he wakes up again. Thea is EBF and she sleeps pretty well, can do stretches of 5-6 hours but my other 2 never slept this much until they were closer to a year.

Thea had her last check with the HV today and at 6 weeks she weighed in at 12lb 2oz!! She is putting on just under a pound per week eeek!

She is full of smiles and just loves being held all the time. I'm just enjoying these early weeks 😊

 

[ricschick]

It’s madness that our babies are 2 months old already!! 🙀 its going by so quickly isn’t it!!
Billies doing great she has slept very well the last few nights sleeping from 9pm-6am so very pleased with that. I’ve started putting her to bed I have a little camera so I can see her and a movement and sound monitor too.

 

[Reiko_ctu]

9pm is such a nice bedtime! You must be able to get a bit done/relax a bit aftershes asleep which is so nice!! Summer doesn’t start her night sleep until 10:45/11 and DH goes to bed at 10... so for Dtd we have to sneak it in during one of her catnaps!!

Has anyone had baby acne? My other 2never had it but summer does... but I discovered breast milk clears it up if I put it on her cheeks every few days!!!

After our first fussy weeks I can say she is by far my best most content 2 month old and I’m really loving it this go around.

 

[yazzy]

Reiko...Thea also generally is ready for bed between 10.30 and 11.30pm and has been sleeping til 4.30am before she wants a feed.
Although no dtd here, haven't quite got round to thinking about that lol.

 

[cheluzal]

SLEEPING: Hubs starts night routine at 10 and by 11 or a little earlier Siler is out and sleeping in bassinet. He's being mostly consistent with waking at 4 then we snuggle sleep until hubs wakes and takes him.

ACNE: We have it here, although some days I wonder if it's eczema. I've also used breast milk but we found a little sample of Aquaphor and it made a huge difference overnight!

DTD: Please. Haven't done it since the start of September. I'm still slightly leaking clear ook and feel so unfresh; and hubs is such a patient gentleman and is okay with handsies for now. He needs to be snipped first anyway. We'll get there. Just now able to french kiss without me wanting to throw up (that's how I felt entire pregnancy).

 

[Riveted Rosie]

Hey all! I'm such a mobile lurker during feeds, I plan to respond properly and update today so leaving this message as a marker and to spur myself on...Much easier at a laptop! 😘

 

[cheluzal]

Postings really dropping as we deal with life with newborns, lol.
Siler finally slept in his big bassinet (BY bed and not IN it) through the entire night! Of course he wouldn't repeat that last night. But I can deal with 4am.

He's enjoying his swing so I'm finally able to put him down to nap and have my hands free. We also started free water babies swim lessons. He cried some because he still can't lift his head all the way from the ground and he was hungry.

Other than that, he's holding his head up for the most part, and cooing and babbling more than crying now. So cute.

 

[ReadynWaiting]

Hey Ladies!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! We have been getting in to the swing of things with Dylan and summer fun. She wasn’t (and isn’t some times) settling easily but now she has herself on a bit of a schedule. For the last week she’s been going down around 8:30-9 and sleeping until 2:30-3, up for a feed and back down until 6:30 or so. During the day isn’t as smooth but if we aren’t doing much she’s good to sleep for 2-3 hours in the am and afternoon. Dinner time seems to be her witching hour.
I’m ready to get back in to shape but struggling to eat healthy. I crave sugar all the time I’m sure which is due to the exhaustion. Anyone started doing anything?

 

[Riveted Rosie]

Hey RnW, I am trying to reduce the sugary snacks here too.

I was a member of Slimming World before getting pregnant last year (and thought I needed to lose 2.5 stone before I could conceive and then it happened before 1.5 stone so I kept going and basically regained what I lost, then lost it after the birth). I kept going as soon as I had Lyra, bought a 12 week countdown, but made it clear I was having the first 6 weeks to get sweets and treats outta my system.

Meanwhile I have been building back up to doing 10,000 steps a day (school runs have to be good for something!) to balance out all the maltesers.

Lyra was 6 weeks old last Saturday so I continued to eat what I wanted within reason at the weekend but since Monday morning I have been tracking my intake and exercise with My Fitness Pal so I will be more mindful. I plan to continue this for the next few weeks and see how it goes.

The sugar cravings seem to have decreased a little and I am back to my fave - eggs. I bloody love eggs.

I have also started to use a sling for Lyra so I can do some kitchen work with her in tow. I am too wary to use a frying pan with her right in front of me, but I can do prep and such.

I first took her out in the sling last Sunday and it was really handy as we were on a walk. The only trouble is that it was super hot so I was scared I might bake her like a potato.

I was totally intending on directly responding to posts but I just can't keep up so I will update on what I remembered the topics were...

We had the acne outbreak around 4 weeks but it seems to have subsided now.

We have also DTD a bunch of times (using condoms because I cannot be fussed with remembering the pill at the same time as you need to with the mini pill, plus haven't got my post natal check until next week) but I then send him back to the other bedroom because I see the main room as mine and the baba's!!

We don't have a routine per se. When she has her last feed (which can be any time from 9:30pm to 11pm) she goes to sleep in her bounce chair until I take her up and then she will go anything from 3-5 hours, wake up for a feed/burp/doze/feed then have another 3 hours or so which is pretty good. The only time it isn't is when it is the earlier time so that only gets me to about 5am then I never know whether to go back to sleep or get up early...

Lyra is a dainty dot, which is new to me. On Wednesday she came in at 9lb 3oz so she is on the 25th centile, for length she is on the 50th. This basically means all 0-3 month clothes are swamping her, but her feet are about to strain in the 0-1 month baby grows. My last baby went into some 3-6 month stuff at this age!!

Weirdly, though, they don't look so different in a comparison I did of them being milk drunk. (see below...this is also the sister she was delighted to wake up the other day...)

Lyra is very smiley and likes to coo and gurgle, but also has some ace serious face. Isn't it just immense how their little personalities are developing?!

I love the way she seems to recognise her folks and sisters too.

She seems to be sleeping more in the day just now, but I guess that is the growth spurt? I say sleeping more, only if she isn't woken by bottom burps!!!

BF mamas - does the quantity of chip shop curry poop decrease around 6 weeks?? We seem to be pooping less. She is generally happy so I am not overly concerned but can't remember if it is normal.

I have actually been to one baby group, to test the water. Baby massage. It was nice, only 6 mamas and babas and I knew one from back in the day. They seem like not totally mommy moms if you know what I mean - varied conversation and all.

I am going to sensory with a couple of them today. Will see how that goes. They seem like they would be as happy to go for gin and have adult time as to compare nappy rashes so that's dandy.

Hope everyone else and their babas are well.

 

[Reiko_ctu]

Rosie she is lovely! My LO has only pooped once or twice a week since birth so not sure if it changes at this stage.

Ready that sounds like a really lovely routine. I hope it stays that way! I feel like one day summer will have the best routine and the next she’s shaking things up. I will say in general she loves a good long nap in her bed over dinnertime, maybe from 4-7.

I’m struggling with healthy choices! Eating lots of snacks still and I think drinks are my worst. I don’t need to be drinking anything other than water but I’m a sucker for lemonade and root beer and a beer every now and then, which is just too much sugar and calories. And I’m still tired from the nighttime wakeup(s) so exercise is hard to get motivated for. I’m starting a exercise program this week hopefully. I’d like to just get rid of my tummy!! It’s sticking around way longer this pregnancy!

 

[yazzy]

Lovely pics Rosie, she looks gorgeous.
Thea is a real chunk lol she is around 13lb at 7 weeks!!

We don't really have any routine here Reiko, Thea just generally feeds a lot through the day, every hour to 2 hours but the majority of the time goes to sleep around 10.30pm then wakes up at 4/5am for a feed then straight back to sleep for a while.

I've found any weight has dropped off me again, it has happened both times before but maybe quicker this time having 2 others to chase after. I'm back to the same size as before I was pregnant but I think it is also due to feeding Thea as I'm eating loads as I'm always hungry.

 

[cheluzal]

Oooh, updated cute pictures! I'll do the same below.

Siler has started pooping less in the last week or two; mostly in morning and evening and not much during the day now. Had our first official blowout today. Happened in church and now my dress has a nice yellow stain. Gross. lol

He's in that transition of diaper and clothes sizes (we just went to size 1 in diapers this week) but his scrawny legs and longer torso make it harder. He clocked in at 11.2 pounds today.

Too hot in FL to go out but libraries and swimming are suffice. He's definitely awake more and taking cat naps in the day. He's babbling and cooing and looking around when we go out.

 

[Wicky78]

I feel a bit embarrassed at how long it's been since I last posted. I haven't had time to catch up on posts since April, but I wanted to say hi and update you all on how things have been. This is a really long post, as there is a lot to cover...

First of all, it has been a wild ride since April 13! As I think I mentioned in a quick note around that time, I was admitted to the hospital due to dangerously high blood pressure. The plan was to induce as soon as possible, then my BP responded to medications and they allowed me to wait a few days before inducing labor. However, I had to be on magnesium (IV) to make sure I didn't have any seizures or a stroke. The magnesium basically counteracted any effects the pitocin had, so I didn't progress beyond the 3-4 cm dilation that they did with a catheter balloon, even after three days. So on April 19, they did a c-section and our little Miriam Elizabeth was born at 34w+5d.

She weighed just 3lbs 15oz, although the last ultrasound had estimated her weight at 4 1/2 lbs and she should have gained close to a 1/2 lb by the time she was born. So we were surprised. She stayed in the NICU for a week and then went to the step-down Special Care Nursery to feed and grow. I got a blood infection from having my waters broken for more than 18 hours before she was born, but it resolved fairly quickly after she was born (within 2 days). However, the fever meant I couldn't see Miriam until 2 1/2 days after she was born (at night on April 21). I got blood clots in two superficial veins and had to be on blood thinners for 6 weeks... it was no fun. However, I did recover better from my c-section than I did from laparoscopic surgery I had almost three years ago for an ovarian terratoma (dermoid cyst)! I feel pretty good now - but that first week was pretty awful.

Miriam was pretty healthy from birth and didn't need oxygen or much in the way of medical support in the NICU, which was great for her gestational age. However, she really took her time figuring out how to coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing to be able to eat. She lost weight and ended up at 3lbs 3oz before starting to rebound... very slowly. She finally got the hang of it and came home with us on May 21, just after she was a month old. She weighed 5 1/2 lbs at that point.

Today, she weighs just 7 lbs 9 oz and is very petite, but has a ton of personality. To us, she looks like she's getting big, but she's still just tiny for her age! She "talks" a lot during feedings and makes some of the funniest sounds while she sucks on her pacifier! DW and I are completely in love and it was definitely all worth it, but I don't think I'll be trying this whole pregnancy thing again... too much risk, due to about 20 different factors. In fact, one doctor I saw at the end of May was relieved that I didn't plan to get pregnant again because she would have had to advise against it.

On top of everything, while Miriam was still in the hospital, I developed postpartum depression with some signs of psychosis, so I had to get treatment for that. I am feeling better now, but it was quite a rough experience. It's still lingering a bit. If I am (extremely) sleep deprived, the symptoms are much worse, but most of the time, I feel pretty much like myself again. The biggest change came a few weeks ago when my PCP stopped my BP meds. They had been making my BP too low and sapping my energy.

I also started back to work on July 6. It was great starting on a Friday because I got to ease back into things and have a weekend right away. Last week, I caught some kind of bug - maybe from being back at work in a hospital - and ended up staying home Thurs & Fri. I feel better but guilty for taking more time off right after coming back from leave. M and I slept all day Saturday (7 hours straight), so I think that she might have also been struggling with a bug.

Breastfeeding started out rough, since Miriam was in the hospital so long. It has improved a little in the past few weeks. She can latch on and seems to actually be swallowing milk for 15-20 minutes per side, as long as I use the nipple shield. She still sounds like a rabid dog when she is trying to latch on, though. I told DW I'd be mortified to feed her in public because she sounds so ridiculous I'm still only producing about 2 oz a day pumping (combined!), but a friend of mine told me she couldn't pump much but her kids nursed just fine, so I'm hoping that M is getting a decent amount. I have to supplement with formula, anyway, but it would be nice to know all this effort has some kind of result. I knew BF could be a challenge and not always a happy experience, but I had no idea how much effort it would take and how often I would question my decision. The recent progress helps me stick with it, as I enjoy the bonding time. It really is different from bottle feeding. But sometimes it is traumatizing when my baby is throwing a fit (turning red/purple, screaming and coughing, arching her back, pushing away from me) because the milk isn't coming fast enough or she isn't latching on right.

Oh, and in the midst of all of this, my mom totaled my car the day after Miriam was born, so we had to deal with all the logistics of that. Ugh! At least everyone is okay and we have a second car (now our only car) to get by.

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well. I will try to catch up soon, so I know what's been happening with all of you. Thanks for thinking of me while I was MIA!

 

[Reiko_ctu]

Wicky that is quite the few months you’ve had!! I can’t imagine a 3 month old so tiny!! She’s so (like really) adorable!! I’m glad things are evening out now for you guys.

Chel - stick your church dress out in the sun. Makes the baby poop stains disappear. Or at least that works for EBF poops!! So hopefully it works if you’re still supplementing.

So Chel and Wicky are done... who is thinking of another baby?

 

[Wicky78]

Whew! Just caught up on everything that happened here between April 12 and now... that was a lot!

I just loved all the baby pics and birth stories. I really need to write mine down so I don't forget all the details. However, like Kitten, mine was a bit on the traumatic side and it has been hard to really think back without getting pretty upset with the what ifs and realizing how close I was to dying. But with time, I have noticed my feelings softening/fading so that I can remember and think back without all the emotion.

M seems to be in a growth spurt, but I'm not sure if it's a three-month thing or a 6-week thing because in some ways she's three months old and in others, she's just 6-7 weeks old. She's just been fussy and needing to be held more, but when she's hungry, she's RAVENOUS. She really doesn't have the patience to BF and gets mad/frustrated and throws a complete fit when the milk doesn't let down fast enough for her. Sometimes it's just easier (less traumatic for me?) to give her formula and pump, but I want to BF as much as possible. Ugh!

Chel - I noticed what you did, that M sleeps so much better with me/on me than in her co-sleeper. We really notice it now that she's been fussier this last week. I'm torn about bringing her in the bed with me because being a preemie, she's higher risk for SIDS and I would lose my shit completely if anything happened to her. On the other hand, it seems like such an arbitrary thing, since other cultures and mammals keep their babies with them when they sleep.

Being back at work has been a challenge, but this week is going better than last week. Pumping every three hours is awkward, but it breaks up the day. I envy those of you who don't have to go back for months yet. In reading about your mommy-baby activity groups, it's inspiring me to look for something similar here. Before M was born, the group I found only met on weekdays at like 10 am, so I couldn't go, but I think there are more options for mommies of babies than for pregnant mommies. We shall see...

Well, I have to run because with one car, I have to get home so DW can get to work on time. I'll be doing laundry and dishes and trying not to get too frustrated with a fussy baby wanting to eat constantly!

I complain, but really, I'm in love and totally in awe of my baby!

 

[cheluzal]

Chel - I noticed what you did, that M sleeps so much better with me/on me than in her co-sleeper. We really notice it now that she's been fussier this last week. I'm torn about bringing her in the bed with me because being a preemie, she's higher risk for SIDS and I would lose my shit completely if anything happened to her. On the other hand, it seems like such an arbitrary thing, since other cultures and mammals keep their babies with them when they sleep.

I was firmly against co-sleeping...then got a baby who refused anything but for the first 1.5 months of his life! From that first night in the hospital, he had to be on me. I really had to open my eyes to another view, and I researched like a mofo about it.

Like you said, we are the only mammals who don't sleep with their babies from birth. It's natural. Also, the early SIDS research was not the hugest sample and the higher rates seem to have the following issues: obesity, drinking, drugs, and a house that smokes. Finally, Japan has some of the highest co-cleeping and the lowest SIDS rates.
I also find that when I lay by him and really slow my breathing, he adjusts his and calms to mimic me. I put my nose between his eyes to get him to nap. When I am so tired I can't stay up, I lay down by him and he always falls asleep with me, like he knows he has no choice and biologically, is falling in line with his provider/protector.

In the early weeks, he'd lay on a pillow that I held. I never just laid him on the bed between our pillows. I'd sit up and use a neck support pillow. Mom instincts kept me aware, too. The tiny bed bassinet that goes between us worked very well for about 3 weeks now! We have the SwaddleMe By Your Side Sleeper. He's now sleeping in that one but IN his bigger bassinet by our bed. I put the small one inside to transition and it's working so far.

Finally, I read that babies are usually developmentally where they are at birth in regards to due date; Siler was 2 weeks early so he's 10 weeks now, but developmentally closer to 8. So his fussy growth spurts seem to coincide more with that. Hope that helps!

 

[Wicky78]

I'm not sure who mentioned that their baby had "cheese fountain" spit up/vomiting, but I read about it yesterday and thought it was funny/gross. Well, last night we had a cheese fountain of our own and OH MY GOSH was it gross! I now completely and totally understand this phrase in a way that I kind of wish I didn't Let's just say the baby and I both had a bath and the sleeper liner and all of her clothes and blankets got thrown in the wash ASAP!