Pregnancy & Text Buddy - July 2011 - Seattle, US Area? Between 19 and 25 years

[krys]

I don't have much time, but there are some things I want to tell you before you go into labor! First of all, GOOD LUCK! You're going to do amazing. I got IV drugs and an epidural, and I honestly don't regret it one bit! The IV drugs didn't take the pain away completely, but it made them much more bearable and I was able to breathe through my contractions. Most of all, it relaxed me. Tensing up makes everything worse, but it's so hard not to when you're having contractions. Don't clench your jaw!!! It's so hard not to, but it will hurt like hell once it's all done. The epidural is amazing, and the only thing you feel is the numbing shot-not bad at all! It makes it so much easier because you can rest and relax and save your energy for pushing. As for pushing, you'll know when to push! And pushing feels so good! It's less painful when you push. When you push, it's seriously like you're pooping. Using a mirror towards the en is such good motivation!!! It made such a difference knowing that I was actually doing something. Work with your contractions, let them build a little before you push.

Once he/she is here, breastfeed them as soon as you hold them. They didn't tell me to, they just walked out of the room and when they came back I was breastfeeding. I overheard them talking and they were so impressed! It's harder to get them to latch if you wait. Make it clear that your baby is to have no pacifiers and bottles and if a different nurse comes, tell them too. Massage your boob before you give it to them!
It makes it so much easier. If they don't want to latch, squeeze until a little comes out and then try.

Bring big panties and pads! Just in case because they have maternity pads here, but thru aren't sticky. You bleed ALOT afterwards. I've been wearing my big undies, a sticky pad, then a maternity pad over it with Tucks pads on it (they have witch hazel in them and are
Cooling) then outside of my panties I fold up a chuck (that big pad thing that's usually either blue or green on bottom with white on top, looks like a potty pad. And mesh panties to keep it in place.

If you do get an epidural and are scared to/can't pee afterwards. Take a warm shower. I tried to pee for soooo long an couldn't. It made me have cramps bc my uterus was already irritated and trying to shrink. I got in a warm shower and peed like a gallon!! Take a stool softener. Pooping after you give birth is absolutely terrifying, it makes it so easy. Ice packs down there work wonders!!!!!

These are just the observations I have made since having my baby. I had to figure it all out the hard way, so I wanted to tell you!! It's not as bad as people make it out to be! I couldn't have done it without medication though! I can't wait to tell you my birth story, but I have to take care of Madison right one because she's unhappy. I hope you have an amazing birth, and good luck if I don't talk to you before then!!!!!!! Can't wait to hear all about it, and to hear about the first time you mee your son or daughter.


Madison is PERFECT by the way!
I can't wait for you to see your baby, it's the best feeling in the world!

 

[krys]

Oh! And bring scratch mittens to the hospital!

 

[airbear]

Congratulations Krystal! I saw Madison's pictures on facebook and she is absolutely beautiful. It sounds like you were happy with your labor! I'm glad you got to breastfeed right away, I want to also! I can't wait for my little one to get here. I've been having pre-labor contractions since 6am (July 30th - Madisons birthday!) They're pretty uncomfortable but we're hoping the baby will be here tomorrow!

Thank you so much for all of the advice, it is going to be so helpful for when I'm in labor! I'll be sure to bring scratch mitts! I already have some packed! I'm so happy for you and Madison seriously is beautiful! I'm so glad she's here and you're getting to love on her! I hope she doesn't give you too much trouble! I can't wait to hear your birth story and see many more pictures of Madison! I bet she really truely is perfect!

 

[krys]

Thank you so much!!! I love her more than anything. The only way to describe her is PERFECT

I hope this is it!!!! I had to have pitocin, so mine was sped up. The contractions hit so fast and so hard. Also, I was doing so well and no where near tearing. Then we realized Madison was coming out with her hard in her face!!!!! I tore in every direction, I didn't even know though. It was scary once they realized her hand was out! They started pulling on her and two nurses got on my tummy and started mashing down on it!!!' so scary.


Omg and just a warning..... Your down there looks awful afterwards!!!!! Mine does at least. It's soooooooooo big and swollen. One side is bigger too
AWFUL!!!!!


Get to walking and get those contractions going :]]]]

 

[krys]

Hand* in her face not hard lol

 

[krys]

Ahhhh and one last thing about labor!!!! Drink before. I was soooooo thirsty and they wouldn't let me have water, only dumb ice chips!

 

[airbear]

I am so happy you have your little girl now!

I am worried my baby will come out like yours with its hand in its face because during my ultrasounds it always had its hands by its face (also why I made sure to bring scratch mitts). I've seen women on 'One Born Every Minute' where the nurses had to push on the womens bellies to help get the babies out! I'm sorry you tore but at least you didn't realize when it happened!

Ugh I can only imagine what I'll look like down there after the little one is born! Hopefully we'll both heal quickly! I can't believe they didn't let you have any water! I've been dehydrated the past two weeks and my doctor got so mad at me so I've been trying to drink a ton of water. I hope they let me drink water, if not I'm going to have a ton of ice chips!

 

[krys]

Yeah you can't eat or drink!! I was eating ice chips in between my contractions when I was pushing, my mouth was so dry. But I threw up too, so I was kind of happy I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink.

I'm feeding Madison right now and it's the most amazing bond. She's doing so well with it! She had some billirubin in her blood so she's being kept under a blue light. It sucks because she absolutely hates it and cries the whole time. I can only take her out to change her or feed her

 

[krys]

https://www.babyandbump.com/teen-pregnancy/691970-birth-story.html

 

[airbear]

Oh I didn't get your response that you posted before you posted your birth story link!

I ended up getting an epidural as well because my labor was too long for me to continue to handle the contractions since I hadn't slept or eaten in 48 hours and I still needed energy to push. Once I got the epidural I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything other than ice chips. Before hand they gave me applesauce and juice. I think there were also crackers.

I'm sorry Madison had to stay under that blue light! That would be so hard for you since she didn't like it and was crying, plus you couldn't really hold her! I assume you're most definitely home by now so everything is probably much better. I wish I could have been able to talk to you more this week as I'm sure we both have a ton to say. I thought Tuesday I would have had more time to tell you about my birth/write my birth story but we had nurses coming in literally every hour. We didn't know exactly when my waters broke as I also had a lot of mucus and then later some leaking. But it was fairly early Sunday and I didn't have Elsie until Monday afternoon so my amniotic fluid got an infection which could spread to Elsie. As well as I got a fever toward the end of labor which Elsie also received so we were both kept on antibiotics which had to be done on a schedule which of course both mine and Elsie's were opposite each other so we had nurses waking us up constantly. Because Elsie might have gotten an infection (at this point we're still not sure, we should know more tomorrow) she had to get blood drawn constantly as well. She had to get pricked three times to check her blood sugars and then she had to get two blood draws so they could test for an infection. Wednesday morning they still didn't have solid results to say she doesn't have an infection her numbers were slightly above normal but not so high that they could confirm an infection. So I was given two choices I could go home Wednesday and then come back at my postpartum appointment and have Elsie get another blood draw and tested again. Or I could stay at the hospital for another 5-7 days, continue antibiotics, and redo all tests. I thought it would be best for all of us to go home and test her Friday. So it has been ridiculously crazy. Not to mention how many visitors we've had. Travis got a week off from Costco but he called in on Saturday and Sunday so they started his week then so he has to go back to work on Saturday. We didn't even have Elsie until Monday and then we were in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon and then that evening we had quite a few visitors. Today's been the first day we have had alone and it went by so quickly. We went to the mall and got nursing bra's because my boobs have grown so large! I had the lady at Motherhood Maternity measure me and she said I was a 34E! I couldn't believe it. They didn't even carry that size. I didn't actually try on any bra's with sizes like that. I only tried on sleeping and sports bra's which come in S, M, L not cup sizes. Which I only had to get a medium in them. I love them already. Makes nursing so much easier and my poor 32C wasn't cutting it! Needless to say I'm sorry I haven't been on in some time! This week as been so crazy and all of the day's have blended together. I'm going to reread your birth story right now! I read it in the hospital when you first sent me the link but I was probably not completely aware of everything I read. I hope you and Madison are doing well and I can't wait to catch up and also to write my birth story so I can share! I want to hear all about Madison because I know all I want to do is brag about Elsie!

 

[krys]

Oh no, I'm sorry that Elsie may have an infection :/ I know all about blood draws since Madison was/is jaundiced, she has had so many, it's so sad watching her get poked!! Have you had your first appointment with your pediatrician yet? I had one the day after we left the hospital, and we have another today. Madison is still a little yellow, but she's definitely getting better. Elsie is so beautiful!!!! The only picture I've seen is your avatar!
I can't wait to see some more

I'm so excited to talk about out babies growing, milestones, and parenting!!!

I have a milestone Madison smiled all day yesterday!!! It melted my heart, so soo cute.

Wow, your boobies are huge!!! I want to get mine measured, they've grown ALOT! They have been rock hard so I pumped last night, and I let Eric feed her. He's so cute, the other day out of nowhere he was like "I wish guys could breastfeed" haha too cute!

I've had visitors, but I'm just not ready. I've actually told people that they need to wait a while... I don't want anyone getting Madison sick and I'm so nervous when people hold her. Omg and when people kiss her, I want to freak out! You don't kiss someone elses baby... I don't want anyone touching her soft spot. I just get so uneasy! :/

Where does Elsie sleep? Madison sleeps next to my bed in her bassinet. sometimes at night when I'm feeding her she falls asleep with me in bed. I try not to do that, but I get so sleepy. She only wakes up once on her own at night, some nights she didn't wake up at all! We actually have to wake her up to feed her! She's so good!

 

[airbear]

We just got back from our postpartum visit in which we arrived early for so Elsie could get her last blood draw so they could test it and see if she does have an infection. They'll call me with results later so I'm hoping all is well! I hate watching her get poked for the blood draw though, especially since they always have a second nurse holding her so I can't even comfort her. I haven't had an appointment with a pediatrician yet as we still have to pick on out. I'll probably do that today or this weekend while Travis is working. A pediatrician at the hospital however did come and see her he was the one doing all of her blood work. I haven't noticed much yellowing on Elsie but I'm no expert! Thank you, I love her so much. I think she is so gorgeous I end up missing whatever we are watching because I'm staring at her the whole time! I have more pictures up on facebook of her. A lot I took from the hospital and then a couple that we took once we got home. You can also go to: bellababyphotography.com and click view pictures and the password is dk0801elsiebassett and those are the professional pictures taken at the hospital. I'm not the biggest fan of them so we're not going to purchase any since I still want to get her newborn pictures taken. But I saved all of those on my computer they'll just always have the watermark on them.

As much as it was nice being able to talk about being pregnant, having our little girls here will be much more fun to talk about! Especially since there is so much more going on!

Aw I bet Madison has a beautiful smile. Elsie's first smile was on Wednesday after we came home from the hospital! I was so excited! Now she keep smiling.. especially when she poops! She smiles in her sleep too. Once I kissed her and she smiled. I'm sure right now they don't understand smiling but it's still completely adorable.

My boob's really are huge! They also get really full. I haven't pumped at all yet but I'm thinking it's probably time to start! When Elsie isn't eating my boobs are super hard from how much milk is in them and you can tell which boob I last fed from as it appears much smaller and is a bit softer as well! That's cute that he got to feed her and that he wished he could breastfeed! I love it so much it's such a great bond. I almost don't want to pump because I want to feed her and not let someone else!

Luckily the only visitors we've really had have been close family like our parents and siblings. But the come and then they stay for a lot of the day rather than short quick visits and it makes it tiring on us. We had a busy schedule while we were at the hospital with all of the nurses and doctor's and then on top of that we had family visit everyday! So we never had alone time at the hospital except at night and then Elsie was awake then and I never got sleep not to mention nurses had to come in almost every two hours to do IV's and vital checks. Then the day we got home we had family over until late evening as well! So Thursday was our first day with no visitor's and it was nice but the day still goes by so quickly and we had to go get nursing bra's so there wasn't a ton of relaxing. Today was our second day and we just got back from our doctor's appointment and now the day is basically half over! Then Travis goes back to work tomorrow. I'm hoping once Travis goes back to work though we can get a better schedule and I won't feel as stressed out. I feel bad because I know he wants to spend time with her and he doesn't want to have to work right away.

I know what you mean about being cautious of people holding Madison. It was frustrating because right after Elsie was born everyone wanted to hold her and I was so out of it and so many people were coming in and out that I couldn't even control if everyone washed their hands. It's just been so stressful and I am wanting to be really protective and jealous and keep her all for myself! I don't mind when Travis hold's her but I would much rather it be me! I feel bad because she's so much less fussy for me. Travis also get's stressed when she cries and he always second guesses himself when he's taking care of her he makes me double check her diaper after he's changed it. It's cute because he's so gentle with her. He's been such a good daddy and he always sleeps through her crying but told me to punch him and wake him up if I want him to get her! Haha it's so funny but I never do because I always want to take care of her! Plus she usually just wants to eat..

We came home Wednesday so we've only had Wednesday night and Thursday night. The first night I tried having her sleep in the cradle in our bedroom and she would wake constantly. Our room is pitch black and I didn't want to turn on the light and wake Travis and our dog's (they get really whiny when they think it's time to go out and they're in their crates). So I decided it was easier to go to her bedroom and have her sleep in her crib that way I could turn on the light as much as I please and also be able to change her and feed her more easily. Though I still want to buy lamps for our bedroom and her bedroom that can be dimmer lamps because having such a bright light makes it difficult to fall back asleep after being woken up so many times! So in the end I ended up having her sleep on her boppy pillow between Travis and I. Then last night she was awake right as we were trying to go to bed and she doesn't really like laying anywhere alone. She really loves being held. So if I tried having her sleep in her crib or cradle she instantly cried. I tried feeding her and letting her sleep in her crib but she didn't last long. I did get her to fall asleep for a short time and then I came and laid down and had Travis get her when she woke up. But then again in the end I had her sleep in bed with us only this time she was even worse and wanted to sleep on my chest the whole night! But she's also been feeling kind of icky as she's been pooping a ton -she had 6 poopy diapers and 4 wet diapers in a 24hr period. Then last night when we decided to have her sleep with us and we laid her on top of her boppy pillow (which i got a new cover for as the one we got at the baby shower was safari animals and looked boyish and now i have a really cute girl animal cover) she ended up spitting up a ton! The most she has so far! So I think that's why she was so fussy last night. We actually kind of like her sleeping with us in bed so we might look into getting one of those little things that lay in bed for her to sleep in. It's really great that Madison sleeps so well at night! Elsie only sleeps well if she's in bed with us otherwise she is terrible! I was also told that breastfeeding makes us women sleepy so that's why is so difficult for you to stay awake when she's in bed feeding! I remember the first night in the hospital when I was up in the middle of the night feeding her I kept drifting off but was so worried a nurse would come in and get mad at me for sleeping while holding her so I kept having to try and keep myself awake!

Elsie is actually quite an easy baby. Even though she keeps us up a night I think it's mostly because she want's to sleep in bed with us because when she does she isn't fussy at all. During the day she's mostly constantly asleep right now. She only fusses when she's hungry but I try to take her cues and feed her before she get's fussy. She LOVES to suck on anything almost. She's usually got her hand in her mouth if she isn't nursing! I haven't tried binkies yet as I was hoping to wait longer before we introduce them to her since I don't want her to get confused with the nipple and the binky. But I think she'll turn into a big thumb or binky sucker. She's instantly calmed when she has her little knuckles in her mouth (she sucks more on the side of her fist rather than her fingers). When we were at the hospital the family next door had a really fussy baby it cried constantly so we're really lucky that Elsie has been so easy! She rarely cries and when she does she's pretty quick to be calmed down!

I'm sure you've already figured this out but I lay Elsie down on my chest to chest and then wrap the boppy pillow around my lap and use it to hold the laptop up so it's really easy to type! Elsie's just sleeping away on my chest right now as I type and I can have the laptop up high enough to see! She's just so cute I can't help but look at her and say it 100 times!

 

[krys]

Hey, that same exact company took Madison's pictures at the hospital! My mom bought the CD, it was like $170!!!! Waaay over priced...

Eric had to go back to work yesterday He's working right now actually. I wish they could have stayed home with us a little longer! I've been sending him pictures all day though :]

Eric is so hands on with Madison! He is such an amazing dad. We have a nighttime routine already! We wake her up and I feed her, then he burps her, changes her, then rocks her back to sleep! It works really well!! I was just telling my mom how I have never changed her diaper at night! Last night I was happy when I realized I had some milk in the refrigerator, I was just like oh you can feed her this time and fell back asleep lol. I do love feeding her, but she is always hungry so she is ready to eat about every 30 minutes during the day! So it wasn't hard for me to let him feed her last night. My boobs were rock hard again and Madi was sleeping so I didn't want to wake her up to feed her. I just pumped 3 1/2 oz so I will let Eric feed her some or all of that tonight!

Lucky for me, Madison loves her bassinet! We put her in it last night when we were getting ready for bed (brushing our teeth and changing into our pajamas and stuff) I had to take her out because she was just laying there awake and I didn't want to fall asleep before her! She's actually sleeping in it now She is pretty much the same during the day, she only gets fussy when she is hungry, but before she gets fussy she starts sticking out her tongue and opening her mouth so I usually catch her before she cries! For some reason she cries when we change her diaper, she hates it! As soon as she hears the tab come off she cries, just until we are finished though! I don't know what it is about that, but man does she hate it! She has never cried just because! Ahhh we have such good babies She latched on immediately and latches on so well. I gave her a binky twice. We were in the car and she was really hungry, I hadn't been able to feed her for a while because we were running late for our doctors appointment, and then we were on our way home. I gave her a binky and she took it after a couple seconds. It calmed her down, and she still latches amazingly!

Madison weighes 7 lbs!! She was 6lb 13oz at birth and 6lb 9oz when we left the hospital, the next day she was still the same and today she was 7!! She's growing fast!

I do the same thing with my boppy pillow!!! How funny lol.


My tummy is COMPLETELY GONE!!!! I took these today...


Actually, not just my tummy! My legs and butt are tiny again too! I was SOO shocked. I guess I was just retaining a lot of water! Yesterday I weighed myself and I was 117! I was 135 when I gave birth, so I've lost half the weight so far! I can not believe how it all just melted away! I thought it was going to take so long, especially for my legs. I can't believe how tiny I am already!

 

[airbear]

It never told me you wrote back! I have to go and get Travis from work so I'll write back in a little while if I get time tonight. But I finished my birth story:

https://www.babyandbump.com/teen-pr...ong-yellow-baby-birth-story.html#post12145690

 

[airbear]

That's too funny that the same company took Madison's pictures at the hospital. You definitely had a better photographer. I wasn't too impressed by the picture's we got. I just saved them with the watermark rather than buy them because I still plan on getting my own newborn pictures taken anyway and hopefully they are better!

It would have been so nice if our boys could have stayed home longer. I feel bad because Travis only had Wednesday night, Thursday, and Friday and he's been working double shifts since. Though the next three day's after today he only work's a single shift. But my mom said she wants to come over Wednesday because it's her day off and then Thursday Elsie has her first doctor's appointment after being born to get her second PKU. So he'll get time with her but it won't be the best bonding time ever. Luckily right now all she is doing is sleeping so he isn't missing out on much but I know that all I want to do is cuddle with her and I'm sure he wants to do the same. He came home in between shifts today and took a short nap with her. I also went to visit him at Costco on his lunch yesterday so he got to hold her and cuddle with her then. I keep trying to send him pictures while he's working but for some reason they come in as blank text messages! I have no clue why because we use to be able to send pictures to each other.

Eric sounds like he's been such a great dad! I wouldn't say we exactly have a routine yet. Mostly she just sleeps and I feed her when I see her cue's. We change her if we hear her poop (which sounds like an explosion in her diaper!) or we just check once every couple of hours. Otherwise she's mostly asleep. At night I usually feed her and change her before we go to sleep so that she is ready for the night. We've decided to just continue to co-sleep with her as both Travis and I really enjoy the closeness of it and she sleep's much better. Since Travis has basically been working double shifts we only see him at night when he get's home around 10pm. Whenever he is home though he's taking care of her. Holding her and changing her and cuddling. I still haven't pumped yet though. I don't want to give up me getting to feed her and I feel like if I pump then it will all get taken away! I will probably start in a couple of weeks though.

That's really great that Madison like's her bassinet. Elsie hates being left alone anywhere for any amount of time. Sometimes if she's really asleep and not just half asleep I can lay her down and get a very short amount of time before she start's crying. I was folding laundry the other day and my little dog has a dog bed that I had just washed so I put the dog bed on top of the dryer and laid Elsie on it and folded laundry and talked to her and she was perfectly happy. But if I left her in her cradle (which we have in the living room right now) she would just cry. Right now I don't mind since all I want to do is spend time with her, but eventually it's going to be a problem since I can't carry her around and get everything done. Usually when I'm trying to get the household chores done, I will cuddle her and put her in her cradle and try and get one task done really fast. She'll usually cry halfway through and I let her for the rest of the task. But then I have to cuddle her and make her happy before moving onto the next since I don't want her just crying forever! Elsie did really well with diaper changes at the hospital but now that we're home she hates them. I think she doesn't like how cold the wipes are. As soon as the diaper and her clothes are back on she's done crying. Elsie is amazing with breastfeeding but she does eat often like you mentioned. Usually I would say about once an hour but the last two day's she's been sleeping like crazy! So I usually wake her up and feed her about every two hour's! She'll eat and fall asleep right in the middle of her feeding! Then I burp her and she's back to sleep until the next time I want to feed her! I haven't given her a binky. I only tried once the second night we had her home because I felt bad that she was crying so much during her diaper and clothes change and Travis needed to get up early. But she didn't really take the binky and kept crying. I haven't tried since because I want to wait until she's a little bit older before I introduce the binky because I believe she's too young to understand the difference between the binky and the nipple for right now.

Aw little Madison is growing! Elsie was 6lbs 15oz at birth. In the first couple day's she lost her recommended amount of weight. Then at the postpartum appointment the Friday after she was born she had gained weight and was 6lbs 15.9oz so I'm sure by now she is over 7lbs. We have our first doctor's appointment on Thursday which I'm sure she'll be weighed at and we'll know how much more she's gained!

Your tummy look's great! I'll have to try and take a picture of mine sometime this week. It definitely doesn't look as good as your's. I still feel fat. I mean it has definitely gone down since Elsie is no longer cuddled inside but I feel like I look a couple month's pregnant! My belly button is starting to come back which is exciting but I'm not exactly happy with how my tummy looks so I've got some work ahead of me! It's all jello-y haha. I weighed myself yesterday and I was 133lbs and I was 147lbs before giving birth. So I've lost 14lbs but Elsie was almost 7lbs and that's not including the placenta either! I don't mind my body so much other than my tummy. I'm not as worried what the number on the scale say's as much as how I feel when I look in the mirror. I don't mind everything else really so I'll work on my tummy and then probably just work out to keep healthy rather than trying to lose weight.

You said Madison might have pink eye! Uh oh have you talked to her doctor yet?! I sure hope she doesn't!

 

[krys]

Madi and Elsie sound so much alike! It also sounds like an explosion when she poops, she hates getting her diaper changed, and for the last three nights she refuses to sleep anywhere but our bed. We even bought a thing that goes on our bed to sleep in, she only likes cuddling with us though!!

Madison's third doctors appointment is Friday! I wonder if it's because she was jaundiced? Friday is her 2 week newborn screening appointment. We called about her eye last night, it was goopy and yellow The on-call pediatrician said it was probably either a blocked tear duct or an infection. He called in a prescription, and we were able to get it last night. It doesn't seem to be getting worse so we are just keeping our Friday appointment rather then going in sooner. I don't think she was feeling too good last night, so I was up alllllllll night. She was hungry, you could tell by her mouth and cry. I would try to feed her and she would just be licking around and opening and closing her mouth, she wouldn't eat!! Then I would pull her away and she would get even more frustrated :/ I wasn't feeling well either, so it was a LONG night.

Okay so I didn't want to go into detail in my birth story for everyone else to read, but I have to tell you! Remember how I said I tore up and down? Well I had a second degree tear. First degree is skin, second is skin and muscle, and third and fourth has to do with tearing back towards your rectum. Soool I tore reallyyyyy bad... TMI but I tore my urethra (pee hole) and my....ummm....clitoris<--such a nasty word but idk what else to call it :[[[[ That part is the worst bc it constantly feels like someone is pinching it with their nails... It still hurts so bad. I can't sit down on hard chairs, only the couch or bed... Peeing is so painful :/ I just had to share that. I seriously don't think I'll ever be the same down there and I'm so scared that I'll never be able to have normal feelings down there :/ I guess I just had to tell you bc there's really no one else I would talk to about something like that and it's been freaking me out!!! Ughhhh.

Anywayssss! Are you still putting Elsie in her boppy? I tried putting Madi in hers and she sort of just fell through lol. I need to play around with it some more!

Madison just woke up, time to feel my hungry girl!!!

 

[airbear]

They do sound very much alike! Elsie definitely prefer's to cuddle but we usually put her on her boppy pillow to sleep. I was thinking about buying something for her to sleep in that would possibly be more safe and made for co-sleeping. I was also thinking about buying the 'boppy newborn lounger' as it is almost like a boppy pillow without a hole in the middle and is made to fit a newborn. But for now her boppy pillow has worked. Last night she didn't sleep very well but we went to bed earlier than usual and she kept asking to eat. She wasn't grumpy but just wanting to eat all the time which caused her to have a couple of poopy diaper's as well!

Hm, I wonder why Elsie hasn't had to go into the doctor's yet? They just told me she needed to see a pediatrician/family doctor within 7-14 day's to get her second PKU. Her appointment is today so we'll see how everything goes. Maybe they'll tell me how often she need's to be going in and such. Hopefully Madison's eye get's better! Poor baby girl! Elsie does that a lot too where she will ask to eat just like that. That's what she was doing last night. But luckily this morning she finally slept better and I got a little bit of sleep!

Ah! I can't imagine how you feel! I was told I had three small tear's, so I assume they were just skin. I find my stitches to itch constantly which is so frustrating and sometimes it does hurt to pee when I've held it too long! I can't even imagine how you're feeling! I remember the first couple day's after having Elsie everything down there hurt so bad. It hurt to even sit on a soft bed! So I definitely feel terrible for you! The nurses had me put ice pack's on top of my pad in my underwear to help with swelling. Maybe using an ice pack for you now will help with some of the pain? The one's the nurses gave me were really uncomfortable because it was just sitting on cubes of ice, but maybe a package of frozen pea's could help since they can mold to your body better. I'm sure someday you'll go back to normal down there. Our bodies are pretty amazing considering we were able to be pregnant and carry a child within us for 9 month's! Just give it time, it will probably take a while for you to heal since your tear was much worse than other tear's, but it will eventually heal!

I am still putting Elsie on her boppy. I sort of use the boppy sideways and tuck one end inside the middle and use my pillow and Travis' pillow to hold it together so the end doesn't fall back out. I usually wake up a couple of times in the night just to check on her and I make sure her pillow is still positioned correctly.

How are you and Madison doing? I am still in awe that we are both mother's now to beautiful daughter's. I still am constantly staring at Elsie because I think she is so gorgeous! She's always with me. She still hates being put down so I carry her everywhere and I love it. I'm sure I'm creating bad habit's and someday I will hate it but I can't help it. I love having her near me. She's just such a sweetie, I love it when she smile's. She'll always be eating and then fall asleep and start smiling with my boob in her mouth and her snoozing away! It makes me laugh every time!

 

[krys]

Madison has been having a little trouble latching on lately. Its actually not her latch thats the problem, its that she gets really frustrated when its time to eat and starts crying and won't take my nipple! I have to strip her down to just a diaper, take my clothes off, and do skin to skin contact. She only at ONCE last night, but was up every 15 minutes or so, screaming her head off. Once she finally latches, she's fine. Its just getting her calm thats the problem. Its so frustrating for the both of us, because we both know she's hungry, yet she won't eat She used to want to eat every 30 minutes, and she would latch on immediately...
Now that I think about it, Madison probably had more appointments because she was jaundiced. How is Elsie doing, and how is her infection or possible infection, can't remember if they told you if she definitely had one or not!
I love carrying Madison around too. I hate that I live with Eric's mom because she always pouts that I don't let her hold Madison enough, but she hardly ever asks and when she does I let her! I'm not just gonna be like, here hold my baby. I want to hold her and if you aren't going to ask, why would I just give her to you? And whenever Eric has her and I go upstairs he gives her to his mom. Then I have to come down and watch her hold my baby when I want my baby!!! It would be different if they didn't live with us, then when we would see them I would expect to give Madi to her, she's lucky she lives with us or she wouldn't even get to see Madi everyday like she does!!!!
It hurt me to sit on the bed at first too! I actually couldn't sit at all, I'd have to lay. Eric still has to help me up sometimes, and I've only just started to be somewhat able to bend down to pick things up! Sooo painful
I bought a "snuggle nest" for Madison to sleep on in our bed. It goes right in between our pillows though so Eric and I can't cuddle :/

Other than Madison not eating well (she's actually eating right as we speak YAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) we are doing great! We have a nice routine going and I love it!!! How are you and Elsie?? Has her umbilical cord fallen off yet? Madison's hasn't and I can't wait to give her a real bath... I hate sponge baths!

 

[airbear]

I'm so sorry! I thought I had written back. I had wrote a responce twice which got deleted before I could ost it! Really frustrating, but then I wrote a responce again and this time I saved in on my laptop because my internet wasn't working! But I had thought I had already posted it. Elsie and I are about to take a nap so once we're up for the day (or at least I am) then I'll go downstairs and post my responce! I had been thinking rhese past few days I hadn't heard from you but really you hadn't heard from me! I'm sure we have a whole bunch of other things to talk about and everything we said earlier is so old!

 

[airbear]

Here is what I wrote forever ago I haven't reread it or changed anything except I added something at the end:





Ah! I've tried to respond to your post twice now and each time I've lost everything I've written! So this will have to be summed up, besides I'm sure we have newer thing's to talk about anyway!

Sometimes Elsie will get upset and cry right before she latches on. She'll get really upset and won't take it, but usually it only last's a couple of seconds. Though it can happen a couple of time's before she'll latch on for her full feeding. I remember a lactation consultant saying that sometimes babies will get really hungry but get themselves so worked up and that become's the hardest part - getting them to calm down enough to latch on! Hopefully Madison is eating better now so that you can get better sleep! Elsie only eat's once or twice during the night. Usually I feed her right before we all go to bed, then she'll wake up once or twice in the night to bed fed, and I always feed her once we wake up for the day. She usually doesn't cry during the night to bed fed, I tend to wake up when I hear her making noises and waking herself up and then I feed her before she demand's it. I try to feed her when I notice her cues rather than wait for when she demands it so that everyone is happier.

Elsie had her blood drawn on the Friday after she was born at our postpartum appointment so that they could test for an infection. The next day the pediatrician who had requested the blood draw called to see if we had ever gone into the lab to get her blood sample as he could not find any result's in the computer. He left me his beeper number and told me to call and dial my number in after a series of beep's. I've done so twice and still have not received a return phone call. So I have no result's of her test and don't know if they even tested her blood! However she did have a doctor's appointment this past Thursday where we did a second PKU. They drew blood to test but didn't have to take a whole vial full, luckily! Her doctor's appointment went really well. They weighed her and she is now 7lbs 9.5oz!

I would be really frustrated if my mother in law lived with me and was expecting more time with Elsie. You and Madison are still bonding. Madison is only two week's old. Eric's mom is lucky she get's to see her everyday she shouldn't expect more than that! I get frustrated because we had a lot of visitor's the first week when I had originally wanted the first week alone with just Travis and Elsie. The visitor's have toned down a bit and it was mostly just close family anyway as our friends and extended family have been more respectful. I personally still get a bit stressed with people around as I am fairly clingy with Elsie. My mom is a bit awkward as she know's I've been upset so now she doesn't even ask to hold her and I never offer. Then I end up feeling terrible once she leaves and I realize she never even got to hold her. Travis' mom is terrible annoying and has come over twice now for a short visit but held her the entire time and stuck her knuckles in Elsie's mouth while she was crying! She didn't even wash her hand's and she smelled of alcohol. I was just so frustrated because poor Elsie wasn't happy at all!

I hope you start feeling better soon! When I was in the hospital my pain was the worst but it has drastically gotten better. Mostly my stitches just itch and can sometimes be uncomfortable but I don't really have anymore pain. I think I'm more mentally and emotionally exhausted rather than physically in pain. Hopefully soon you'll heal a bit more and can be more comfortable moving around!

It's good to hear Madison is eating again and hopefully she is falling back into routine. Elsie and I are doing well. We don't have a feeding or nap schedule yet so I usually let her eat and sleep whenever she pleases. I figure once she's over a month old I'll start to introduce more of a schedule and try to get her to nap in her cradle or crib. Once I get a nanny job she'll need to be on a schedule and she'll need to learn not to bed held constantly so I can focus on the other child(ren). Her umbilical chord hasn't fallen off though it's changing in color so I hope it won't be too much longer! How often do you bathe Madison? The nurses at our hospital told me we only needed to bathe her once or twice a week. She had one bath at the hospital and we actually haven't bathed her since.. I've been waiting to give her her first bath at home with Travis so we can all experience it together. However it is difficult with his schedule. I did wipe her down with a wet rag one day trying to help clear up some of her dry skin. We were going to bathe her yesterday but we ended up not, so I'm determined to bathe her today and maybe set a schedule to bathe her so that we don't forget and let it go long again for next time!


added part:

Elsie's belly button is almost off! It's on by the tiniest little piece and will probably be off by the end of today! She's also sitting here doing a little bit of baby talk and it's so adorable! We decided on her two week birthday to give her a binky because sometimes she would be asking to eat 3 times an hour and it was just getting tiring! Also she is constantly sucking on her hands and I thought it would be better for her future teeth for her to have her pacifier instead of her finger's since her pacifier is better made for her future teeth!