Valentines Babies, 2013!

[helena]

Go blue bear!!!

 

[Jo_Bean]

Any more babies????

We're doing good! Olivia has made massive improvements and is now off of oxygen. She's breathing air like we do she's been stable and her lung seems to be fine now. She had pneumonia but that has been treated and she caught a bug on the NICU but that is now better too. So it's just the muscular stuff to deal with. The initial chromosome tests have said she doesn't have DS and we are waiting on the detailed ones. As far as her physical progress goes, she is moving much more and a lot stronger. The physio is happy with her progress. We have exercises to do and hopefully she will keep getting stronger.

Dragon, we have to see a speech therapist about the sucking too. Having already seen how quickly Oliia has learned some other things, I think you'll be surprised that it won't take too long for Lilja to pick it up they do learn very quickly when they are supported x

 

[Blue_bear]

Matilda Stella Jane made her entrance at 4.50 this morning, weighing a dinky 6lbs 9ozs.

 

[Kim2012]

Typing with one hand is becoming a chore!!!

Helena thanks for the advice managed to buy the avent nipple shells and they are working.Boobs not so sore now.Pumping is still a struggle as Brianna emptys every breast on her feed.I feel like there is nothing afterwards as she does a big feed she can go for an hour or so.I would really like to pump so that DH can feed her while i take some much needed sleep.she sleeps well though and wakes up on average 2-3 times a night

Jaundice is better now.I think baby is starting to be have colic/trapped winds.she groans and curls even in her sleep


Sierra Congrats on the arrival of Camden! eargerly waiting for the birth story!
Blue-Bear congrats on the arrival of Matilda Stella . I love the name Matilda

Jo good to hear Olivia is making some progress and getting more excercises

On another note I have noticed some wetness discharge on my C- Sec Scar.am a bit concerned.I had the bandage removed last friday and it has been try since then then this morning I noticed some lil blood when i was drying after a shower.Any of u ladies having similar issues?

 

[Kellen]

Congrats to everyone who has had their babies! Doesn't look like anyone here is actually going to have a true Valentine's Day baby. Oh well! I think we all hoped they would arrived earlier so we could cuddle them.

Life has been interesting. Right now Teagen is sleeping in her stroller that is next to my chair in the living room. She had been having a bit of reflux, but a trip to the chiropractor really helped that problem and now she is passed out making cooing sounds at me.

Helena - I feel for what you had to endure with your in-laws. My MIL flew in on Saturday and was supposed to leave Tuesday... but my DH decided to buy her a new ticket to fly out tomorrow. Grr... we spend over $500 on her and she went and bought a crappy onsie from Walmart with a $2 sticker on it. Not that I'm wanting stuff, but all she wants to do is sit and hold the baby. I heard her complaining to DH that I was being selfish by breast feeding and not letting her hold the baby. WTF! Then she tried to convince him that we need to get Teagen on a pacifier so that when she is only a little hungry I can let someone else hold her instead of feeding. There was a lot more said that has ticked me off, but I am trying to let go of it and just concentrate on doing what is best for my baby.

Wamommy - I got a lot of one-on-one with lactation specialist while in the NICU. They said that eating oats or oatmeal can really help bring in the milk. I never had a problem with that and was gushing by day three. We have had some difficulties latching, but a lot of that was because I was stressed. Things have gotten a whole lot better since being home. And I know they will improve once MIL leaves tomorrow.

Jo - I am glad that Olivia is off of the oxygen. Watching Teagen with the c-papp on for only a day was one of the hardest things ever. Did Olivia get awesome glasses velcroed to her head while under the lights for jaundice? I was calling Teagen my little bug because it looked like she had antenna.

 

[Jo_Bean]

Congratulations Blue Bear!! Can't wait to see a pic!

Kellen little bug! Aw bless! No Olivia didn't have those! They sound quite cool though!

 

[helena]

Congrats blue bear!!! Beautiful name.
And yay for teeny babies - Kiara was a 6pound something girl. Little dolls!

Kellen - your MIL sounds a complete pain!!!!
I do use a pacifier, but it's a personal decision. And breastfeed ing is selfish!? Haha the woman is clearly mad. Hang on in there!!!!

Regarding the scar, no I haven't had any liquid. I had a small gap of 2mm develop in one place but just had to put iodine on after showering to heal it an stay clean. It's probably nothing but I would get it checked, an infection is the last thing you need right now x

Jo - glad Olivia is doing so great!! Pneumonia too poor little girl xx

 

[wamommy]

Congrats, blue_bear!!! I LOVE the name Matilda I can't wait to hear the whole story, and I'm so happy she finally arrived!

Kellen, Teagen is SO cute What a little chub! What was her birth weight? I'm so glad she's home and doing well. I don't know that I could handle your MIL situation. I admire you for not losing it! I hope things calm down and get better once she's gone home.

Kim, I'm so glad Brianna's jaundice is getting better!

Helena, the nipple shields helped me a lot too! They look rather funny under clothes...lol... so I don't wear them out of the house. I've found my nips are a lot less painful since using them, though. If only they produced more milk I'd be set!! I'm still giving it my all, and Kellen I'll try the oatmeal. I'll try anything at this point! I did have my very first milk stain on my shirt yesterday...lol... what a weird thing to get excited about!!

Jo, I'm so glad Olivia is doing better! Do you know when she'll be able to come home? She's gorgeous

As for us, we're STILL on the name rollercoaster!! We named him Marc, after my DH, but it's also my dad's name, so we aren't going to call him that. We still have to decide what to call him! DH says I can choose a "nickname" but I sort of want him to have a NORMAL name... he's 8 days old and I still call him "the Baby." Sigh

 

[helena]

What about some other version of Marc? Marcus? Marko!? Marcos?

I think I am calling a day on pumping, I think my boobs can now go it alone I just get so fed up f finding the time to pump, and I am pretty convinced Kiara has gained weight. She isn't officially weighed again until next Friday but according to my home scales she has grown. So I will take the pump back to the hamachi today. Yay! She is 3 weeks old today, can't believe it.
So glad the shells helped you girls.
Wamommy, I do wear my cups when out, but I have become a big scarf wearer! Kind of around the neck and hanging down each side! Otherwise I am a bit Madonna-esque! Haha.

https://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/helena1977/Snapbucket/th_F4DA830B.jpg

Happy due date all!

 

[DragonflyWing]

helena, she's so cute! She looks so serene.

I'm back to work now...so far it's going great! I forgot how much I actually like my job lol. It's also really nice to pump at work. I get two extra 30 minute breaks to do it, and there's a special "mother's room" with a refrigerator, sink, and separate locked pumping rooms. It's really relaxing to just sit and read while pumping, and not having to worry about the babies waking up or DH needing something. I also find I get more milk at work, probably because I'm so relaxed.

I'm hoping it helps increase my supply, because it has really dropped since the babies came home. When they were still in the hospital, I was consistently pumping more than 50 ounces a day, sometimes 60. With the stress and sleep deprivation after they came home, I wasn't pumping consistently, and my supply dropped to about 30-40 oz. At first it wasn't a big deal, because they were only eating about 30 oz a day, but now they're eating more like 40-48 oz, and I'm not making enough. We've had to use some of our freezer stash over the past few days.

I'd also like to nurse more...I haven't nursed either baby in days, they've just been getting bottles. Lilja can't really latch effectively right now, and although Gunnar is a champion nurser, it's just been easier to give them both bottles. I hope soon I can get them both nursing well so I can have more bonding time with them when I'm home.

Here's a little collage my sister made last week when she was visiting

 

[munchkinlove]

congrats everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well im still here only a week to go, im 1 cm dilated as of today so maybe its a start and she will be here in a few days!!!!

 

[Jo_Bean]

So did we have any valentines babies at all!?

 

[SierraJourney]

Well I'm going to attempt the birth story one-handed because Camden just refuses to be let out of my arms- and when he is settled, I have to eat or shower or something... lol. Anyways....

So on Friday, Dh and I both took the day off to have one last date night before we had baby. It was a good thing we did because labor started the very next day!

Saturday I woke up, snuggled Dh, ate breakfast together, then I went upstairs to take a shower. As I was finishing up on the toilet, I wiped and there was a ton of.bright red blood- and the toilet water was super bloody. It kept coming, so I held myself and waddled to the door to tell Dh. We were told bright red blood was bad, so Dh said to call the midwife asap. By the time I was on the phone and Dh had come upstairs, blood was running down my legs and pooling on the floor! Dh went white, and the midwife told us to get to the hospital asap. I've never seen my Dh so scared in his life. It seemed like an.eternity, but we arrived at the hospital 15 minutes later. Getting on the monitor was the most comforting feeling ever as we heard our baby's heart beating still... I meanwhile was still bleeding all over the bed. My midwife said the bleeding was not normal, but reassured me saying she'd seen worse! I was having no contractions and after 3 hours of monitoring, they sent us home and told us to call if the bleeding got worse. By noon, I started having cramping and my mom and sister- who we were scheduled to hang out with all day- came over and helped us time the.contractions. I labored at home until the contractions were 2 minutes apart. After getting to the hospital, they check me and I was still only dilated to a 2. And I was still bleeding! They said my cervix was bleeding and also it was my bloody show. But it was a lot more blood than they usually see.. but since baby was fine, we continued letting the contractions come. I labored into the night hours, in excruciating pain, only to dilate to a 4. Oh and I forgot to mention that I had been vomiting since the afternoon- almost with every contraction. By midnight, I was exhausted, hyper ventilating,and not progressing even though my waters were bulging since 5pm. They decided to break my waters, and that brought obon even heavier contractions. I was exhausted and after being checked again around 2am, only being at a 5, I decided that I needed something to help me untense and dilate. So even though I was adament to have a purely natural birth, I never expected to be that out of control of myself- I was literally shivering and shaking the entire time on top of the pain and vomiting. So they gave me nubane, which didn't seem to help with the pain or anything but somehow got me dilated to a 7. Still hyperventilating and writhing in pain with no . m. ore change, I asked for an intrafeakel. I did the trick because after 20 minutes I was dilated enough to start pushing. 28 minutes of pushing- which amazed the midwife and nurses, Camden Edwin arrived. I was overjoyed and kept yelling "I love you!". Pictures later once I can get to the computer. I'm definitely in love!

 

[helena]

Oh wow Sierra!! (Wow to the story AND all that one handed typing!).all that blood must've been Scarey! I always thought the show would appear days or even a week before labour, but I think that is also why my waters were running pink. Oh but bright red mustve been terrifying, even pink scared the life out of me!
Well done xxxxx

It is amazing just how much u can love this person u only just met isn't it!

 

[SierraJourney]

Here's Camden!

 

[wamommy]

He's beautiful, Sierra!!!! What a scary experience, but so worth it now, right? How is DH doing with him?

Jo, I don't think we had any Valentines babies, lol At least we didn't have ant go overdue! I can't imagine going to 42 weeks. 38 was already so uncomfortable!

Munchkin, I hope it's soon for you

So, I have decided we'll call LO Max!! It's simple... DH is ok with it. I just can't call him Marc...too Freudian with my dad, DH and my son all having the same name!

 

[Jo_Bean]

I love Max!!!

 

[helena]

My sons best friend is a Max. Lovely name.

Camden is lovely. Such squeezable cheeks! Looks beautiful. and looks huge compared to my little lady who still looks a bit preemie sometimes. She still has wrinkly knees, so needs fattening up!
Well done Sierra xx

 

[SierraJourney]

Thanks ladies! He's definitely worth it!!! And Helena, he is a big guy! I can't believe he was all squished inside of me!

 

[SierraJourney]

Wamommy- Dh is amazing with him! He takes shifts with me at night and is just in awe of Camden. It makes me very proud.

Max sounds like a perfect name!