The new "New Moms" thread!

[Villain-lover]

Nicole, I am actually starting Solids with Sam & Zoe today. They are 5 1/2 months (4 months adjusted). I think the water thing is just for practice too, as I have heard lots people give water in sippies with solid meals. Our schedule is this:

7am - bottle 6 1/2 oz

1030am- bottle 6 1/2 oz

2pm-bottle 6 1/2 oz

5pm - (starting today) cereal, working up to veggies then fruits

5:30pm- bottle 6 1/2 oz

9pm (sometimes earlier) - 6 1/2-7 oz bottle

Sam is pretty consitant with finishing his bottle, whereas Zoe will drink anywhere from 5 1/2 to 6 1/2oz. Sometimes Sam will finish off her bottle if she doesn't! I am hoping to add a breakfast meal next month, and hoefully drop down to 4 bottles with an earlier bedtime of 8pm, but we shall see!

Anyway, Nicole, if you are worried about Izzy's formula intake, could you feed her less solids? I wonder if that would help? I just looked at my pedi's feeding chart thing and it says 24-32 oz up until 10 months, and 10-12 months is 16-24 oz. I dunno if that helps. Also, what time does Izzy eat in the morning? if she eats at like 8 and then not again until noon, could you maybe add like a 4 oz bottle in there as a snack?

 

[7beasley]

Anyway, Nicole, if you are worried about Izzy's formula intake, could you feed her less solids? I wonder if that would help? I just looked at my pedi's feeding chart thing and it says 24-32 oz up until 10 months, and 10-12 months is 16-24 oz. I dunno if that helps. Also, what time does Izzy eat in the morning? if she eats at like 8 and then not again until noon, could you maybe add like a 4 oz bottle in there as a snack?

Hi

Those are good ideas -- a midmorning bottle snack might be the way to go. She has her 6 six month check up and shots on May 6th and I am going to talk to the doctor about the formula drinking. She is VERY hungry -- she just does not want the bottle. She will refuse to drink the bottle and then will eat all her food. For whatever reason she just doesn't like the formula that much anymore. She is growing like a weed though -- at 6 months she is over 27 inches long and already 18.5 pounds. She looks much older than she is too.

********
Glad to hear Zoe and Sam are doing so great. Time really flies by doesn't it. It seems like just yesterday to me that I was struggling to GET pregnant and now I have a 6 month old baby. Unbelievable.


-Nicole

 

[kellyf2626]

Nicole....

Brady did the exact same thing when he started cereal and fruits. He would refuse the bottle, even though I knew he was still hungry. Are you making the cereal/oatmeal with formula? If so, my ped said that counts toward "total formula intake". She also said not to worry - that it is natural for them to take less formula. Brady is now eating a ton of finger foods - waffle for breakfast, raviolis, mac and cheese, graham crackers, etc... He now only takes about 15 oz a day, which is fine.

As for the whole juice thing - I gave Brady apple juice (straight apple juice, not water) in a sippy cup starting at 5 months old. He loved it - and it really, really helped with his bad constipation. Now he prefers water, so that is what I give him. I usually give it to him when he is eating (to slosh down the food) and if we are out and about shopping, etc...

This is Brady's current schedule:

7am: 6oz
8am: Eggo waffle, jar stage 3 fruit
10am: 3oz before am nap
12:30: raviolis, jar stage 3 fruit or veggie, cheerios
3:00: 3oz before pm nap
5:30: mac and cheese, jar of stage 3 fruit, graham crackers
7:00: 3 oz (sometimes more) before bed

 

[kellyf2626]

I just realized, Nicole, that you are going to Disney around the same time we are!! What are the actual dates? I think we miss you by a week!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

He did it! For the first time ever, Owen slept in his own bed at night, and went right back to sleep in his bed after both nighttime feedings! Dh is thrilled - he's been nervous about co-sleeping since day 1 - and I'm pleased but a little sad. I do like snuggling my little bug, but I have to agree that it was nice to have the bed to ourselves again. We'll see how he does from now on. He might not do it again tonight, or he might be set from here out, but it's good to know that he's learning how to sleep without being held. And I do think the Amby bed has made a huge difference! He really sleeps soundly in there.

We had an appt with a pediatric nutritionist today to talk about how to help Owen gain weight. He's still just 3% for weight and the drs. are all worried. I think he's just a little guy - he's alert, active, hitting all his developmental milestones, and looks fine, just small. But they want us to increase the amount of food he's getting to see if he'll grow. He did gain 7oz in the last week since we started him on cereal, so the new advice is to make sure he gets 2-4 tbsps of cereal twice a day for the next couple weeks, and then add in veggies and fruits, but not to decrease the number of times he's nursing.

DH is skeptical of what he calls "the Gerber method" of only doing single-ingredient foods with no herbs or spices. He likes some of the methods from other cultures of just setting aside a portion of the family food before it is seasoned too heavily and grinding that up for the baby. I'm still trying to find some solid medical evidence to support one method or the other, but so far all I can find is just the statement that their tummies can't handle more than one ingredient at a time but nothing to back that up. Dh says it sounds more like tradition than medical fact, so I'm not quite sure what to do. We did find the Indian government's guidelines for introducing solid foods, and they seem to support DH's ideas more than the "gerber method", but I do wish I had more information from other countries to go on here.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Bethany - we pretty much used the method your husband is talking about. If we were making something he could eat, we just kept some aside for him. We only used baby cereal for a bit, and then changed to making him oatmeal, pancakes, etc. The only thing I always buy as baby food is prunes. I can't stand the thought of making them I think whichever way you decide will work. All babies grow up pretty well despite everything we think we did wrong.

As far as eating, Christopher is finally down to some sort of pattern on how much / what he'll eat. The only food we can't get into him is white potatoes.
7:00 - oatmeal/pancakes/toast and some fruit
9:00 - 8oz bottle
12:00 - veggies/yogurt or cottage cheese
2:00 - 8oz bottle
4:30 - 4oz bottle or juice
6:30 - veggies and some meat or pasta
8:00 - 8 oz bottle

Everything I've read says to make sure he's having snacks, but he's really not interested. Unless there are Cheerios involved - those are always a hit

So his birthday party is tomorrow. I made him a sandcastle cake, which came out pretty good. If it survives the cats overnight, I"ll get a pic of it. Wish me luck with all of these people at the house tomorrow. Hopefully he'll nap really well and be happy about the whole thing!

 

[Lachesis00]

Happy belated birthday to your son!!

Sorry I haven't checked in. I have some extremely low iron issues, I start transfusions on Tuesday, and I have lower then low platelets, even for me (30,000) and between the 2, I get extremely tired. The kids are actually the easy part of life!

Lydia had an appt yesterday. She went from 6# 5oz last week to 7# 1oz yesterday. She gained 1/2 inch since her birth. Since she wasn't even due until May 15th, I'd say she's doing pretty darn good!!

Aiden is 11 months old today and was 22# and 29" long. He slowed down on his growing, whereas Lydia is an eating machine. She is eating 2-4 oz every 2 hours or less. She is going to eat me out of house and home LOL.

I'm still getting use to the idea of 3 kids. I am also having bonding issues with her. I mean I have, but not like I did with Aiden (yet). And it is bugging me. And yet, I feel like I am almost neglecting Aiden at times (I am not, but it feels like it... since I can't give him 100% of my time). Part of the problem is, I can't carry him or pick him up yet, so I rely on others to help me.

As for how I found out, I went in for the pap, and ended up riding over to the ER (next door/across the street) in the nude (OH I had on one of those cute paper gowns and a blanket) and they did an ultrasound which said I was 34 weeks. I had her at 35 weeks and we came home before she was 36 weeks. Amazing...
I probably did feel her but she was laying weird... normally they lay center? she was on my left side, curled. I didn't know it if I did feel her. Kinda sucks, I feel almost cheated... didn't really get to experience pregnancy (no one throw tomatoes!).

This did happen with Aiden. I went in at 40 weeks + one day to the Urgent Care thinking a cyst was popping. We headed over to the ER when the pain got too bad. I thought I was mis-carrying an early pregnancy LOL.

I look at her and wonder how she fit! She is 19.5" and Aiden was 22" I will be curious to see how long she is on her actual due date. She has long legs and arms. Both my boys had short legs and long torsos.

My 3 kiddos taken yesterday....

Happy Birthday!!! The year went by soo fast didn't it. My DS is ONE today! Yikes. How big is your DS? I want to say Christopher right? We have our one year on Monday but based on his pre-op in February he is about 26.5lbs and 32inches. We are still rearfacing in a Marathon. My DS has a longer torso I think, not so long legs. He is still in the first shoulder strap slot.

Rachel - WOW, Congratulations!!! I can't even imagine going in for a routine appointment and coming out pregnant. Did they tell you how far along you were then? Did this happen with Aiden too?? I would be freaking out every month now wondering if I was just going to go to a normal appointment and find out I was going to have another baby!! Did you feel her at all moving???

 

[HollyJoy]

Lachesis.. Your stories are amazing!!

Some sad news to share with you ladies... I'm so torn up, and just needed to share. A very good friend of mine, in fact the one who has loaned me all the big stuff for Amanda Joy, lost her baby this past week. She had some condition where there was a tear between the placenta, and and where it connects. Anyway, they gave her a 50% chance of losing the baby, and strict orders of what she could do , and couldn't do. She went in to the doctor the other day for a check up, and they did an on the spot sono, just to make sure things were okay. Unfortunately they weren't, and she had a D&C the next day. She was 14 weeks. I just keep holding AJ a little tighter, and giving her a few more hugs. They truly are little miracles!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I don't think I've ever posted here! Hi ladies! I've posted some pictures of Mo on a thread entitled I'M A PROUD MOMMY! Amazing at how much he's grown in 4 1/2 months!

 

[kellyf2626]

Lachesis.. Your stories are amazing!!

Some sad news to share with you ladies... I'm so torn up, and just needed to share. A very good friend of mine, in fact the one who has loaned me all the big stuff for Amanda Joy, lost her baby this past week. She had some condition where there was a tear between the placenta, and and where it connects. Anyway, they gave her a 50% chance of losing the baby, and strict orders of what she could do , and couldn't do. She went in to the doctor the other day for a check up, and they did an on the spot sono, just to make sure things were okay. Unfortunately they weren't, and she had a D&C the next day. She was 14 weeks. I just keep holding AJ a little tighter, and giving her a few more hugs. They truly are little miracles!

Oh Holly....how awful. I will be thinking of your friend.... Yes, our little one's are absolute MIRACLES!!

I don't think I've ever posted here! Hi ladies! I've posted some pictures of Mo on a thread entitled I'M A PROUD MOMMY! Amazing at how much he's grown in 4 1/2 months!

Yay to see you over here Denise!! Post some pics here too!!

 

[Lachesis00]

Oh how terrible. I thank God daily, all 3 of my kids are OK. So many things could have gone wrong

(((wave)))) Welcome Denise!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

It's been a crazy weekend and poor Owen has had to deal with major disruptions in his schedule, but he's been a trouper and despite it all has been now consistently been sleeping in his Amby bed for both naps and overnight! He's sitting in his new high chair in the kitchen right now, talking to DH while he cooks. (DH is the chef in our family - I'm spoiled! ) It's really cute seeing the two of them together!

DH bought a food mill and we're going to go ahead and make our own baby food. Owen is getting avacado for dinner tonight - need to fatten that boy up! We get a box of organic produce each week from a local farm, and we're going to make most of his food from that.

And Holly, I'm holding Owen a little closer after that story. He is a blessing beyond measure...

 

[ashjohnson80]

I don't think I've ever posted here! Hi ladies! I've posted some pictures of Mo on a thread entitled I'M A PROUD MOMMY! Amazing at how much he's grown in 4 1/2 months!

Hey there! Good to see you here!

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Hi Denise! Nice to see you Mo is adorable!!!!

 

[Lachesis00]

When do babies go through the first growing spurt? Lydia isn't even due until the 15th of May (born April 7th), and we're thinking she is hitting a growth spurt. She's had 3 bottles (4-6 oz) since 3:30pm. It's 8pm now. She does however sleep really good (4-6 hour stretches at night, 2-3 hours in the daytime, alert for 1-2 hours at a time, looks at everything, wide eyed!!).

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Lachesis - I thought the doc told me 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year. But Christopher seems to be on a continuous one, so I'm not much help. He's starting to get too tall for 24 months He only turned 1 yesterday - I'm not ready for 2T clothes yet

 

[7beasley]

Hi Guys.

Thanks for all the food advice/info!!

Kelly -- we are heading to Disney Sept 13-20th -- out of Boston, MA (Logan) -- I know you are a New Englander as well. We are staying at POFQ. It is just me and DH going -- no Izzy for this trip. She will be just shy of a year in September -- she is going to stay with my parents for a few days and my in-laws for a few days...I will miss her like crazy but am really looking forward to some alone time with DH! When are you going?

Bethany -- great news about Owen sleeping through the night! Yeah!!

Jen -- 1 year already -- wow -- time really does fly. I remember your BFP from the TTC thread.

Lacheis -- what an amazing story -- I can't imagine going in to the doctor and basically leaving with a baby. You should send your story to PEOPLE magazine -- that is one of the human interest stories they love.

Hollly -- that is so sad about your friend. You are right - we should all give our little ones an extra hug and kiss tonight.

Denise -- good to see you on this thread -- Mo is getting so big!!

Ash -- hi Ash -- when are we going to get to see some more of your awesome homemade outfits for Ellery? Hope you and she are doing well.

********

Izzy is sick (again) - this is her third cold since starting daycare -- she only goes to daycare on Mondays and Fridays -- it feels like she is constantly sick. The last 2 times have been a respiratory thing and an ear infection -- she got amoxiciylian both times -- she has a really bad cough now. I think that is contributing to her lack of bottle eating as well.

At least she is still sleeping good -- thank god her colds don't keep her up!

Have a good night all!
-Nicole

 

[ashjohnson80]

Ellery is sick too. This is her first cold. I feel so bad for her. She hasn't eaten very well today either. I'm taking her to the doctor in the morning. My friend brought her daughter over to visit last Thursday and I think that's where she caught it.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Kelly asked me to post here so he ya go! Hard to believe how fast they grow. Here are pictures of Mo from the first 4 months of his life! WOW!

Moshe at only 1 day old!

Mo at one week old!

Three weeks old here!

Mo and Daddy. He's one month old here!

A month and half here!

His first visit to the beauty shop with mommy!

Over 2 months old here!

What up y'all??!!

Almost 3 months old here!

I took him to the zoo to celebrate turning 3 months. We had a FAB time!!

Check out the shoes!

Pay attention to this tummy time in comparison to the next I will post towards the end! Amazing how much stronger he is now!

He LOVES this activity center!!

His new friend on his 2nd visit to the beauty shop with mommy!

His first time eating cereal at 4 months...or just a day shy of 4 months actually!

NOW look at his tummy time at 4 months!! WOW!!

He LOVES our walks together!!

Isn't he amazing??!!

After bath time!

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed! Isn't it AMAZING how fast they grow??!!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Lachesis.. Your stories are amazing!!

Some sad news to share with you ladies... I'm so torn up, and just needed to share. A very good friend of mine, in fact the one who has loaned me all the big stuff for Amanda Joy, lost her baby this past week. She had some condition where there was a tear between the placenta, and and where it connects. Anyway, they gave her a 50% chance of losing the baby, and strict orders of what she could do , and couldn't do. She went in to the doctor the other day for a check up, and they did an on the spot sono, just to make sure things were okay. Unfortunately they weren't, and she had a D&C the next day. She was 14 weeks. I just keep holding AJ a little tighter, and giving her a few more hugs. They truly are little miracles!