The "Newest" Moms Hangout...

[Piecey]

YEA, tomorrow,,,

not acting different or like it bugs him.

thinking wait it out... call pediatricuan in morning?.. h,,mmmm *sorry till one hand /

 

[DannysMom]

Yep feeding questions definitely take a backseat here. So, if it were me, I would not be inclined to freak out, rather just watch & wait & call the ped in the AM. Remember chicken pox is a viral illness, unlikely that the hospital would do anything except supportive care. Things like, making sure that he stays hydrated & getting nutrition through an IV if he's not eating, giving him meds to reduce fever or itch if he has them.

So if Lucas seems well & comfortable, I'd avoid the hospital. And if things change overnight, well you can always reevaluate & change your mind, as they are there (at the hospital, that is) all night.

Good luck, I hope that both your DH & Lucas are allright.

 

[ShootingStarMom2]

Forgive me but this post is super helpful for me!! Lily is bf and she was up like every 45 minutes or so too and I very nearly stopped bfing her cuz ut was so overwhelming...it feels good to hear that formula fed infants do the same thing. BTW when Lily did this it was a growth spurt...this week has been SOOO much better. It makes me dread 6 weeks and especially 12 (when I go back to work).

I need to remember that there are a bunch of fellow bfers here...I've had some close calls with quitting when I feel overwhelmed and I know you'd be a big help...Kellymom can be a bit intimidating. At this point Lily is completely addicted to the nipple shield, but she's super healthy and growing like crazy so I try not to stress so much.

I hope you hang in there! It's easier once they start to show their personality and "grow up" a little. I just keep thinking by Christmas my LO will be on at least cereal with some baby food. That makes it even easier. You can do it!

I don't think the going every 4 hrs between feeding and then sleeping thru the night is that unusual. Well, the sleeping thru the night that long is in my book LOL. That is a longtime at night! Could be he's one of those babies who does great on a schedule and he kind of makes a schedule himself. He's gaining great though!

Amelia nurses about every 2-4 hrs except at night, she'll do a 4-5 hr stretch. Feeding her is still a round the clock thing but that's very typical for nursing babies, as breastmilk digests faster than formula.

I didn't think so either. DS2 will take a super long afternoon nap for me for about 3 hours. He eats about 8-10 times a day. His last feeding is at 9, 10, or 11ish and then down for the night until 6, 7, or 8. If he does wake up early he will nurse and go right back to sleep. I usually just snuggle him after that feed and not put him back in his bed. I can watch the news or sneak in a shower before DS1 wakes and demands cereal!

 

[ShootingStarMom2]

YEA, tomorrow,,,

not acting different or like it bugs him.

thinking wait it out... call pediatricuan in morning?.. h,,mmmm *sorry till one hand /

Yeah, I would call tomorrow. Can you leave messages for the doctor at all? We can leave a message so you can get in right away the next day instead of waiting.

 

[harleyquinn]

I think that is awesome for 4 weeks!

Nursing is overwhelming at the beginning but it's so worth it. And it will get better. I'd say around 6 weeks, she suddenly was able to go a good 3 hrs without nursing (before she was one of those babies that nursed every hour it seemed) and by 8 weeks she was just easier in general. It is TOUGH at first but it will get easier...then before you know it they start solids and then it's easier even then!!! And mamamilk is free.

If you have any questions just let me know, I'm a seasoned nurser.

I hope you hang in there! It's easier once they start to show their personality and "grow up" a little. I just keep thinking by Christmas my LO will be on at least cereal with some baby food. That makes it even easier. You can do it!

Thanks to both of you!! I usually only want to quit when I'm having a touch of baby blues or a particularly difficult night. I'll probably need you guys for the next growth spurt--that was a really rough few nights/days.

 

[Piecey]

Yeah, I would call tomorrow. Can you leave messages for the doctor at all? We can leave a message so you can get in right away the next day instead of waiting.

No, I think it's because his office is in within the hospital so he's an "on-call" for them. There is always a pediatrician on call if we go to the ER....

 

[harleyquinn]

No, I think it's because his office is in within the hospital so he's an "on-call" for them. There is always a pediatrician on call if we go to the ER....

Does your office have an on call emergency doc for the office? Mine does, you just call the office and you'll get the answering service who will page the dr and have them call you back. They highly encourage us to do this before going anywhere--they'll tell you what to do.

 

[rparmfamily]

Honestly, it's very hard to get chix pox from someone with shingles. Does your DH have any open sores? He'd have to touch his open sores, then touch Lucus on a mucus membrane type area (nose, mouth,etc) in order for Lucas to get it. Personally, I'd just keep an eye on him and just worry about it tomorrow. There isn't anything the hospital is going to do. Just keep feeding him as usual and watch for a fever perhaps. My sister got chix pox as a baby (from me LOL) and she was fine. And hey, natural immunity is always better than one created by a vaccine! (since it wears off)

 

[rparmfamily]

Thanks to both of you!! I usually only want to quit when I'm having a touch of baby blues or a particularly difficult night. I'll probably need you guys for the next growth spurt--that was a really rough few nights/days.

It is tough. We were having a rough night with Ameila one time and DH was like "is she getting enough to eat?" which for a split second made me doubt it. But then luckily my brain kicked in and went thru how nursing moms know if baby is getting enough...enough wet diapers,etc. She had a soaked diaper like every hour at that point plus all those poopy ones too. She was just having a fussy growth spurt and she was fine a day or so later.

And some babies just are fussier too. I've had 2 of those LOL! Throw in some baby blues and it's hard on mama. I personally think the post pardam time is so underrated...it's HARD. You're a mess, physically and mentally and emotionally. Sleep deprived, bleeding, leaking, etc. But it gets better, thank goodness!

 

[Piecey]

Does your office have an on call emergency doc for the office? Mine does, you just call the office and you'll get the answering service who will page the dr and have them call you back. They highly encourage us to do this before going anywhere--they'll tell you what to do.

No, we're supposed to go to the "urgent care" portion of the ER. I might be wrong, but I think it closes at 9pm.
After that, we're to go to the ER and the on-call pediatrician is paged.

The urgent care thing confuses most people outside this area. You go in the ER doors but you're taken into a separate part of the hospital-- not the actual ER. It's set up exactly like a Dr.'s office with rooms, scale, etc. and it's treated as an urgent care facility.
The hospital started this a few years back and it's been a hit- people are more comfortable going to the hospital for minor things than the local MedExpress clinic... (people around here seem to be very biased-- you either hate the 'county' hospital or love it. I hate it. So we go to a private, catholic hospital... they have a lot of 'extras' like the free valet, the urgent care portion of the ER, etc... but they do things differently for sure!)

 

[harleyquinn]

It is tough. We were having a rough night with Ameila one time and DH was like "is she getting enough to eat?" which for a split second made me doubt it. But then luckily my brain kicked in and went thru how nursing moms know if baby is getting enough...enough wet diapers,etc. She had a soaked diaper like every hour at that point plus all those poopy ones too. She was just having a fussy growth spurt and she was fine a day or so later.

And some babies just are fussier too. I've had 2 of those LOL! Throw in some baby blues and it's hard on mama. I personally think the post pardam time is so underrated...it's HARD. You're a mess, physically and mentally and emotionally. Sleep deprived, bleeding, leaking, etc. But it gets better, thank goodness!

I do that a lot...is she getting enough? Hello? yeah...look at the 6 thousand dirty diapers! lol

No, we're supposed to go to the "urgent care" portion of the ER. I might be wrong, but I think it closes at 9pm.
After that, we're to go to the ER and the on-call pediatrician is paged.

The urgent care thing confuses most people outside this area. You go in the ER doors but you're taken into a separate part of the hospital-- not the actual ER. It's set up exactly like a Dr.'s office with rooms, scale, etc. and it's treated as an urgent care facility.
The hospital started this a few years back and it's been a hit- people are more comfortable going to the hospital for minor things than the local MedExpress clinic... (people around here seem to be very biased-- you either hate the 'county' hospital or love it. I hate it. So we go to a private, catholic hospital... they have a lot of 'extras' like the free valet, the urgent care portion of the ER, etc... but they do things differently for sure!)

Darn...sorry. Lily has so many spots on her skin, I wouldn't know the difference between the normal stuff vs something new.

Best of luck!

 

[Piecey]

I do that a lot...is she getting enough? Hello? yeah...look at the 6 thousand dirty diapers! lol



Darn...sorry. Lily has so many spots on her skin, I wouldn't know the difference between the normal stuff vs something new.

Best of luck!

Are they little red bumps?

Lucas had little red bumps everywhere... I figured it was normal "baby" stuff and his pediatrician said it's something that starts with a d and super common. Rub a little hydro-cortisone cream on it. Lucas' spots went away overnight!

 

[harleyquinn]

Are they little red bumps?

Lucas had little red bumps everywhere... I figured it was normal "baby" stuff and his pediatrician said it's something that starts with a d and super common. Rub a little hydro-cortisone cream on it. Lucas' spots went away overnight!

Yep, that's it. She has that and baby acne right now. The red bumps come and go from different areas from day to day it seems...her doc said they're normal and not to worry, but I might try the cream. Thanks!

 

[rparmfamily]

Amelia also has the red bumps all over, like the size of a pinprick. They are on her torso, legs, arms,etc. Her face is rashy some days and clear others LOL.

 

[Piecey]

Patsy, I think eating that infrequently is pretty unusual. You may be better off counting how many oz he eats in 24 hour

The one thing that may be concerning is that he doesn't eat from 10 pm til 9 am -- that's kind of a long stretch for a small (or young) baby not to eat. He's having difficulty w/ weight gain right?

Does your ped know he's only taking 4 bottles a day? If s/he's assuming 6-8 bottles a day, I can see where they may be concerned w/ the 8 oz bottles.

I guess I never thought about it being unusual until this thread. I honestly can't remember if I told him he only takes 4 bottles... but he asked me how many oz.'s and if he was keeping it down alright. I told him 24-32oz a day (it honestly does vary, I usually throw a 6oz bottle in as one of the middays... either the 11-ish or the 4-ish feeding) and I KNOW I told someone (either nurse or pediatrician) that he usually sleeps from 10-9ish.
He's not having difficulty with weight gain, per say. He's 75th percentile... so he's dropped from 98th, but to some point that was to be expected. He was just a big boy at birth! The pediatrician said his weight was fine.

I'm sorry about Katie wearing you out last night. I also hope Dylan gets home soon for you guys.

Maybe Lucas could do smaller bottles if he ate more frequently?

Now that I have her drinking 5 times a day (gets baby food in between), I've increased her bottles at daycare from 5 to 6 ounces. I've started the weaning process (boy, I have mixed feelings about that!) and I anticipate giving her five 6-ounce bottles a day, with baby food added in. So 30 ounces total.

He won't take smaller amounts. He cries until you give him more. Which is what prompted my desperate call to the pediatrician's office a few weeks back... he was driving me batty! He wants to eat until he's full and 4oz won't cut it. Sometimes when I make him a 6oz bottle midday, it won't cut it either. I'll have to go back and get him some more.

I can definitely tell when he is having a growth spurt... DH and I call them "snack hours" when he'll get his normal 6oz bottle and then an hour later he'll get fussy so he'll get 2oz more... then 2oz more... little snacks most of the day. That isn't often, so I suppose the 4bottles a day isn't a rule as much as it is an average for us.

I don't think thats strange. I thought Jake was strange for eating so often! I guess Jake eats more often because he doesn't always finish the bottle in one sitting but if Lucas is taking the whole bottle in one sitting it makes sense that he would only be eating 4 times a day. I wish Jake would be on a schedule like that!

I truly got lucky with Lucas. He really made his own schedule. He's kept pretty consistent-- to the point that I can head him off with the bottles now before he gets fussy. That is NICE! No fussy boy.
Jake will get there.

(I agree totally about the postpartum thing, too! Almost everything sets me off into a state of depression again. Yesterday, I wanted to cancel Disney in October. I was having issues "seeing the point" of taking Lucas so young... DH took the phone away from me. Gotta love him. It's really killing me that my brother is leaving in less than two months. )

You have a point; I'm looking at it from the perspective of a nursing mom. Formula definitely gets digested more slowly.

and boy is the soy formula STINKY!

I don't think the going every 4 hrs between feeding and then sleeping thru the night is that unusual. Well, the sleeping thru the night that long is in my book LOL. That is a longtime at night! Could be he's one of those babies who does great on a schedule and he kind of makes a schedule himself. He's gaining great though!

He did make the schedule himself. He probably knew he had to because I'm helpless...

So today is the first full day that DH is at work and it's been great so far. Lily woke up every 1-2 hours to feed last night, but she went right back to sleep in between, which is a huge improvement from wide awake 3am baby. She keeps sleeping a 3-4 hour stretch around 5-6am wakes to eat and then goes back to sleep for another 3 hours. I wish we could get that pushed back! But nothing is working so far.

I'm so glad that Lily was good for you today. Maybe she knew her mama needed her to behave to keep her sanity. I know the first day without DH (he just took a week off) was totally weird for me. I still hurt, I was crying all the time.... you go girl! You did better than me!

Yep feeding questions definitely take a backseat here. So, if it were me, I would not be inclined to freak out, rather just watch & wait & call the ped in the AM. Remember chicken pox is a viral illness, unlikely that the hospital would do anything except supportive care. Things like, making sure that he stays hydrated & getting nutrition through an IV if he's not eating, giving him meds to reduce fever or itch if he has them.

So if Lucas seems well & comfortable, I'd avoid the hospital. And if things change overnight, well you can always reevaluate & change your mind, as they are there (at the hospital, that is) all night.

Good luck, I hope that both your DH & Lucas are allright.

My mother freaked me out the most. She started talking about how when my dad got shingles they were super painful, etc. and I was .... I talked to my dad and he backed me up on the waiting to go to the pediatrician in the morning.
He still has some redness, though no bumps... but I might beg them to take a look anyway. I'll pay the $10 copay for some piece of mind.

Honestly, it's very hard to get chix pox from someone with shingles. Does your DH have any open sores? He'd have to touch his open sores, then touch Lucus on a mucus membrane type area (nose, mouth,etc) in order for Lucas to get it. Personally, I'd just keep an eye on him and just worry about it tomorrow. There isn't anything the hospital is going to do. Just keep feeding him as usual and watch for a fever perhaps. My sister got chix pox as a baby (from me LOL) and she was fine. And hey, natural immunity is always better than one created by a vaccine! (since it wears off)

Well, our concern is that Lucas' redness is around his eyes. Research says that if not treated it can lead to vision loss. This was researched because DH's outbreak is in the area between his nose and eyes, going up around his eyelid. Luckily, he is wearing his glasses so they keep him from touching it thoughtlessly.... he has to go back to the Dr. tomorrow to evaluate how it is doing because if it gets in his eye he needs to see an eye doctor.

Amelia also has the red bumps all over, like the size of a pinprick. They are on her torso, legs, arms,etc. Her face is rashy some days and clear others LOL.

The cream cleared Lucas right up!

****************

Alright, DH and I decided to utilize his time off and finish our living room. It's a mess now. Lucas has been fussy all day (at one point DH yelled at me to take him to the ER. He's just not around Lucas all day like I am, I knew I could calm him down and I felt very victorious when he fell asleep after I cuddled him a bit! ) So I started to make dinner and all I had was thawed ground beef.. so I tried hamburger helper. Yuck-o! I don't know what I did but we both turned our noses at it. That is my day, I guess...

So I'm waiting on Dominos to deliver dinner ...

*i edited out some of the above quotes to save space.*

 

[staley7580]

Patsy.. I wouldnt worry about his eating schedule.. He is a bigger boy, and it sounds like he is on the same schedule as an older baby would be. As long as he is healthy and happy.. I wouldnt stress on it. I hope the rash goes away!! Poor little fella. Hopefully it is nothing.

My babies must be going through a massive growth spurt of something. I opened a can of formula around 1pm yesterday, and it is almost gone. I have no idea how much one of those make, but OMG. I have been going through the stuff like crazy lately! What generally lasts me a month, lasted me three weeks. Safeway has it on sale this week.. I guess I need to pick up a few more cans. I hope they slow down soon... $23. in less then 2 days is out of control.

Oh.. and I almost killed Jasmine with a banana today. I mashed it up.. what I thought was really well... guess not! She started choking on it, and I dont do well in an emergency. I grabbed her and started screaming her name, and I told Alex to go get his dad.. My dh comes running in... Jasmine looks up at him.. and SMILES!!OMG. I almost DIED! I totally almost had a baby banana massacre on my hands. My dh said that I can only feed them from a jar from now on. Yeah.. I am so all over that!

 

[Piecey]

So do bananas not work in those mesh feeders?

And yea, I'm scared now. Lucas doesn't need solids, right??

 

[DannysMom]

So do bananas not work in those mesh feeders?

And yea, I'm scared now. Lucas doesn't need solids, right??

I think they do.... I never used one with my older son as he had issue with being wet/sticky/messy & wouldn't use one.

And no Lucas does not need solids *yet*.... generally sometime around 4-6 months is when it's generally advised to start solids & then it's mostly for practice. Most nutrition will come from liquids (formula or bre@astmilk) for the first year or so.

 

[Piecey]

So, maybe I'm biased (I am, I realize) but I think the little dribble of formula is super cute.

I posed him with the bottle, but I should have grabbed the remote for the other hand...

 

[Laura]

LOL, he looks like he's saying "Woman! Bring me another bottle!"