The Official New Mom Thread Part 2

[nucpharm29]

Morning all!

Tasha-Great to see you back! Good luck with the baby dedication. My mom made a gown for DD out of her wedding dress, but by the time we dedicated her it almost didn't fit. Now we're trying to find out what to do for DS--mom has enough fabric left to make him a little vest, but that's it. When I was little boys wore the gowns just like the girls, but I think DH would die if we put Matthew in a "dress"!

Gems--cute pic of Shelby and her friend. DD also had ecxema pretty bad. We were told it was b/c she was awinter baby with all the dry air and all. We used hydrocortisone lotion on the really bad patches and then covered that with Eucerin cream. We were also only told to bathe her every 3 days to keep more moisture in the skin. We ended up having to resort to a prescription cream, b/c it just wouldn't go away. Good luck!

Valarie--Good luck on your interview! I hope you're feeling better!

Alice28--Bfeeding until 26 months--You go girl! However, I was hoping to "reclaim" my body a little before then! Good luck planning a disney trip--I would love to plan a "meet" sometime! We have 300pts (after banking this year's points) to use with DVC before Aug '07. So for us that would be at least 2 trips. Maybe I can talk DH into going again this year--maybe I can say it would be a sanity saver, to hang out with other DIS moms!

bellacam--good luck with Aidan's 6 month checkup.

J&D-I'm in for an Easter exchange --I too missed out on the Christmas one; and it sounded like so much fun! Sorry about your carpet, hope you can find an easy solution

Diskim-Your tax man sounds just like our financial adviser from Prudential--Good thing he left Prudential for another job-Maybe he IS your tax man!

Joats--sorry to hear about Jace's blood disorder. Will be sending lots of prayers and pd your way! Don't know what to say about the bathtub. I don't remember my back hurting with DD and I haven't reached that stage with DS. Hope you can find a solution!

DisneyPhD--Hope lily feels better soon!

Thanks for all the advice on bottles. I'll just keep trying! Well, not much on our plate today. It looks like rain, so we'll be in the house all day! Hope everyone has a great day! Will check in later--And hey, will you guys slow down a little--I have only been away about 18hrs and 2 1/2 pages to catch up on!

 

[vald1977]

I guess I need to go back and read that clique thread too. I read it when it was first posted but didn't keep up with it. Justthat, I was just thinking the same thing. If I asked a question on here that I really wanted an answer to and no one responded to it, I would just ask again. You guys can't ignore me if I bug you enough ! I'm just joking of course. I have never felt ignored on this thread or any other here on the Dis. I think some people take things a bit too personally.

Bridget,
I hope Aidan's appt. goes well. It's hard to believe it's been a half year isn't it?

Tasha,
Good to see you back . I hope the dedication goes nicely. I think a pretty Easter dress is a great idea. We still need to get on the ball and plan Katie's Christening and if we wait too much longer the Christening gown I want to use (it was mine) isn't going to fit her. Maybe I'll check out the Easter stuff and pick her something up just in case.

Nucpharm,
I hope you can find something fun to do in the house. Our weather has been pretty gloomy also and it makes me soo sleepy.

Talk to you all later .

 

[DisneyPhD]

Welcome back Tasha!

I think Lily slpet well last night. I kept thinking I was heraing her, but she was't crying so I didn't go in. Still when she is sick I never sleep well. Anyway I took her out of her room (where the vapariser was going) to my bed to nurse and she had such a bugering hard time that she started coughing, and weazing and difficult time breating. I had to take her back in her room with the vaporizer to get her to calm down. When she gets upset she has a hart time breathing. I think it is croup and talked with the nurse who agree and is concerned about the whole breathing problem thing. I take her in this afernoon after Anna gets out of school, but the nurse begged me not to bring any other kids in. Thanks Goodness my niece will be out of school and can wacth Anna for me. The nurse says there are a lot of sick kids out there right now.

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

I think Lily slpet well last night. I kept thinking I was heraing her, but she was't crying so I didn't go in.

I do the same thing! We don't have a monitor in our living room so I'm always making DH shush and mute the TV because I think I hear Lucas.

 

[Alice28]

Welcome back Tasha! Glad your computer is up & running again!

I have to say, that I was just daydreaming when I was wishing we could somehow meet up. It would be a logistical nightmare to try and do it! There are way too many of us, too many schedules, too many different budgets, etc. I tried meeting up with just one friend once at WDW and it kept getting delayed, cancelled, etc....I can't imagine trying to coordinate it with 15 or so of us! But it sure would be fun someday to try and attempt it!

DH went to work today- he got up at FOUR! I guess he was antsy. He was doing that the first several days at home cause he wasn't used to the time change yet, but geez! He left at 6 on the dot with expensive coffee in hand- wanted to bring something nice for the office. Today is my mini massage and last adjustment for my neck- it feels about 97% normal and I probably don't even need the adjustment, just the massage. Oh well.

Anyway, gotta get Sam out the door for school....

Oh- the 26 month nursing thing was NOT intentional- he just kept going and going and it is so hard to wean them when it's still the only thing that calms them down, esp with a headstrong personality like he has! After about 15-16 months, I did not nurse him in public anymore- I just felt awkward about it. I mean, to each her own, but even I felt it was superfluous at that point!

 

[DisKim]

Argh! I just typed an entire post and it got deleted!!!!!

I don't have time to retype it. I'll be back later.

 

[lissawynn]

Since I started this thread, I think I need to clarify why some people may have felt ignored or whatever their particular issue is/was.
Once in a very blue mooon a poster would come along and post very strange stuff or ask very strange questions. Maybe we as a group didn't know how to respond to those posts or thought the question was just too odd to answer. If someone was put off by that, there isn't anything that we can do but say we're sorry.
At no time has anyone on this thread intentionally ignored posts, flamed what someone else had written, or questioned another mom's choices. If anything, I'd say we're one of the more supportive groups of parents who post on a regular basis.
Through our pregnancies and different stages of motherhood, we've been there to support on another and offer advice, words of encouragement, or just a "shoulder" to lean on. After all, isn't that the point of a community board?
Yes, this thread moves quickly. Life moves quickly. We all try very hard to keep up with one another, but sometimes it just isn't possible. We do have husbands, kids, jobs, and other obligations to keep us busy. We all stop in when we can and reply to what we can remember. Val put is so well when she said if there was something important she had to ask and no one responded, she'd ask again.
As I wrote yesterday, this isn't junior high school. Let's not resort to labeling people as being cliqueish.

I'm done now.

 

[justhat]

Alice28, I just completely weaned Madison on December 11th-she was 21 months old. The reason I know the exact date, aside from it just being recent, was that baby 2 was conceived the week before and I was so happy to have finally weaned 1 when I started thinking I was pregnant. When I found out the next week I was sorta sad that I never got any time where my body was exclusively mine. I was thinking I'd have about 9 months or so to just be 'me' and not growing or feeding someone else, but the thought of someone else 'leeching' off of me from June 2003 till, gosh, whenever this one weans, say December 2007, was sorta depressing.

Anyway, I too never planned to go so long with it-I never really had a goal cause things were rough in the beginning so I sorta just took things day by day. Then nursing got super easy so I figured I'd go till a year. Then we planned a 3 week trip to Myrtle Beach, Savannah, and WDW last April, so Madison was 13 months (turned 14 months on the trip). She's such a light eater that I didn't want to wean her till after the trip, thinking at least I know if she had breastmilk she'd get some calories in (which was good cause she hardly ate the whole trip cause she was too excited). So I planned for 15 months. Then that came and went. By that time though, she was only nursing when she went to sleep at night, woke up in the morning, and then if she'd wake up during the night (which she started again when we went on the 3 week trip). We stopped the night nursing again and the going to bed meal at 16 months and then it was only first thing in the morning till 21 months. I too did not feel comfortable nursing her in public past around 14 months or so but she never really asked during the day anyway so that worked well. That first morning thing was tough to break though, simply cause I was lazy and didn't want to get out of bed so it was easier to let her climb in and nurse.

Okay, I'm not feeling well again so I'm gonna go lay down. I was going to nap with Madison but then my husband decided to come home for lunch so I figured I'd stay up (cause him making his lunch would wake me up anyway). Oh, and Madison was getting beat up when I picked her up from school today. I really don't blame her teacher cause she was walking a kid out to her mom, but the problem was that one of the assistants didn't come in and they didn't have a replacement so there was just 1 asst watching the kids on the playground while the head teacher walks the kids out to their moms or cars. Her teacher didn't even know what happened, but a nanny who saw it told me and the teacher when she brought Madison out crying. I was annoyed though cause even though I know we were shortstaffed where I worked sometimes, I wish they'd ask for a parent volunteer or something.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Alice28, I just completely weaned Madison on December 11th-she was 21 months old. The reason I know the exact date, aside from it just being recent, was that baby 2 was conceived the week before and I was so happy to have finally weaned 1 when I started thinking I was pregnant. When I found out the next week I was sorta sad that I never got any time where my body was exclusively mine. I was thinking I'd have about 9 months or so to just be 'me' and not growing or feeding someone else, but the thought of someone else 'leeching' off of me from June 2003 till, gosh, whenever this one weans, say December 2007, was sorta depressing.

Anyway, I too never planned to go so long with it-I never really had a goal cause things were rough in the beginning so I sorta just took things day by day. Then nursing got super easy so I figured I'd go till a year. Then we planned a 3 week trip to Myrtle Beach, Savannah, and WDW last April, so Madison was 13 months (turned 14 months on the trip). She's such a light eater that I didn't want to wean her till after the trip, thinking at least I know if she had breastmilk she'd get some calories in (which was good cause she hardly ate the whole trip cause she was too excited). So I planned for 15 months. Then that came and went. By that time though, she was only nursing when she went to sleep at night, woke up in the morning, and then if she'd wake up during the night (which she started again when we went on the 3 week trip). We stopped the night nursing again and the going to bed meal at 16 months and then it was only first thing in the morning till 21 months. I too did not feel comfortable nursing her in public past around 14 months or so but she never really asked during the day anyway so that worked well. That first morning thing was tough to break though, simply cause I was lazy and didn't want to get out of bed so it was easier to let her climb in and nurse.

My nursing story is pretty much the same. Acutally nursing an older child really isn't that hard at all, so if they want to and it gives them comfort (and imunities and nutrion) why push it. It normally is once or twice a day, always at home and in private. (at least affer 18 months or so.) There was a few times, in the hosptial when she hurt her arm and it was dinner time, on a airplane......... For the most part always at home with P.J.s on, that was the rule (when she was older.) I think I have everyone beat. It was 27 months for Anna. I did have a year inbetween before getting pregnant again.

I don't know if I will make it that far with Lily, the whole having to adjust my diet for her allergies. However it has gotten easy and my personal commitement if through the winter (so glad we still are now with her being sick right now.) She went through a phase a few months ago if anyone said the word nurse (talked about it in front of her) or she saw other babies nursing she wanted to. She seemd to have gotten over that.

 

[bellacam]

Hello again mommies!

Aidan and I are back from his 6 month appointment. My "little" man is 20lbs 5oz and is 28 in. He got three shots today and he did ok with them. The np said everthing else was great. He is cutting another tooth, so that should be fun. I did just realize I forgot to ask her about the sippy cups. For those of you with older babies, when did you introduce them? What were you giving your children in them? I have two Advent starter cups with a softer spout to use but am not really sure when to give it to him.

 

[lissawynn]

I think I'm caught up, for now...

WDW meet - Could we please do a meet in the summer? I would love to meet up with all of you, but going to WDW during school is so hard for me. Can you see all of us pushing strollers and chasing our kids all over WDW? That would be a hoot!

Hello to nupcharm, Val, and DisPhD!

Tasha - Welcome back! I hope your baby dedication goes well!

justthat - I hope you're feeling better. Did Madison get hurt at school? I hope not.

bellacam - Love the pics of Aidan in your sig. How did the drs. appointment go?

J&D - I'd love to do an Easter exchange! How's the carpet situation? My friend's parents' had to almost gut their home about 3 years ago after their master bath toilet leaked for hours. They had to live with her sister for about 4-5 months until their house was finished.

joats - I had to laugh about "King Jimmy". He certainly thinks he's in charge at our house.

Hillbeans - Love your new pic!

gems - Shelby and her friend look so cute! How's your DH's DIY stuff working out?

Alice - I was thinking about which SatC man my DH most closely resembles. I'd have to say he's a cross between Steve and Aidan. He's pretty cute and has that whole honest thing going on like Aidan, but he's also the everyman like Steve. I have to say, I love Harry! He's just so take-charge with Charlotte. Mr. Big, though, is my favorite. It's that smart-*** sarcastic thing. I love that!

DisKim - Sorry your post got erased. I hate when that happens. I hope you're having a good day at school.

I have to run to the ladies' before my class arrives! Have a good day!

 

[vald1977]

Lisawynn,
I have to say I agree with your assessment of the situation.

Once in a very blue mooon a poster would come along and post very strange stuff or ask very strange questions. Maybe we as a group didn't know how to respond to those posts or thought the question was just too odd to answer. If someone was put off by that, there isn't anything that we can do but say we're sorry.

Justthat,
I hope Madison is okay. Enjoy your nap .

Bridget,
Wow! Aidan is a big boy! He must look so cute with his teeth. We tried the sippy cup with Katie around the six month mark. She mostly likes to gnaw on the spout. Once I removed the no leak thingy and she got some of the water in her mouth and the look on her face was priceless. You would have thought it was poison . She let it all dribble out onto her shirt. She has drunk sips of water out of my water bottle before so I don't think it was the taste, just not what she expected. I would go ahead and let him try his cup. Even if he just plays with it, at least he's getting used to it.

DisneyPhd,
I really admire your commitment to Lily with breastfeeding. I think it's wonderful that you have stuck with it despite the allergies. I'm sure it has been beneficial for her in that way also. You've done great .

Robin,
I hope your Dh's day goes well. It must be so nice to be getting back to regular life.

 

[nucpharm29]

bellacam--I'm glad I'm not the only one with a "little" man! I forgot to mention it before, but Matthew already weighs 15 and 1/2 pounds and is 24 inches long and he's not even 3 months old yet! I'm not sure where these genes are coming from, b/c DH and I arent' big people. But DFIL is wanting a basketball player, so maybe he'll get his wish. About the sippy cups, we started DD around 7 months. We tried the avent cups first, but she just couldn't get the concept. Weird b/c she would take any kind of bottle offered. We ended up getting a really cheap ($1) cup from Wal-mart. It's called a Nuby with no valve. All she had to do was chew on the spout for liquid to come out. And we she finally mastered that cup, she could use anyone we offered to her. She never really like the avent ones, though.

justhat--I hope you got to take your nap and are feeling better. And I hope they find a better solution for keeping an eye on the kids at madison's school!

Well, I better go check on the baby. It never fails, that as soon as I put one kid down for a nap the other one wakes up. So, now that DD is asleep Matthew should be up momentarily! Hi, to everyone I missed! And have a great rest of the day!

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

nucpharm - Hope you can find some good rainy day activities.

Alice28 - Let us know how your DH's first day back went!

justhat - Poor Madison!

bellacam - Wow! Aidan is a big boy! Happy 6 month birthday to him! I haven't tried a sippy cup yet. Lucas has had some water, but he won't hold his own bottle so I didn't know if a sippy cup would be a good idea.

vald - How did your job interview go? Wasn't it today?

Hi to everyone else! I'm just enjoying a late lunch. My boss thinks it's a good idea to hold 2 hour meetings at noon.

 

[bellacam]

bellacam--I'm glad I'm not the only one with a "little" man! I forgot to mention it before, but Matthew already weighs 15 and 1/2 pounds and is 24 inches long and he's not even 3 months old yet!

That is too funny. Aidan was 15lbs 7oz and 24 inches at his 2 month check up. At birth he was 10lbs 12oz and 23 inches. What was Matthew?

 

[justhat]

Bellacam, wow, you do have a big 'little guy' on your hands! Madison was that height around 11 months or so and she's always been around 75th percentile for height. Are you guys tall or are you wondering whose genes he got too? Granted Madison isn't that big, but neither my husband nor I are as tall percentile wise. I'm 5'3" and he's 5'8", but his dad is really tall so we figure maybe she got some height from him.

About sippy cups, we started giving Madison one around 5 months or so. We took the valve out and just put some water in it just to get her used to the idea. Our dr said not to give any water to a breastfed baby till you start solids cause it can dilute their blood, but she said tiny amounts just to get her used to a cup was okay. We started solids about 6.5 months so the cup about a month before. She likes playing with it, but she never really got the hang of the sippy cup once the valve was back in. We gave up after a couple of months and around 11 months we taught her how to use a straw, which she loved, and that's what we've been using since. She figured out that she had to suck on the sippy, but would not tip the cup back so she'd only get air and she would not let me help her by tilting it back. So we bought straw sippys in the beginning to contain spills and I thought they were a great alternative.

I should clarify that Madison wasn't badly hurt or anything. The kids in her class are all under 3, but she's the youngest (or at least she was till the 3 new kids came, I think one of them is a little younger than her, maybe a month or 2) and 2nd smallest. So some little boy (I didn't really see which one) was hitting her in the face repeatedly, presumably cause she had a ball and he wanted it. That's what we were able to piece together, from her teacher who said she had been playing with a ball and the nanny who saw her getting smacked in the face several times. Having worked with toddlers before I had Madison, I know how fast those things happen, so I really don't get upset when she gets hurt at school (which has only happened 1 other time in October when she fell on the playground equipment), but in this case I was annoyed cause if they had proper staffing today that wouldn't have happened. And believe me, we had our share of people calling in sick at the last minute at the ceneter I worked at and sometimes we just couldn't get a fill in, so I even understand that (though it is illegal, cause the ratio in DC for toddlers is 4-1 and there are 12 kids in her class and today only 2 teachers). But aside from me, there are a couple of other moms in Madison's class who don't work, so they could very easily ask if someone could come in to help out. I would gladly volunteer if they don't have a sub, which I plan to tell them tomorrow, cause it's simply not safe to have 1 person watching up to 11 kids while the other teacher walks the kids out to go home.

We're watching Monsters Inc right now. Again. We have watched it every afternoon since Saturday. I feel like a bad mom, cause I never just stuck movies on everyday like this. She thinks the orange monster, I think his name is George, is Bear, from Bear in the Big Blue House. Everytime he comes on she yells "Mama, Bear!" Also, I haven't really been cooking much lately, so for lunch today Madison wanted pasta (as usual) so I bought this Table Time spaghettios and made her that. Well all of a sudden she started gagging and coughing and vomited it all up. Of course, they all came up whole, so she clearly did not chew them which is probably why she choked, but I still felt bad cause then she didn't want to eat it anymore. Well off to watch more Monsters Inc.!

 

[Alice28]

Thank you lissawynn for posting your post about our thread, because I had the same thoughts. But I was afraid to say anything for fear of sounding like a meanie. (I'm hiding behind the teacher and letting her do the dirty work. ).

So far DH sounds like he's having a good day- he sent me an email once they got his account set up and he already has his cell phone, pager and his office line set up. Oh boy! Tonight he's taking the boys to see Narnia- he wants to see it. Sam already saw it with a buddy.

I *may* be talking DH into a late summer Disney trip, but maybe just Disneyland. We laid in bed and looked at menus on All Ears for WDW and they seem smaller to me---maybe with the dining plan they have streamlined some restaurants? I think it makes the most financial sense for us to stay at Shades Of Green, which is supposed to be very nice and only $97 a night for us (and the rooms are the size of the CR or Poly's rooms- BIG). So $600- 700 for a room is much better for a week than $1200-1300 at the WL, even though we LOVE the Lodge. We could just eat wherever we wanted anyway with the money we save I guess. I just loved that mental thing of NOT worrying about paying for every single hamburger, popcorn and expensive entree, you know? Then again, we spent quite a bit of time at restaurants this last trip- we normally wouldn't eat QUITE that many sitdowns, but almost. We'll see. He wants to go to Hawaii so badly, and so do I, but not so much with all 3 kids at the ages they are at....And airfare is crazy there right now....the cheapest I can find is $475 R/T and if our vacation budget is about $3K that's almost all of it right there!

Anyway, Bellacam, it sounds like Aidan is a very healthy boy! Sure cute too in his pictures!

Justhat- don't worry about showing Monsters to Madison daily- do you have any IDEA how many times my oldest watched the Toy Story movies while I was preggo with Josh? The tapes broke and I had to buy new ones! You just do what you have to do to get by, you know?

 

[nucpharm29]

That is too funny. Aidan was 15lbs 7oz and 24 inches at his 2 month check up. At birth he was 10lbs 12oz and 23 inches. What was Matthew?

He was 9 lbs. 1.6oz and 21 1/2 inches long. And they induced me on my due date. DD was a week late (induced too), and I can't imagine what size he would have been had he come out on his own. The doctor thought he might be 8lbs, but when Matthew popped out everyone was like "that's a big baby!" My sister has a baby that's 10weeks older than matthew and they're the same size!

Justhat--don't worry about the movie--DD is obsessed with the Little Einsteins on Disney channel. So DH recorded her some, okay, all of the episodes he could and we play them over and over and over......and now she just got up from her nap singing the theme song. Guess what we'll be doing this afternoon!

 

[zalansky]

Hi everyone! Happy Hump Day!

There is no way I can remember all the posts I just read through so I am going to just rattle away....I feel like the clique thread has made us all so nervous of posting and not mentioning anyone for fear we'll be labeled cliquey again! That's terrible...I never feel left out if I am not mentioned, I agree with Lissawynn and I applaud those of you who did speak up about how the whole thing felt like 7th grade. I think some people are super sensitive and probably get offended far to easily for their own good. The whole thing is just a bit ridiculous.

Anyway, Alice - I agree wholeheardtedly with you about the fantasy of a meet! That would be so much fun to all meet at Disney, but like you said, nearly impossible to coordinate...BUT the beauty of me living an hour away is I can always plan to meet up with any of you anytime! I will hope that happens someday and I still kick myself knowing Jill and I were at Le Cellier on the same day at the same exact time and could have met and just didn't know it....so we didn't get to. Bummer.

Nucpharm - I want to thank you (though my DH probably doesn't) for mentioning the 15% off DVC. I am waiting on my call back today to purchase 150 points at SSR. We crunched all the numbers and it is so feasible for us. For as often as we go and stay over, I'd MUCH rather stay in a one bedroom villa that is almost 850 square feet, than a 340 square foot hotel room. Especially with the 2 kids. I am so anxious, I cannot wait for them to call. But if you'd not mentioned it, I'd have never known...so thanks!

Hillbeans - love the new pic of Liam. Is he sleeping any better for you these days? Cameryn STILL gets up at least once a night, usually two times still. It drives me nuts sometimes. But at this point, I am just hoping she'll grow out of this on her own, and SOON.

Justthat - please don't feel guilty about the movie playing alot. Our TV has been running quite a bit lately, and if it is rainy outside, forget it. I try to do other activities with Connor, like arts and crafts, but that doesn't last longer than 30 minutes, if we're lucky. Don't beat yourself up over it, I think we're all guilty of a little too much tv now and then...some more than others, like me!

Tasha, its great to see you back online! We've missed you tons!

Well....I went to our very first official playdate today! I joined a moms group online and was pretty leery...and this took guts for me because I tend to be shy sometimes. But I figured I either join, or sit home alone. I can't be home alone or I will go nuts! I've got to meet other moms. Anyway, an older mom contacted me and set up a playdate with another older mom. They both have sons that are 3 years old as well. It went so great! I really hit it off with one of the moms and it looks like the 3 of us are going to start a moms over 30 playgroup in Tampa. I am very excited about it. I also signed Connor up for karate lessons which he will have every Thursday afternoon. This is also a way for me to try and meet other SAHM's. And, he can move his body and expand that 3 year old boy energy!

DH's work is sending him to Orlando for 5 nights in Feb. They get him a room at the Hard Rock Hotel. I have always wanted to stay there! So, I am taking the kids and staying two nights and then going back the last night by myself (which happens to be Valentine's Day) and staying over, IL's will watch the kids. We are lucky to have them - has anyone eher ever stayed at that hotel? I've never been.

Well, I suppose I better go call DVC. I am so anxious they will not get my deposit before they close today. Have a great night ladies. And I am happy to be part of this thread!

 

[zalansky]

By the way - does anyone use Similac formula? I got two $5 coupons in the mail today and I use Enfamil. If you'd like them PM me you address!