The Official New Mom Thread

[gwcollins71]

Hi Mommies! Aidan and I are ready to join this thread! These first two weeks have been a major struggle for us. Breastfeeding came so easy until my 10lb 12oz baby's appetit caught up with him! He was nursing every 45 mins for a half hour then sleeping about a half hour and wanting to nurse again 15 mins later. I felt I was a wet nurse not a mommy! I have made the very tough decision to switch to formula. We have an appointment with our Dr at 10am and I hope it all goes well. I may still try to BF and supplement but as a FTM I don't know how practical/possible that is. The change in Aidan since we gave him formula over the last 18 hrs is incredible. He is no longer "angry", he slept for more than a half hour, and seems to be adjusting all right. I just hope I did the right thing. One heck of a first post, huh. Any advice/similar experiences to share would be great!

Bridget,

Lily fights bf all the time too. The doctor had me supplementing from day two. I was so upset, I was crying at the hospital for the next three days. Because of the c section, my milk didn't come in for a week and she was losing weight. I had a lactation nurse with me for every feeding trying to help. She would latch on and suck, suck, suck and almost nothing would come out. She wasn't angry and pulling away so I didin't know there was a problem until her weight dropped 3/4 of a pound. Her bilirubin counts were high and they were worried about jaundice so they had us supplementing with a syringe.

The first couple of weeks, I still wasn't producing much milk. I would nurse for 30 -40 minutes and she was still hungry so the doctor had us continuing to supplement. The whole having to use formula upset me a lot and it still does. I feel like a failure sometimes. I have these huge b**bs and they don't produce enough for Lily. At this point, I nurse her for about 2-4 feedings a day. She gets formula for the rest. I can tell when the supply is dwindling b/c she arches her back and fights the nursing. The whole thing is soooo frustrating. When I pump, I only get 1 and a half to 2 ounces. That's much less than she eats so I'm starting to get frustrated by that. The only time I get more than that is first thing in the a.m. and I want to nurse her then -- the whole bonding thing.

Ok, I'm starting to get off topic. I guess what I'm trying to say is its ok to supplement with the formula. It's helping Aiden stay healthy. I felt so awful when I saw the change at the hospital from the lethargic and sleepy Lily (pre formula) to the spunky and awake Lily after they gave her the formula. The poor little peanut was starving.

Do what you think is right for you and your family.

Gretchen

 

[justhat]

Wow, lissawynn, Jimmy's a big boy! I wish Madison grew like that. She's so thin-at her 15 month checkup she was 21.3 lbs. and her dr said it wouldn't hurt to fatten her up a bit. At a year she was just under 20 lbs. and I think 29.5 inches. Her height is okay (75%), but her weight has gone from 75% at birth to 25% from about 9 months till now. She goes for her 18 month check on the 31st so we'll see how big she is now, but I think around 22.5 lbs.

DisneyPhD, Lily is a skinny baby too? Is her dr concerned at all about her weight or is she short too? Has she always been tiny? She doesn't look skinny to me in her photos, but then again neither does Madison to me. Madison saw a different dr at 15 months and she's the one who said she's a little too thin, so we'll see what they say at her next visit. It's not her normal dr again, but she's seen Madison twice before, so not really new. Personally I think she's fine, but because she dropped 2 percentiles the last dr wanted to follow her.

Gretchen, I felt badly too when Madison also went from a very, very sleepy baby to much more alert after getting some bottles of formula. I cried for a long time too thinking about how I starved her for days without knowing. Even now I think about how she's thin and wonder if it's because of me not having any milk for her. I know it's stupid, but you know how that mommy guilt can be.

 

[Alice28]

I too had a hard time getting Molly enough breastmilk. I supplemented her with formula through a tube taped to my breast for days and she still wasn't gaining weight! I finally just gave it to her in a bottle and she packed the weight right on. I felt sooo awful about the whole thing, since I didn't have quite such a hard time with the boys. I STILL supplement with the bottle several times a day and I don't care anymore. I still nurse her and we're both happy with that; if she's still hungry after baby food and momma, I give her 3-4 oz of formula, and it's all good. Do whatever you can to make baby happy and don't be hard on yourself!

 

[DisneyPhD]

DisneyPhD, Lily is a skinny baby too? Is her dr concerned at all about her weight or is she short too? Has she always been tiny? She doesn't look skinny to me in her photos, but then again neither does Madison to me. Madison saw a different dr at 15 months and she's the one who said she's a little too thin, so we'll see what they say at her next visit. It's not her normal dr again, but she's seen Madison twice before, so not really new. Personally I think she's fine, but because she dropped 2 percentiles the last dr wanted to follow her.

Lily was born 7lbs 6oz, her sister was 7lbs 9 oz. Anna was always very small, no fat on her at all.

Lily had the baby chubby thighs, chins, arms, legs, you name it. She still does, but not as much. However she is tiny. Back in April she was 15 lbs 15 oz, and she was only 16lbs 5oz. However she is shorter then her sister and her weight to hight proportion is ok. Her head, cheast and other is ok and continues to grow, but she has dropped of the charts. I wonder if it is the dairy thing, but with what she can eat now (fuirts, veggies, ceral, soy milk and meats) she isn't packing on lots of weight and she is starting to move too. She still breast feeds often, but I still have traces of dairy in me since it has only been a few weeks that I am dairy free so hopefully things will get better soon (sleep and weight gain.) Her big sister is still very thin, at 39 inches she only weighs 30 pounds. (not underfeed, just lean, like I used to be. ) She is finally getting in 3T cothes, she can fit 4 and even 5 in dresses and shirts, but not pants or bottoms.

I guess the point that many moms are making is giving your baby some forluma doesn't make you a faluire at bf, nor does it mean you have to stop and go to all the bottles. The 1st few months can be hard, but it is much better after that. The important thing is the baby is getting feed. I was conerned that with Lily's dairy allegey that we never caught until she was 10 months old that I had harmed her bfeeding her and having dairy and eggs in my diet. The Dr. said that if we had ignored signs it would of been harmfull, but we didn't there wasn't any. She was healthy growing and never in pain.

 

[floridafam]

Good morning!

I guess I have a lot to get caught up on.

Welcome to all the new mommies.

How is everyone doing? My 2 oldest started school on Friday so we've been really busy.

Kona is rolling all over the place and growing every day. She's still a fatty and you can't really see her neck, wrists or ankles. It's so cute.

We've decided Kona was our last. I go in for a tubal and ablation (for extremely heavy periods) on Sept. 15.

Anyone here had an ablation? I have such heavy periods I can't really leave the house without fear of accident. I'm sick of it. I was supposed to have this done last year but we decided we weren't done having kids yet.

I'd love to hear any advice if you have had this done.

We're painting and installing wood blinds today if Kona allows. She likes to be held all the time lately. I don't mind because she's so warm and cuddly.

Have a great weekend!

 

[DisKim]

floridafam - Oh my goodness, Kona is adorable!! What a great big smile she has!

I STILL supplement with the bottle several times a day and I don't care anymore. I still nurse her and we're both happy with that; if she's still hungry after baby food and momma, I give her 3-4 oz of formula, and it's all good.

I do the same exact thing. Aidan is not consistently on solids yet, but I follow up several daytime feedings with about 4 ounces of formula. He is much happier that way. I felt bad about it at first, but I'm over it now. I'm going to keep giving him as much breast milk as I can for as long as I can. He pulls at me unless he is tired and it is not pleasant. I might just start pumping a few times a day and feeding him almost exclusively with the bottle. I'll still nurse him in the morning and at night.

I can't believe how quickly our trip is coming up. I'm very nervous. Aidan is very crabby lately. I went out and bought a take-along swing for our trip. I'm not sure whether to check it (I'm afraid it will get broken) or bring it on the plane as carry-on. I'm sure I can have it held at the resort if our room isn't ready when we get there. I just needed to know I had some place he could relax when we are getting ready. I have a question. When did your babies roll over? Aidan will be 4 months old next week and hasn't rolled over. He just screams if I put him on his tummy and makes no attempt to move.

 

[joats]

T&S: Glad to hear it's good news for your brother. Thanks for updating us.

Welcome Bridget and Aidan! Honestly, it took me about 4-5 weeks before I really figured out BFing. I wanted to quit so many times and I'm glad I didn't. I went thru something similar with Jace always wanting to eat. It seemed like he was attached to me 24/7 and I was very frustrated. I worked with my lactation consultant. It appears he was growing just fine and getting enough and was just wanting to "suck" all the time. We finally got him to accept a NUK and ever since then I feed him no more than 20-30 at a feeding and will give him a NUK when he wants to eat again until it's time for another feeding. But whatever you decide (supplement or not) is up to you. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty for what choices you make. If you and Aidan are happy that is all that matters.

Lissawyn: Glad your trip was good! And wow, Jimmy is a big boy!!

KaterKat: Hope you and Russ are feeling better!

Alice28: Urgh! Your neighbors sound awful. I'm glad you stepped in when you did.

SL: Jace isn't big on tummy time either. I find doing it more often per day in smaller increments helps for us. Plus I have to hold him upright for 20 min. after eating for the reflux. He gets extra tummy time off my shoulder lifting his head and pushing off my body.

Floridafam: love Kona's pictures - what a sweetie!

On the subject of having more kids. We only want 2. Honestly, my pregnancy and delivery were not easy - Jace may be an only child. LOL!! Hopefully once some time passes, we'll consider another. I want to wait until he's around 2 or so but I'll be 36+ then so who knows.

I started taking the mini-pill 2 or so weeks ago and this week I got my period with a vengance! I didn't think when only BFing I'd get it so soon. Maybe it's the mini-pill that brought it on? Anyone have a similar experience?

Off to yet another fun-filled BBQ with the In-Laws...(please note the sarcasm ) Have a great day!

 

[katerkat]

Russ rolled for the first time when he was 3 months old, then couldn't figure out how he did it and went back to yelling about being on his tummy. He finally rolled again just before four months and really got the hang of it after that. Lately I've been propping him on his Boppy and letting him play with his Pooh tree - with the Boppy he can play with the toys a lot better.

 

[justhat]

Alice28, we had to use that supplemental nursing thing that you tape on too. It was horrible and such a battle to get Madison to use it without her getting frustrated. After I think 2 or 3 days with it I went to just bottles and pumping for a few weeks and things were much easier.

DisneyPhD, I guess maybe since Madison is kinda tall that makes her weight stand out more to her dr. She's 32 inches now and about 22.5 lbs., but if she were a few inches shorter then her weight would be right in line.

Floridafam, those are such cute photos of Kona (and your other kids are adorable too!) I haven't had any of those procedures but hopefully yours will go smoothly with an easy recovery.

DisKim, Madison rolled over from tummy to back a little before she was 2 months old and then back to tummy just before she turned 4 months, while we were at WDW actually-she did it on the bed at AKL. So maybe Aidan will become mobile in Disney too! After she did each way once that was it for awhile, she didn't do it again right away, I think maybe it took another 2 weeks or so before she did it intentionally (1st times were definitely accidents and she was pretty surprised judging by her face). Once she figured it out she started rolling all the time-at 4.5 months I'd lay her on her back on her play gym and she'd be on her tummy within a couple of minutes. Around that time, 4 months or so, I started sitting her up with 2 Boppy pillows (the one I used to feed her on the ground and then Boppy Jr. or whatever it was called on top of that around her waist). She loved sitting much more than laying on either tummy or back and within about 3 weeks of sitting her like that she was sitting up on her own, 1 week before she turned 5 months.

Joats, I was exclusively bf Madison too and I got my period back exactly 1 year after my last one-Madison was about 3.5 months old. I thought it was really early cause everyone else I spoke with got theirs back much later, and some women I met still didn't have theirs back when their kids were 17 months old, and they were just nursing once or twice a day at that point. I was 23 when Madison was born and they all told me I got mine back so soon because I was young, but I don't really think there's any correlation because you're about 10 years older than that (I'm guessing based on your last post) and you got yours back fast, but my cousin was 22 when her daughter was born and she didn't get hers back till well after I did (her baby was born 3 months before Madison).

 

[lissawynn]

I can't remember when Jimmy started rolling over (terrible mom, huh)! I do know that Jimmy really dislikes being on his tummy. He will roll all over the floor instead of crawling. He also scoots on his back. He actually gets p***** off when he's on his tummy too long. I think he's just going to get up and start walking one of these days.

School starts in two weeks! Where did the summer go? This is going to be a terrible year. Our contract is up at the end of the month, the service workers' contract is up at that time, too, and our school district implemented a uniform dress policy (khakis and polo shirts). The school board raised taxes two months ago, and I just KNOW somehow the "teachers" are going to be blamed for everything that has happened/will happen. I so wish that politics had nothing to do with education. I will probably be coming to you all and b******* about how awful things are at work.

I have to figure out how to post the WDW pics. I am terrible with technology!

I am off to the basement to do a million loads of laundry.

 

[gwcollins71]

Good morning!

I guess I have a lot to get caught up on.

Welcome to all the new mommies.

How is everyone doing? My 2 oldest started school on Friday so we've been really busy.

Kona is rolling all over the place and growing every day. She's still a fatty and you can't really see her neck, wrists or ankles. It's so cute.

We've decided Kona was our last. I go in for a tubal and ablation (for extremely heavy periods) on Sept. 15.

Anyone here had an ablation? I have such heavy periods I can't really leave the house without fear of accident. I'm sick of it. I was supposed to have this done last year but we decided we weren't done having kids yet.

I'd love to hear any advice if you have had this done.

Here's some pictures of Kona. DH has to fix some of the captions under the photos.

www.homepage.mac.com/energylab/PhotoAlbum6.html

We're painting and installing wood blinds today if Kona allows. She likes to be held all the time lately. I don't mind because she's so warm and cuddly.

Have a great weekend!

Kona is a beauty! I should know the answer, but my memory is slipping. How old is she now?

Gretchen

 

[Alice28]

Kona is SO cute!

Molly was about 3.5 months or so rolling over...she rolled tummy to back first. Then back to tummy a few weeks later. Now she's all over the place!

My oldest wasn't even a month old when he first rolled over!!!!!!!!! It was Christmas Eve when he rolled from tummy to back- he was holding his head up SO HIGH and pushing himself all the way up with his arms. My father in law said, "It looks like he's gonna roll over!?" I said, "No, babies don't do that til like 3-4+ months." And then PLOP- over Sam rolled! It was amazing. And he kept doing it while on tummy time---crazy kid.

My middle was like Molly- about 3-4 months when he first did it.

Did I tell you gals that Molly LAUGHED for the first time the other night? It was during bath time and #2 was laughing at her and she started laughing back! I was able to get a vid clip of it on the digital camera for DH- PRICELESS!

 

[katerkat]

Oh, and Russ hasn't rolled back to tummy yet. He can make it almost all the way - just can't get his head and shoulders over. He sleeps on his side.

Thought I'd share a tummy time pic with his new Pooh tree. He loves the butterfly (crinkly wings) and the Eeyore ball, spinning it around.

 

[DisKim]

So maybe Aidan will become mobile in Disney too!

LOL! It wouldn't be the first time one of my kids made a major accomplishment at Disney. My DS learned to swim in Blizzard Beach last summer. It made an otherwise miserable day worthwhile (BB was way too crowded that day for my comfort level).

Thanks for all the feedback on rolling over. I almost coaxed Aidan to roll from back to tummy this morning. I had been nursing him and, as usual, he started pulling at me so I stopped but left it out to try to continue to nurse him. He started to look for it and almost rolled over trying to find it. Oh, that would have been a great story to embarass him with when he got older.

katerkat - I love the Pooh tree. What a cute toy! I've tried putting Aidan on the boppy pillow and he hates that too.

Alice28 - Congrats on Molly laughing! Isn't that just the best sound in the world. Aidan just gets himself in to stitches when I sing itsy bitsy spider to him.

Edited to add - I'm trying to get Aidan to fall asleep on his own. I fed him, sang him two songs and put him down with the aquarium on. He's screaming right now and I don't know how long to let him go. I hate all of this. It's been 5 years since I've had a baby. It's amazing how I don't remember anything. I have no idea how I finally got my other two to fall asleep on their own, nor do I remember how old they were. All I remember is DH and I sitting on the floor ourside our daughter's door while she cried feeling like I wanted to cry .

 

[Alice28]

(((DisKim)))

I hate the trying to get them to sleep on their own. I commend you on trying, but I have to say that Sam and Josh were more like the 6 month range when we did it. I made sure they were fed, clean and diapered and that seemed to be about the right age to do it....maybe Aidan is still too little? I plan on doing it with Molly after we come back from WDW (she still sleeps with me- have to break that habit before daddy comes home; although she does nap in her own crib and I often put her to bed in it, but get her out when I go upstairs to bed).

I remember my heart breaking with the boys too, but DH reassuring me it was the right thing to do. Sure enough, within 2-3 nights, they were falling asleep on their own, in their own beds. Molly already comforts herself to sleep I would say 30% of the time, which is AWESOME.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Wow cute picutes, what cute kids.

Lily can fall asleep on her own fine, it is getting back to sleep that is killing us. Oh well.

Today was DH and mine 12 year wedding aniversary. I can't belive it. We went out to a nice dinner (but I couldn't have dessert because everything had dairy or eggs, oh well.) We came home and hubby is making everyone smothies.

We leave for my best friends wedding this weekend. She is marrying my DH best friend, they even both were in our wedding 12 years ago, but they were "just friends" for many years. (like anyone belived them.)

 

[joats]

Today was DH and mine 12 year wedding aniversary.

Happy Anniversary!! I hope you had a nice time, regardless of the lack of dairy.

 

[DisKim]

Aidan ended up doing really well last night. It turns out he wasn't crying on the monitor. I had the monitor in the kitchen, so I couldn't hear it that well. Anyway, the tv in the kitchen was on and that must have been what I heard. DH was upstairs with Aidan and said he didn't utter a sound. He fell asleep on his own and slept until 5 am which is through the night for me because that's when I'll have to get up for work in a couple of weeks anyway.

Lissawynn - Don't you just hate anticipating the start of school? For me, it is so hard to go from stay-at-home mom for 2 months to working mom again. It tears me apart. We also don't have a contract yet. I have this sneaking suspicion that the board is trying to get us to teach 6 teaching periods without additional compensation. The contract year is coinciding with the fact that I'm piloting a class on a block schedule. Basically, if I like it, they will probably implement it throughout the school. Of course, it would be very difficult to teach 5 periods (our current schedule) if the periods are in blocks of two. My friends from school want me to shoot down the program, but I refuse to go into it with any preconceived notions. I'm really going to try to make it work and give honest opionions.

DineyPhD - Happy anniversary !

 

[justhat]

DisneyPhD- Happy Anniversary!! I hope you had a nice night despite the no dairy.

DisKim, congrats on Aidan sleeping well again last night! Just think, even if it's hard for a few nights, getting him to sleep on his own and stay asleep will make your Disney trip so much easier on all of you when you're sleeping in 1 room. Hopefully this week will be his magic week.

Madison has finally seen the joys of sleeping all night too, at least I think. My husband has been sleeping on the couch for a week so that we could finally make progress on her sleeping on her own. Her problem is that she knows we're in the same room as her, so she'll wake up, but rather than go back to sleep she will look at our bed then start saying "Dada" or "Mommy" till once of us responds. If we don't, then she cries, then screams. Or sometimes she just gets out of bed and starts patting us and calling our names. If she were in her own room we could just let her work it out on her own, but being in our room means no sleep for us in the process. I could live with that for awhile just to have sleep int he long run, but my husband can't. He needs lots of sleep, I think more than Madison actually, so he can't do the up all night go to work all day thing. So one night last weekend he moved to the couch after Madison climbed in our bed and started kicking him (she hates not having enough space for herself) and as soon as he left she slept the rest of the night without a sound. So he stayed out there from then on and we made some good progress, with Madison sleeping from 11-6:45 without waking up (or at least waking me up) once (she actually went to bed around 8:30, but woke once at 11, but I was still up so I didn't care). Then we had to go to my mom's house for the weekend for a friend's engagement party, so I thought it would all be ruined, and over the weekend it kids was. She woke up 2-3 times each night, but once we got home again last night she went to bed at 10 and slept till 6:45. She woke up once and cried a little but went back to sleep without leaving her bed. I'm hoping a few more nights and we'll be set. I know my husband hopes for that anyway, since he's getting tired of sleeping on the couch (though he did admit he preferred it at first cause he got uninterrupted sleep!).

 

[justhat]

Okay, I just typed this response about taking the travel swing on a plane, but the internet went out and it got deleted. I'll try to remember most of what I said. I think it was DisKim who asked about taking a travel swing to WDW so this is what I'm talking about here.

We brought our travel swing with us to WDW twice and the 1st time I planned to carry it on, so I had no cover or bag for it. Well we got to the gate to board and they gave me a gate check ticket for it and I said I wanted to carry it on and they said it wouldn't fit. Well I never got to try, so I don't know, I think it would, but they wanted me to gate check it and I was flying alone with Madison for the 1st time ever (1st flight with her at all) so I wasn't about to fight with them. So I left it at the plane door to gate check and when I got to Orlando it was so dirty. I was kinda annoyed, but what can you do. We did tape the seat and handle together before the flight just so we didnt' have to worry about it sorta unfolding (you may not have that problem, but sometimes ours would sort of unfold when we'd carry it and hit it against something). On the way back we asked for a bag from the skycap and they said they were out, so they gave us a thin plastic thing, like you get from a drycleaner. Obviously that didn't help much and it ripped so by the time we got back to DC the swing was kinda banged up and dirty. I washed the seat and that was fine, but the plastic handle still has black scuff marks/dirt and scratches on it.

So my advice would be to try to carry it on, but plan to gate check it in case. Don't check it with the luggage cause I would think it would get way too beat up and end up breaking. Either buy a bag for it (I think it would fit in our carseat bag but I never tried) and label it as a fragile infant swing (in hopes that they treat it more carefully) or get one of the heavy duty plastic bags at the airport, they're clear and don't rip or tear. We did this the 2nd time we flew with it and it arrived fine. If your airline doesn't have one, ask at another counter till you get one cause otherwise the swing will be dirty and scratched like mine. Then I'd try to take it on, but if they won't let you or it doesn't fit then you'll be okay to gate check it since you'll have a bag for it.