The Official New Mom Thread

[Alice28]

Good morning ladies!

I woke up feeling rotten. What a lovely way to start a Sunday. It's cold her this AM- had to crank up the heater.

Anyway, WELCOME BRIGETTE! Sebastian is so sweet- your family is darling!

Kylie sure is getting to be a big girl! What a cutie in her bunny costume!

Lucas's dimple kills me! So cute! What a big boy in his overalls!


Lissawynn, I also went shopping yesterday (gee, what a shocker). But I didn't spend any money. When my parents retired last summer, a lot of their friends and coworkers gave them giftcards. She had a $125 to spend at WalMart, so we ventured over to one- whoa----don't think I've ever gone to a WalMart on a Saturday afternoon. not the smartest idea. I'm usually a Target gal. Anyway, I was able to help mom buy stuff for the kids for Christmas and Sam's birthday (she and I were getting confused on what we had bought so far, and was it for Christmas or bday...). I'm going to have to buy this kid some major serious organizors to go with all his bday stuff- lots of lego-ish type toys that have a gillion pieces. She also bought some of those peek a block type toys for Miss Molly. They are so cute! I think I decided I will get her the dinosaur thing that the round peek a blocks (whatever they're called) go into. Then I saw the CUTEST Pooh ride on toy- I must go back to grab it to stash for her 1st birthday. This is how anal my mom and I can be- when we came back, she made a colored spreadsheet on the computer of what we've already bought each kid, how much we've spent, etc. We were making ourselves laugh....but it helps! I now know I have spent way to much on Joshua, and still need to get Mr. Sam some Christmas gifts. Molly is just whatever strikes my fancy- certainly don't need to spend a fortune on her...esp when her birthday is just 9-10 weeks after Christmas!

Hope everyone has a great day! I think I am going to find some dayquil.

P.S.- have to give props to lissawynn for starting *this* thread! Thanks!

 

[vald1977]

Good morning all,

Welcom Bridgette! Sebastian is a doll . I'm happy to hear you are adjusting well to three.

Tamie,
I so agree with you about this thread. It's really nice to be able to share and ask questions here . I would think if the rash was from food it would be gone within 12-48 hours. I'm not an expert or anything but that has been my experience with DS who has a few food allergies. Maybe it's the soap you are washing his clothes in?? Does his skin feel dry otherwise? I know my DS has his cold weather rash right now. His is on his upper legs. It's been there for a couple of weeks. We just put lotion on it and let it be since he gets it every year and I know that that is what it's from. Is Tyler's rash spreading or uncomfortable or anything?

SL,
Lucas is such a cutie in his booster seat . He looks like such a happy little guy.

Tasha,
I love Kylie's bunny suit -- too cute ! I hope her teeth come in for her picture for you.

Hillbeans,
It seems like 5 weeks is a tough age, doesn't it? I'm glad the swaddling is helping.

Justthat,
Trunk or treating sounds fun. Looking forward to your pics .

Robin,
Well, I don't have a color coded spread sheet but I do have a running list of what I have bought for who. I think it's great you guys are so organized .

Lisawynn,
Looking forward to seeing Jimmy's Halloween pics .

Zalansky,
Hope you are having a nice weekend .

I hope I didn't forget anyone .

We have had quite the busy but fun weekend here. Yesterday we had a Halloween party, trick or treat on Main street where all the businesses give out candy in the afternoon, and then a party at Dh's work. They had a haunted room, crafts, trick or treating, touchy feely room so the kids could touch "guts", "eyeballs", etc., a clown and food. It was really neat. The kids had a great time. Here is a picture of my little skeletons:

And here is a pic without the costumes:

 

[lissawynn]

I'm ticked off at Victoria's Secret. I tried to pay my bill online this afternoon b/c I forgot to mail it and I'm not in the mood to drive to the mall. For some reason, their site keeps telling me the information I'm entering for on-line bill pay isn't what they have on file. ***? Now I have to try to enter my information again tomorrow during my prep period and call them if the account info still won't work. I know it's my fault for forgetting to pay the bill earlier, but isn't the technology supposed to make things easier?

I'm just being cranky b/c this week at school is going to suck. I have lots of work to do and my grades are due on Friday. Jimmy still doesn't have any teeth and he's been SO fussy lately. I am hoping DH doesn't have to go too far for work this week so he can help me at night after school.

I'm just tired and in need of a break.

 

[T16GEM]

Hi everyone this is my first post on the Official New Mom Thread!! Oh how I have waited for this time to come!

Well I became a new mom on the 21st October and my little princess Shelby Rose is settling in well at home with her doting family. We have had a rought time in her first week as when she was born she was taken straight off me and transferred to a special care baby unit in another hospital - despite being full term and a good weight (7lb 10oz) she had trouble breathing and was "grunting" according to the doctors. There wasn;t a bed available for me to be able to transfer with her so I was left at my birthing hospital on the maternity ward as the only new mom without a baby. It was hell. I think it was worse than the actual labour - not knowing what was going on etc.
I asked if I could be transferred the next day and was discharged from hospital instead - even though I had a third degree tear and stitches inside and out thinking about it now I should never have let them discharge me and should have insisted on them transferring me - but I didn't think about it at the time I just wanted to be with my baby girl.

Anyway we spent the next 3 days at the hospital and they allowed me to stay over with Shelby on Sunday night - but DH wasn't allowed to stay with us which was a shame.

Eventually we were allowed home and the relief was tremendous, she is such a good baby - obviously she has her moments and I am paranoid about checking that she is ok and breathing - hopefully as she gets bigger I will relax a bit and chill out but I guess it's just natural.

Well it's my turn on the night shift tonight so it will probably give me time to read through the posts on this thread!

Love Gems and Shelby

 

[justhat]

Congrats Gems and welcome baby Shelby! My nephew was grunting when he was born too and was taken straight from my SIL to the NICU for 8 days. It was horrible for her-she said the worst part was when she was finally allowed to hold him after 4 days cause then she had to give him back and go home without him. It was really hard for her, but he's a little over 2 now and all that is behind them! It's really too bad that they didn't transfer you though, I can only imagine what that must have felt like for you.

The pictures of everyone's babies are so adorable! Madison has the same booster seat as Lucas but we keep it at my mom's house. We usually bring it with us on vacation to cause it's invaluable to have a clean, safe place to feed her. My friend has one too and it was great for her to stick her 2nd son in with some toys so she could watch her 2.5yo without going crazy.

Kylie and Katrina look so cute in their costumes! It's so much fun to dress them up when they're tiny and have no idea what is going on. This is my last time for that as I know Madison definitely has preferences now-she really would have loved to be Buzz Lightyear this year, but since I had no idea she'd develop an obsession with him I got her a Piglet costume instead. BTW, anyone have any ideas as to how I can get her to stop watching Toy Story 2 on DVD? I know obviously I could just not put it on, but she finds the DVD case, carries it to me then drags me to the tv and holds the DVD and says "Buzz on" and points to the tv. I could kill my husband for introducing her to the world of tv last weekend when I went to a book fair for her school. He only had to watch her about 3 hours (and she was napping when I left, so maybe 2 hours awake) and he put on Toy Story and then Toy Story 2 and since then that's all she wants to watch all day long. This is a kid who had no interest in tv at all till about a month ago but until this week I could limit it to just the hour when she wakes up in the morning and gets ready for school. This is out of control though.

Anyway, Tasha, I would think Kylie's teeth won't be out enough in time for her photos. I could be wrong cause Madison was a very late and slow teether, but she got her 1st 2 teeth to break the gums right around Christmas but you couldn't see them in any photos for over a month after that. She didn't get anymore teeth till 16 months and though the molars popped right out almost instantly, the front teeth were very slow again. She has 3 teeth on the top in front, 2 came in at 16 months and the other at 18 months, and they are still not all the way down yet. But then again, she only has 11 teeth and she's 20 months old, so not really normal on the teething spectrum.

 

[lissawynn]

Congratulations Gems and welcome! I'm happy you and your little girl are back together and are doing well.

Jimmy had his first night of trick or treating and seemed to enjoy himself. We didn't collect any candy b/c I would have been eating it. He was a real trooper and I will post a pic some time tomorrow if I have free time.

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

 

[joats]

Hi Ladies:
Welcome Disney Enthusiast & Sebastian AND Gems & Shelby!
Tamie: Sorry to hear the rash isn't going away - poor Tyler.
Tasha: I can't believe Kylie has already outgrown her infant car seat. Man, time flies! Love her pics too!
Hillbeans: Sorry to hear Liam has had colic. How awful - hang in there.
SL: Lucas is so cute. It was great to see a bigger picture of him. He's adorable.
Alice28: Hope you are feeling better soon.
Valerie: Great pictures of your kids. I love the skeleton costumes.
Lissawyn: Hope you get a much needed break and some rest soon.
Has anyone heard from Gretchen? I can't remember the last time she posted. Hope she is doing ok.

Here's a picture of Jace in his Happy Halloweenie costume. He's not a big fan of costumes - he couldn't wait to get it off! LOL!

Earlier today we went to our local pumpkin patch. It was such a nice day.

I start my flex hours tomorrow for work - 7:30 - 4:00. I dread getting up at 5:15, but I'll be happy when I get extra cuddle time with Jace after work.

Jace is teething and been rather cranky. He's drooling like mad and constantly has his hands in his mouth. Anyone else find that the evening hours are worse for it?

Not much else to report. I hope to see some more Halloween pics of all the cute babies on this board - keep them coming!

Joats

 

[zalansky]

Tasha - those new pics of Kylie are adorable, she gets cuter by the day! And I love her bib too.

SL - that is a great picture of Lucas, he looks like such a cute little man! That smile is precious on him.

Vald1977 - I did have a nice weekend and thanks for wishing me one! hope you had a great weekend too. The costumes on the kids are really cute, and the kids are too!! I love pics of kids missing front teeth, so cute!

joats - That costume is hilarious! And the look on Jace's face is too much.

Lisawynn - I agree with you about the trick or treating, I don't want my son going to too many houses because I know who will be eating that candy! ME!!! And I dont' need that when I've still got ten pounds left to lose from my pregnancy.

Alice28 - how is your Ebay sale going?

Well - I gotta hit the hay myself. We did go to Orlando today with the kids. We went to the outlets first, because we all needed sneakers (aka tennis shoes as they are called in the South) and the outlets were packed. It looked like it was Christmas shopping crowds already. Not easy to maneuver through with a double side by side stroller. Also, the baby got a little fussy and that was anxiety provoking. I know, we shouldn't have taken a 7 week old there, but in my wildest dreams I never thought it would be so crowded. Anyway, we got our shoes and headed to Downtown Disney. They had a Halloween Celebration for the kids...now this I knew would be crowded. My first mistake here was allowing DH to talk me OUT of bringing Connor's Mr. Incredible costume. Almost every child was dressed up, mostly as Disney characters. I felt cheesy having my son trick or treating through Downtown Disney with no costume on! Second mistake - thinking this would be easy and fun with a 7 week old and an almost 3 year old.
Connor was all over the place, little guy was so excited...but we are sleep deprived and the two just don't mix. Then Cameryn started crying and we decided to leave. We were there about 1.5 hours. We got some good candy (that again I don't need) and it was fun, they had alot of cool events going on, but I told DH never again until the kids are a little older. Yeah right, I'll be here next year, same time same place writing the same thing. Never again my butt. I seem to have a way of filtering out the reality of these situations and envision how wonderful they COULD be and convince myself how great a time we had the last time we did it...yada yada. To top it off, we hit 4 major car accidents on the drive home and it took us two hours to get home instead of one. UGH. I took two Motrin and am going to bed. It was fun though, really it was.

Have a Happy Halloween everyone

 

[Alice28]

Cute skeletons Val! They look so funny! Love it!

GEMS! So glad to "see" you again! I'm so relieved that Shelby is home with you now....DS#2 had the "grunty/huffy" breathing too and he had to go to the nursery for 36 hours. It was so hard! For him it was cause he was gigantic. (11#s ++). Anyway, a hearty WELCOME to the New Moms Board!

Lissawynn- IRRITATING about the Victoria's Secret credit card dealie. I totally can understand where you are coming from as I seem to weekly get P.O.ed at some sort of customer service debaucle.

My mom measured Molly last night cause she wants to make her a nightie- she's 29"! GEEZ. STOP GROWING!

Nightie-night all!

Joats----still giggling at your lil Halloweenie!

 

[lissawynn]

I am attempting to post one of Jimmy's Halloween pics. The little stinker was WIDE awake at 2:00 this morning and did not want to go back to sleep. I put him in bed with DH and I, which has become a challenge since he's into climbing these days. He pulled my hair and kicked and hit DH and me for the rest of the night.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Congrats Gems, I don't know how you managed it. I would of been going out of my skin. They are in you 9months and you don't want to be apart for a second after they are born. (it isn't until they get older that getting away sounds good!

Ok, here is the really bad mommy moment for me.

Lily woke up early. Anna crawled in bed with me and we wacthed T.V. Since Lily was dying to get off the bed I put her down on the floor. The bedroom doors were closed and there isn't much she can get into in my room.

Well Anna and I feel back asleep and Anna woke me up telling me Lily was in her room crying. How did she get there? The doors were shut. Well I ran out and the door was open and the gate was too (I though both were closed, maybe I dreamed it and the door was't only mostly shut.) She wasn't on the stairs, the door at the bottom of the stairs was shut. I closed the gate and ran her rooms she was't there. Then I heard her crying. Where was she? I ran down the stairs and there she was on the other side of the door (shut) and banging on it. She must of climbed down the stairs herself (13 of them, carpeted) and closed the door behind her. My heart about stoped. She did manage to get down the stairs herself just fine.

I don't know why it surprized me, she does it all the time (with supervison) however my heart stopped to think of what just one little slip could do.

It is amazing where this child can go with out walking. I would guess she is even better at climbing and stairs because she doesn't try to walk them.

I have my hands full. Got to go, someone wants me (and is signing "more more, now to find out what more she want's.)

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Happy Halloween everyone and Happy 1st or 2nd Halloween to all the precious babies on here!

OMG, I love seeing all the babes in their costumes! They are all too adorable!

Gems~ Welcome and congrats! Welcome Shelby Rose! What a scary beginning! Glad things are okay now though!

I have a question. Are any of you interested in doing a Christmas gift exchange between our babies on here? I know Robin tried to do an exchange on the moms to be thread last year but only a few of us wanted to do it. Now that the babies are here I am hoping more of us would want to do it. I am willing to organize it if at least 5 moms are interested. I was thinking we could set a minimum spending limit of $10 but you can spend more than that if you want. Let me know ASAP if you are interested. I won't go into anymore details until I know that there are enough of us interested. I would like to get your person's name to you by Thanksgiving in case you are planning to hit after Thanksgiving sales. And have a send by date sometime during the first week of December...we'll figure that out after we see who is interested.

Another thing, I remember after Kylie had already been born that someone started keeping track of everyone's due dates. I thought that was great. I was thinking we could keep track of our babies b-days on here as well. I thought that would be nice so we'd have a list to refer to. Post your babies b-day and I'll start a list and keep it updated.

I'll start:
Kylie Noel--May 5, 2005

 

[Alice28]

Good morning all~

Had a scare this morning. Woke up, got DS#1 breakfast, went on the computer and read, "Two soldiers killed in Balad, Iraq, from the 29th Brigade Combat Team." That's where DH is, and he's part of the 29th BCT. I KNOW that technically I am supposed to know something before ANYTHING is reported in the media, so logically I was thinking, "It can't be him..." But emotionally I got a little frantic. Went through with getting DS his breakfast, not saying a word, got him on the bus. He dressed up today as a soldier... I sent DH an email telling him I read the news and was hoping for an email back for some reassurance, but I also know they cut them off from the internet and the phones for about 24 hours so that they don't blab anything before the families are properly notified.

Well, I got an email from DH. He said it occured ONE MILE from the base & he heard it go off but thought nothing of it, cause I guess there are often explosions and most often it's our own troops blowing off explosives that they find. Let's just say I am now stress-eating my way through a can of Pringles.

I hate this- I want him HERE. Only about 8-9 weeks ago before he's out of Iraq.

OK, enough of my drama. Molly's birthday is March 8. I think it might be fun to do a holiday exchange- why not!

DisneyPhd- glad Lily is OK! We have stairs too, and both boys have taken a tumble down them once or twice as babies...scared me half to death. At least she didn't tumble and creeped down. Phew! Thank God babies are so flexible. The time Sam fell it was cause I was carrying him, I tripped, dislocated my kneecap, and I dropped him! I was about halfway down the stairs. That was when he was only 5 months (he's almost 8) but to this day I am very careful going down those damn stairs! DH was home when DS#2 fell- I was at work, so he gets the blame for that one.

Jimmy is so cute! A buzz-buzz---can just picture Belushi playing the harmonica in his bee costume.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Alice 28, I guess my moring scare was nothing compared to yours. Still what a way to wake up with both. So glad DH is ok. (and coming home soon.) Heck he will be home before we leave for WDW so that isn't too long!

Yes I would like to let DH take the blame for this one. (he should of made sure the door was shut and the gate closed when he left) but really it was all my fault. I should got out of bed the check, not just amsumed it was shut because it looked that way. Last time this happened (but with the stairs to the basement, DH was home and wacthing her (along with my teenage neice and nephew.) and she crept down the basement stairs and did the same thing.

Thank God she is good on the stairs, but it still freaks me out.

Come to think of it there is story about my older brother tossing me down the stairs as a baby...................... I had forgot all about that.

Lily birthday is Aug 3, 2004 (she really is too old for new mommies, but I can't seem to leave you guys.) Anna is March 29 (2001)

Will post halloween costumes later.

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Okay, here goes! I'll edit as more people tell me their baby's b-days! I am adding the ones I think I know. If I get it wrong tell me and I'll fix it. And if you want me to add middle names let me know! Oh, and if I can get atleast 3 more interested mommies for the exchange we'll do it.

Jimmy (ds to lissawynn)~ January 24, 2005
Madison (dd to justhat)~ February 26, 2004
Molly (dd to Alice28)~ March 8, 2005
Anna (dd to DisneyPhD)~ March 29, 2001
Aidan (ds to DisKim)~ April 17, 2005
Tyler (ds to tkyes)~ April 26, 2005
Kylie Noel (dd to Tasha+Scott)~ May 5, 2005
Jace (ds to joats)~ June 17, 2005
Lucas (ds to Strawberry Lemonade)~ June 20, 2005
Lily (dd to DisneyPhD)~ August 3, 2004
Cameryn (dd to zalansky)~ September 10, 2005
Liam (ds to Hillbeans)~ September 23, 2005
Shelby (dd to T16GEM)~ October 21, 2005
Sebastian (ds to Disney Enthusiast)~ October 21, 2005

I know I am missing a lot of moms/babies but that's pretty good for just reading the last few pages and seeing tickers or just remembering, isn't it? If anything is wrong or you want to add middle names let me know. I will update and add to it as needed!

 

[Minnesota!]

(((Alice28))) I cannot imagine. My best friend lived with us for 6 months while her DH was in Iraq. Every newcast was pure torture for her...You are a much stronger person than I.

Welcome Disney Enthusiast! I LOVE your son's name! What a cutie!

Tamie - I hope that rash clears up as soon as possible! Are you guys taking Tyler out TOT tonight? I am looking west right now and it REALLY looks like rain....hoping it stays away until we go out for CANDY!

Lucas' birthday is June 22, 2004. :O)

 

[vald1977]

Jace's costume put such a huge smile on my face since I am sitting here eating a hot dog with mustard on it ! What a little sweetie .

Robin,
Thank Goodness your dh is okay. I don't know if I could handle it. Please know I keep him in my prayers to stay safe and be home soon.

DisneyPhd,
What a way to start the day! I'm glad Lily is okay.

Tasha,
Katrina's birthday is July 12th.

I hope eyeryone has Happy Halloween .

 

[vald1977]

I forgot to say Welcome to T16GEM and Shelby .

 

[justhat]

Tasha great job with your list! That's really impressive that you remembered (or found) all those birthdays! I think a holiday exchange would be fun too so you can sign me up. Not sure if this matters yet or not, but we'll be out of town 11/10-11/18 and 11/22-11/27. So if we get enough people and you send out names don't worry if I don't pick it up during those dates.

That photo of Jace is so cute! Are you taking him out trick-or-treating? If so I bet he will be the cutest little baby out there!

Robin, that's so scary about your husband! I can't imagine what you go through on a regular basis. I know how hard it is to be without your husband, but mine is only gone a few days at a time, so for you that is multiplied about 100000 times. At least you know he'll be home fairly soon so that must help. Is your husband in the reserves with a civilian job or is he full time military? My dad was in the air force but retired before I was born so we had a pretty normal life, but my sisters said it was tough before he retired (they're a lot older than me so he was in the air force most of their life).

DisneyPhD, that must have been very scary for you this morning. About 2 weeks ago when we were visiting my mom Madison woke up at her usual 6am and I just could not get out of bed. She was content sitting on the bed between me and my husband playing with her toys, but I guess I fell asleep again and I woke up and she was gone. My mom's house is 2 stories and we were sleeping on the 2nd floor and there are no baby gates. She stayed in the bedroom, thank gosh, but was carrying this huge Disney snowglobe around the room. It was one of those tall double globes and way too heavy for her. Luckily she managed not to drop it on her feet before I jumped out of bed and grabbed it. Of course my husband slept through it all.

 

[Alice28]

My DH is a civilian; in the OR Nat'l Guard. He has his job still when he comes home, thank god. He works for a large school district as one of the head security investigators/advisors. So it's not like we're a military family per se, although he's been in the military practically since I've known him (he joined the USMC reserves out of high school).

I just am trying to be normal around the kids; their emotional health is so important to me; after Sam went to school, before Josh woke up, I opened my Bible & read Philippans- a comforting book to me, and cried and prayed. It's hard though.