The Official New Mom Thread

[DisKim]

Hillbeans - I've always put my kids in their own room anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. I always found that they sleep better in their own room. I've had three kids and each one started sleeping for longer stretches once he or she graduated to the crib. Good luck! Let us know how Great Wolf Lodge is. It looks like alot of fun.

Tasha - I got my pm's. Thanks for putting everything together. I can't wait to go shopping!

Lissawynn - I'm sorry your classes are bad. I always say that the new groups of kids each have a different personality. My group of freshmen last year were awful! I even had a college prep kid busted for dealing drugs. This year's kids are much better. My kids are good; it's everything else that drives me nuts.

Aidan is so crabby tonight. I think he's getting a new tooth. He's never been like this. He's sleeping now. Thank goodness! I thought he was sick because he is so congested, so I took him to the doctor yesterday. He's fine but I found out that he's 21 pounds . He gained 2 pounds this month. I'm having a heart attack. He really doesn't look huge to me. He also doesn't eat a whole lot. He refuses most baby food. I don't know what to do. Now I know why I have to buy 18 month size clothes!

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

I'm feeling much better today. Thanks for all the well wishes. I'll be going back to work tomorrow. Now DH is starting to come down with the same thing. My mom took Lucas for me today and will keep him overnight so DH and I can have a night of much needed uninterrupted sleep.

Hillbeans - FWIW, we had Lucas in his own room since the night we brought him home. He was in a cradle for a few weeks then moved into his crib. Our room is right next door but we also have the monitor.

DisKim - The dolphin swim sounds amazing. Glad you had a good trip despite the rude plane passengers.

Hi to everyone!

 

[bellacam]

T & S - I got my Pm. Thanks for you effort in putting this together.

Hillbeans - Enjoy you time away! As for keeping baby in their room, we moved Aiden from a bassinet in our room to his crib in his room at 12 weeks. This was about the same time he stopped waking up for a late night feeding.

Diskim - We are flying from Maine to California after the New Year. Aidan will be about 5 Mos old. I can just imagine the looks I'll get!

Gems - for Aidans first month we had strict orders not to let him go over 4 hours with out eating. He was 10 lbs 12 oz at birth and we had to make sure his sugar level and such stayed regular due to his size. After the first month, we stopped having to feed him on schedule like that. He is 15 weeks and still eats every four "waking hours" but goes from about 7pm to 5am at night.

 

[2sweetangels]

Ok I noticed that my 3 month old DD started getting white patches on her butt and on her private area. The first time I noticed them was today when I was giving her a bath she screamed so bad like she was being hurt, so I washed her quickly and got her out as I put her fresh diaper on that is when I saw the white patches. Im gonna call her doctor if it starts to spread or hurts her so bad that she is in pain, other then the patched Hayley is a very happy baby.



Katelyn 1.17.04
Hayley 8.16.05

 

[Alice28]

Putting kids to bed in their own room:

The boys were both about 6 months. But if they would wake in the middle of the night, I'd just put them in bed with me. I love my sleep.

Molly- ug. I have been putting her down in her own bed/room initially. But I am FREAKED out for some reason about her being downstairs and me upstairs without DH here. I feel like she's all alone and, I don't know, her being on the ground floor by herself just bugs me for some reason. We live in a safe neighborhood and haven't had any problems for the 8.5 years we've lived here, but I'm uneasy. We have these old windows that almost go to the floor and I just feel like it would be so easy for someone to just break on and walk right in. The other night I had her sleep the night in there, and kept the monitor right by my ear. I was awakened by her just STIRRING. It was not a good night's sleep. I'm hoping just to train her to fall asleep in her crib for naps and nighttime, and then I bring her upstairs with me when I go to bed at 11. I know, defeats the purpose, but I know if DH was here I wouldn't be so jumpy. There would be another adult's ear wide open and I would just feel safer, you know?

Long story short, 6 months has always been the goal for us, but lots of my friends went shorts (2-3 months) and lots also went longer!

 

[ahutton]

I totally relate to having anxious responses when DH is gone. Our house is single story but the kids rooms are the opposite corner and I get upset that something could happen (fire, break in, anything) and don't sleep. Unfortunately I've always had problems with nightmares/night terrors, so that makes it much worse if I do fall asleep. I'm lucky that his travel significantly reduced after he was laid off from his last job, he was gone quite often from there. I'm more lucky that DH had his final discharge in 2000 (after 10 years) and at this point doesn't feel like he is "needed" to rejoin. No good suggestions - just a hug!

We've been lucky with our kids that other than when we had company in the first month we've always been able to get the kids to sleep in their own beds, for at least most of the night. My soft spot was if I was nursing after 3am I was more likely to fall asleep while feeding on the couch and just end up staying there until DH came to tell me the alarm went off. We just felt like doing that from early on worked best for us, but I know it doesn't work for everyone.

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Okay, read this if you are doing the exchange. I know I mentioned this in the PMs I sent but I am not sure how clear it was. Do not tell anyone on here whose name you drew but do post when you send your package. You can put your name in/on the package. It doesn't have to be anonymous but I just thought it would be more interesting if your person doesn't know who is sending the package until they receive it. When you receive your baby's package then you can post on here that you got it so the person that sent it will know and you can post who it is from and what you got for those of us who are nosey and want to know, lol! I hope this makes more sense than my PM. Any questions, you know the drill...PM me! Oh, and I just realized that 2 of you are sending to eachother! I drew randomly and did not notice until a while ago that you each got eachother's baby! Oh, well.

Sleeping in her own room~ Kylie slept in the bassinet beside my bed until she was 11 weeks old. She has always been a mover and she would get into these weird positions in her bassinet that just really looked uncomfortable and it would sometimes cause her to wake up. I decided she would be more comfortable and sleep better in her own room if she had more room to move around. And she does sleep much better in her crib. She started sleeping through the night around then too I think. We have had occasional lapses where she doesn't sleep well once every couple months for about a week at a time. I think it is from growth spurts or teething though then it all gets back on track.

Gems~ Honestly, I am no doctor but I wouldn't have dreamt of waking Kylie up during the night if she didn't wake up on her own. She did wake up for night feedings at least once for the first 2-3 months though so I never had to worry about that. She stopped getting night feedings after that b/c she honestly didn't need them or want them anymore. If your baby is hungry she will wake up and let you know, trust me! I don't even check on Kylie at night either, bad mommy that I am! I have a baby monitor that picks up every sound and I wake up if she just barely stirs. She is a light sleeper which is why I don't check on her. If I check on her she wakes up. It's good that her room is on the other side of the house from ours or she would wake up more!

Starting solids~ I ff so the pediatrician told me to start Kylie on cereal at 4 months. That was not a good decision. She did not do well with it. But the pediatrician told me to keep trying and not to give up so I did. And then I thought well maybe she just doesn't like the taste of the bland rice cereal or the oatmeal cereal that I had tried. So I started her on baby food. She loved green beans but that was it and she stopped eating those a week or 2 later and would not eat anything I offered at all. At about 5.5 months I got tired of trying and frustrating both her and me over it! We had tried it every day for a month and a half and she just wasn't ready! So we took a break. We started her back on it a little after 6 months. She is doing really well with it now. Still doesn't eat a whole lot but she is eating much more than before and is atleast showing an interest in it now. Waiting till 6 months would have been much easier for us IMO. I have decided I am not starting solids with our next child until he/she is 6 months. I could have prevented a lot of frustration for both Kylie and me if I had waited longer.

 

[zalansky]

Good morning ladies

Hillbeans - we put Connor in his own room and crib at 6 weeks and Cameryn was only 4 weeks - only because they were both noisy sleepers, grunting alot - and it kept me awake because I am an extremely light sleeper. Like DisKim, I found they both slept better once in their own room and cribs too. I was stressed the first few nights but once we all got used to it - it was alot better. Have fun in the Poconos! My Dad has a house there and I've been wanting to go. Will it be warm enough for a water park?

2sweetangels - I hope your dd's rash clears up soon. That sounds awful!

SL - happy to hear you are feeling better!

iilj - I was so happy to see your post and that you are feeling better too! I had c-sections with both kids and once I started to feel better I seemed to heal rapidly. I wish the same for you! Hope John Paul is doing well with his feeding.

Gems - we started our son on solids at 4 months and he did great, we plan to do the same with Cameryn. Hopefully it will help her sleep through the nights! Just 2 more months to wait till we can try it.

Alice28 - what will the Gymboree sale be for after turkey day? I have not rec'd an email yet so I am not sure what it will be. I want to get a friend an outfit but want to get it on sale, of course!

Nothing much going on here - my maternity leave is winding down, I go back Dec. 5th and then I will work the month of December so I can collect my 401k match from my employer on Dec. 31st. (that's the reason I am going back) But I will also use that time to decide what I want to do as far as working - since I've been home I am not sure I can do this full time.

It also looks as if we will be going to Cabo San Lucas for 4 days in March courtesy of DH's job. I am anxious of course, because I feel like you Hillbeans. I feel like a cottage cheese factory, pure white and bumpy. Yuck, better get excercising. I am dying to go to Cabo.

Have a great day everyone, off to the mall to "mall walk" with my buddy.

 

[Alice28]

Zalansky~ I got a little postcard when I shopped at the FOG sale- it doesn't give a specific percentage off for Black Friday, but it says something like, "Extra sales early in the AM." I know Gymbuck earning starts soon- this weekend maybe. Last year it was something along the lines of the whole store was at least 20% off to start with; then if you shopped between 8AM- 12PM, it was an extra 30% off your purchases, and 25% the rest of the day.

If that's the case, I am so there! I might even ask my store manager if I can possible do holds on Wednesday night if I promise to pick it up by 9AM Friday. I have been doing this before a lot of the sales lately cause the store I shop at is TEENY TINY and you get more than 5-8 people in there and it's a nightmare. I have only bought Molly a couple little toys cause I want to justify a Gymboree splurge for Christmas.

Gems- I think your doctor would recommend waking baby up every 2-3 hours to eat if she's lost a lot of weight (like Molly lost 12% of her body weight after she was born, so I HAD to get her up every 2-3 hours not only to breastfeed her, but then supplement with formula and then pump out any more breastmilk- I only could breastfeed her a few minutes per side per lactation consultants orders). Has Shelby lost any weight? Or is she slow to gain? Otherwise I don't see a problem in letting her sleep 3-4 hours or longer if she will!!

Tasha- I knew that I didn't have to be anonymous on the package when I finally send it---I just thought because I talk about Gymboree so frigging much, it would be a giveaway if I bought it before anyone even looked at the card! I haven't decided which route to take yet- clothes? Toy? Winter clothes? Spring clothes? Decisions...decisions...decisions....And besides the Gymboree factor, I think I am the only west coaster participating unless KaterKat is....I'll have to look at the list again...the postmark would give me away in a flash if it were anonymous!

Where are Justhat and DisneyPhD? Are they on vacation? I forget! Maybe Justhat is now that I think about it---all those trips she was going to take with her DH.

Now, today is the first day in a week where I have no plans! Gotta get this house clean!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Where are Justhat and DisneyPhD? Are they on vacation? I forget! Maybe Justhat is now that I think about it---all those trips she was going to take with her DH.

Now, today is the first day in a week where I have no plans! Gotta get this house clean!

I am around, reading the update, but been rathe quiet lately. Nice to be missed though.

Lily is doing fine. The dr says she can walk, she just doesn't want to. I think I have a stubern one on my hands.

We never woke Anna to eat. The nurses told us to at 1st, but she had no interested and would just end up sleep, but awake and pissed. She would wake when she was hungery. She started sleeping all night at 8 weeks and is a great sleeper. Lily, we never woke either, but she would on her own. She is another story. Enjoy your sleeper.

So much rain around here we have a damp basement (finished, carpet, full of toys.) Nothing ruined at all, but I need to get the carpet cleaner out and suck the damp carpet clean. What a pain in the tush!

Hope everyone is doing fine. How about you justthat.

Our vaction is in a few months (less then 2 really) heading down to WDW for our 3rd (and last) trip on these AP's. Looking forward to it. Staying at SSR for the 1st time. Our friends who often come with us aren't. We will miss them, but sometimes it is fun just to be a family. Last time we were at WDW Lily wasn't eating normal foods and didn't have allgery problems, so this will be our 1st trip dealing with the food allergies. I am a little nervous, but I have heard WDW is really good about it. I hope so.

 

[lissawynn]

So much going on here and so little time to type!
Jimmy is still congested. It sounds as if it's mostly in his chest. I bought him some Robitussin for infants that is supposed to work on chest congestion. My friend who is a pharmacist assured me it's ok for him, as he's 24 lbs. I, too, am feeling really crappy. I bought me some nighttime cold meds. and I'm planning on sleeping for a very long time tonight.
I am supposed to be attending a conference tomorrow, and if I back out, I lose $100. I am going to try to make it thorough the day. I will be aided by my friends in the cough and cold dept.

Sleeping in his own room...I'm pretty sure we started Jimmy in his crib when summer hit. I think he was about 4-4 1/2 months. He got too big for his bassinette, so the crib was it for him. He actually did pretty well. That's right around the time school was over, so sleeping thorogh the night when mommy didn't have to get up in the morning was what the little stinker did.

I'm headed home. Hope everyone has a good night!

 

[T16GEM]

Gems- I think your doctor would recommend waking baby up every 2-3 hours to eat if she's lost a lot of weight (like Molly lost 12% of her body weight after she was born, so I HAD to get her up every 2-3 hours not only to breastfeed her, but then supplement with formula and then pump out any more breastmilk- I only could breastfeed her a few minutes per side per lactation consultants orders). Has Shelby lost any weight? Or is she slow to gain? Otherwise I don't see a problem in letting her sleep 3-4 hours or longer if she will!!

No Shelby has gained 16.5 oz since she was born, she is doing well, it's just that the nurse at SCBU said that we should feed every 4 hrs at the moment - I've been thinking that they might have just said that as they are used to low birth weight premmy babies and the only reason that Shelby went into SCBU was b/c she had breathing probs at birth and it might have just been some stock advice that they give to parents when the little babies are discharged.

Tasha - thanks for the PM, I am glad that we can say who we get our exchange from once it arrives as mine will be coming from the UK I think it would give it away!! I am looking forward to shopping for the gifts, but i'm not sure what to get yet, I'm sure that Shelby will help me to choose though!

 

[joats]

Well, I think at least a week has gone by without me being able to check in. We've had a rough one. Jace ended up with a double ear infection after his cold. They gave him amoxicilin. He then had an allergic reaction and ended up covered in hives. Now, they don't want to give him anything else unless he gets a fever over 101 and he's pulling and scratching at his ears.
Dr. also said to stop feeding him cereal,etc and do formula only for as long as I can as he is so sensitive and has been having so many skin issues...now they tell me!! I've been struggling trying to get this poor kid to eat cereal as he could take it or leave it and prefered the bottle anyway.

I am so sorry I can't even to begin to reply to all that has been posted. I miss being home and being able to check in with all of you and being up to date on what your little ones are doing.

Work is really busy which is good because I don't have time to get sad. But my new schedule getting up at 5:15am is killing me as Jace has probably only slept thru the night about 8 nights in the past month or so I've been working as he is congested, coughing, etc. I tend to go to bed as soon as he does as I know I will be up 2-3 times before that alarm.

Welcome new mommies and babies and hello to all. I hope this coming week will be a bit better and I can have a little more time to check in as I miss it!

Wow...my post is pretty negative - sorry about that. It's just that Jace has been sick with one thing after another since I returned to work and it's making me CRAZY!

 

[Hillbeans]

Good morning ladies

Hillbeans - we put Connor in his own room and crib at 6 weeks and Cameryn was only 4 weeks - only because they were both noisy sleepers, grunting alot - and it kept me awake because I am an extremely light sleeper. Like DisKim, I found they both slept better once in their own room and cribs too. I was stressed the first few nights but once we all got used to it - it was alot better. Have fun in the Poconos! My Dad has a house there and I've been wanting to go. Will it be warm enough for a water park?

Nothing much going on here - my maternity leave is winding down, I go back Dec. 5th and then I will work the month of December so I can collect my 401k match from my employer on Dec. 31st. (that's the reason I am going back) But I will also use that time to decide what I want to do as far as working - since I've been home I am not sure I can do this full time.

It also looks as if we will be going to Cabo San Lucas for 4 days in March courtesy of DH's job. I am anxious of course, because I feel like you Hillbeans. I feel like a cottage cheese factory, pure white and bumpy. Yuck, better get excercising. I am dying to go to Cabo.

Have a great day everyone, off to the mall to "mall walk" with my buddy.

Loretta, you and I are so similar. I also was wondering about going the SAH route and leaving my career behind, but i'm going back to work after New Years. I've only said this to my close friends and family, but I don't think i'd be happy being home every day with the kids and not having a job outside of the home. I struggle with choosing to go back to work every day, just like a lot of women (and men) do. I have a wonderful childcare provider though and DH and I have some flexibility in our working schedules as well as 3+ weeks of vacation, personal days and great benefits/401K. I'm scheduled to go back to work after New Years. Good luck with whatever you decide to do and keep us updated.

I hope you get to go to Cabo!! How exciting.

The Waterpark in the Pocono's is indoors...it's a new hotel and waterpark in one called the Great Wolf Lodge. It will be a fun 2 nights before the long 4 nights at DH's parents house - ha ha, only kidding. His parents can't wait for us to have the baby in for 4 nights i'm sure we'll all finally get some sleep with a bunch more people to hold and play with the baby.

EDIT - Joats - I hope little Jace is feeling better soon - poor little thing - Hives and 2 ear infections! Hang in there, I hope things return to normal very soon for you all. It must be so stressful for you to be at work with all this going on at home.

 

[2sweetangels]

what a cold day today in chicago, it was snowing and the wind felt like it was cutting my face, it was so cold. Just a few days ago it was 70 out, what happened? I walked to Osco with my DD's, thank god Osco is right across the street, and I had to put gloves, hats and scarfs on my older DD and my 3 month old, I had her in a front carrier close to my body heat in her thick snowsuit covered up with a blanket over her head. I think tomarrow we will stay in.

 

[Alice28]

ACK----Poor lil' Jace! And poor Joats! Hang in there---he'll get better soon. I'll be thinking of you two & saying a prayer that you get some more sleep.

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Joats - Poor Jace! I just feel so bad for him. I hope he starts to feel better soon.

lissawynn - Hope you feel better soon. Being sick and trying to take care of the baby is so draining.

Hillbeans & Zalansky - I'm beginning to feel the same way about working in that I'm really glad I'm working part time. I loved my maternity leave and my time with Lucas during the week, but I'm also glad to get out once in a while. Plus, the paycheck definitely helps.

Speaking of solids, Lucas is becoming quite an eater. I've been mixing fruits or vegetables in with his cereal, then giving just the fruit or veggie as "dessert" and he's loving it.

He's still stuffy but we have the humidifier on at night and I've angled his crib mattress with a pillow underneath. Even the ped said he could have it for up to a month or so. He's in great spirits and has no temp so I guess we'll just wait it out for now.

Hope everyone's having a good week!

 

[vald1977]

Hi everyone,
Joats,
My DS is also allergic to amoxicilin among other things. Sending good wishes your way that he is feeling better soon .

Hillbeans,
Enjoy your week away. The waterpark sounds like a lot of fun .

2sweetangels,
The cold weather hasn't quite reached us yet. Yesterday was t-shirt weather here in Connecticut!

SL,
Katie has been stuffy for awhile too. It seems like it will never end. I'm glad Lucas is eating so well. It's fun to find out what they like and what they don't .



Katrina had her 4 month appointment yesterday. She's 15 pounds 2 oz. and a hair under 26" inches tall, 80% and 90% percentile respectively. I can't believe she's so big. She certainly didn't get it from me since I'm only 5' and DH is of average height. I'm pretty sure she will slow down since there aren't any tall people on either side of the family but I think it would be neat if she did end up being tall. Being short kind of stinks .

No rolling yet but she can roll from her back onto her side so I think she may roll back to tummy first. I will probably try her on cereal this weekend just to see what she thinks of it but if she's not into it, I'll wait awhile and try again.

DH is going for his vasectomy tomorrow. So I guess I'll have two babies to care for this weekend . I went to visit a friend who had a baby this week and it made me a little sad to think I won't ever have another one that little again. But then I got over it and figured I'll just borrow everyone else's when I get the urge to rock a baby. That way I can give it back .

Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend. We have a Christening to go to on Sunday. I hope DH is feeling okay by then.

 

[ahutton]

Hi everyone! Hope Jace is feeling better soon.

Gretchen - I also use the carrier, and found that it won't go on with anything too heavy under it. The few times I've needed a jacket or rain coat I've put the carrier over my clothes, then put my jacket or raincoat on over the straps. I also wrapped a blanket around the front of the baby, and tucked it into the side of the carrier. We did a WDW trip on November and it was very cold and raining - worked like a dream as DD stayed warm and dry next to me. I carried an umbrella and between that and the blanket deflecting water in front (just a receiving blanket so if it got too wet I could switch it out) she did great.

Hope that is helpful to some of you in colder places. It is cold in Austin today - it was 26 when I woke up. We set a new record. But we know we are LUCKY! It is sunny and dry and will get close to 60 later today.

 

[llij]

Joats - I hope that Jace is feeling better very soon!

Valerie - Sending best wishes to you all that your DH recovers very quickly. My BIL had it done and felt better after a few days. Good luck!

It is very COLD here today too! I was hoping to venture out of the house with the baby and pick up some items that we need at Babies R Us, but now I am rethinking that. It is too cold!

Everyone have a great day! Stay warm!