The Official New Mom Thread

[tkyes]

lisawynn - I just took color pictures with my digital and changed them to black and white in photoshop. I think our digital has a black and white setting too.

Happy 1st Birthday Jenna! We used Baby Dry once, but I went back to Cruisers. I like the stretchy sides on Cruisers better.

T & S - glad your night away went well. Tyler is getting hard to change too. He still has a bit of a diaper rash, so part of our problem is keeping his hand out of the way! Tyler screamed the most at his 6 mo. shots too. Those were the worst!!

bellacam - I know what you mean. I hate to whine when DH is gone because of what Katerkat and Robin (and other military wives) go through. It's no fun when our spouses are away, no matter what length of time. DH is gone until Thursday and I'm counting the minutes!

Tamie

 

[Alice28]

Hi everyone-

Just checking in to say hi; I've skimmed over all the posts over the last 24 hours or so, but my brain is literally feeling like pudding the last few days. I think I'm semi-depressed. Last year at least DH was home for Christmas (came home around the 18th or so)....this year just sucks. I was ready to *kill* my children last night while trying to trim the tree. They were sooooo excited about it, and hence about 5 ornaments got broken (gee, all WDW ones too) and I finally just had to say, "STOP" and we went to bed. I was ready to have smoke coming out of my ears. I managed to super glue them all, and they seem ok.

My knee is still slowing me down big time and I am just frustrated I can't do jack squat- I want to put lights around our porch, but know it would be stupid to go up and down on a stepstool. No one else on our street is getting into the lights and it's kinda depressing....I love outside Christmas lights and when I drove home last night, our street was so dark! Lots of wreaths and stuff, but no lights.

My MIL is coming tomorrow and the kids are so excited and I'm like, "ugh." I just feel like such a slob too- my mom and I went to Coldwater Creek the other day & I think if I weren't friends with the manager, they may have asked me to leave. JK, but everyone else was so dressed up just to shop! I did get to pick out two sweaters and two tshirts to layer with as my main gift from my parents and it will be nice to have some nice clothes again.

I'm sorry to be so boo-hoo. I just want to press the FF button til after New Year's so DH will be HOME! I've tried so hard just to stay BUSY doing anything and everything these last few months and now with my fracking knee, I can't even do that, so I'm mopey. I want to enjoy the holidays if only to see my kids' happy faces while opening their gifts.

And to those whose DHs are away on business trips and such- I feel for you and don't think you can't vent! I know before this whole deployement happened, I used to go nuts just on drill weekends when DH would only be gone Fri night thru Sunday night. It's hard without your spouse no matter what the timeline....although sometimes I welcome a day or so away! Esp when he has 1-2 of the kids! Gosh, I can't wait for that! You take the boys so I can go play! Or just clean the house!

I'm sorry I didn't comment on everyone's happenings----I did read everything, and smiled and nodded along with everything, I swear! I just can't even gather my brain to think of everyone's name at this point! Isn't that horrible!????? I'm so glad I have this thread though- I really feel like I have some cyber friends out there- while I have my 'real' friends here and just a phone call away, sometimes I just don't even want to say some of these things out loud.

 

[joats]

Hey Mommies!
My head and sinuses hurt too much to begin to reply to all. This thread moves way too quickly now. Too many pages per day - it's hard to keep up!

Dr. did give me some meds for my sinus infection - hopefully they will bring some relief within the next few days.

Jace is doing great. He's fast asleep.

Just wanted to say hello. I'm off to do my nightly chores and get to bed early.
Enjoyed reading all the posts.

 

[Alice28]

Here's my kidlets tonight in front of our tree- this will be our Christmas photo- already uploaded to Costco.com to make some cards. Again, apologies for the SIZE- I need to get photoshop or something.

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Hi everyone!

Lucas did great with Santa. My only problem was with the setup. This year's theme at the mall is snowglobes and we had to walk through a giant snowglobe snowing styrofoam on us BEFORE we saw Santa. Everyone was brushing that stuff off their kids. We tracked so much of it all around the mall, in the car, at home... it's everywhere. Here's the picture:

DisneyPhD - Congrats on Lily walking! How exciting.
Alice28 - What a fantastic picture! Your kids are adorable.
joats - Hope you're feeling better soon. I'm a sinus sufferer too. It's awful.
Loretta & Jill - Count me in the jealous group. DH and I ate at Le Cellier on our last trip and it's definitely going to be on our list of places to eat on our next trip (which is too far away! )
lissawynn - You have a gorgeous tree.
justhat - I hope things work out for you.
A big HELLO to everyone else! Hope the week's going well!

 

[tkyes]

Alice - I'm so sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how hard the holidays will be without your husband. I wish I could do more for you than send some kind words and a cyber hug, but I guess that will have to do. {{hugs}} oh, great pictures of your kids

SL - I guess Lucas did great, what an adorable picture!!

joats - I hope you feel better soon. Sinus stuff is awful!

 

[zalansky]

Evening everyone, I just read over the thread and as usual its speeding along but I wanted to say real quick before I hop in bed....

SL - We have the same snowglobe thing here at the mall with Santa (Narnia?), we've not been yet but we will be going so we'll be rushing through as not to get the "snowfales" on us!!! I love the santa pic and also the one in your signature.

Alice28 - to you....I really do feel for you and you can come here and vent anytime! That's what we're here for! I love the picture of your kidlets! Love the baby's dress! Your kids are precious.

I am off to bed. I hope everyone is having a good week.

 

[Daydreamer64]

Hi All!

Just wanted to drop a line and ask if I can move over here now? For those who have been keeping up with my pregnancy journey from the expecting threads- we have great news!

I couldn't wait to say- TAKE ME OFF OF THE EXPECTING LIST-He's Here! Little Benjamin Alexander would not wait until Christmas after all to make an appearence. That makes a total of three boys for us!

He was born last weds, Nov. 30, 2005 after Mom was admitted to the hospital on Mon. Nov. 28th for toxemia and breathing problems including low oxygen- I couldn't breath so my stats kept dropping below 90%. The docs gave me supplimental oxygen, breathing treatments and so on for three days as well as support for diabetes, anemia and various other problems.

On Weds. morning the nurse was taking my accucheck reading when I "felt" sleepy- the next thing I knew was that people were running around the bed and saying things like "are you feeling better?" I didn't know what happened but I was told that I started to seize from the toxemia. They then asked me if I thought it was a good day to have a baby? What? Today? NOW????
I called Dad and Grandma who gathered the boys from school and got to the hospital just in time for Mom to go back to get the spinal for the c-section.

Ben was born at 12:24pm . He weighed 7lbs .3 ozs. His apgars were 8 and 8. He went to the NICU for support. He ended up on c-pap and then he blew out a lung so he needed the be on the vent. He is now weined off of the vent and is back on supplimental oxygen.

He DOES NOT have trisomy 18- praise God! Nor does he have any apparent birth defects from being born to an older mommy!

We are waiting for the test results to see if he has Chronic Granulomatous Disease like his oldest brother. He is not yet eating because he is working too hard to breath and they are afraid to feed him by mouth because he may inhale the milk and asperate it into his lungs- this could cause pnuemonia and so on, so we are trying to be patient and allow his little nervous system to mature a bit more so he will be able to come home with us. The docs said that while he is at a great weight, that the diabetes caused his internal organs to be delayed in maturing more so then a baby born to a Mom without diabetes.

I will post a picture when I figure out how!

The following information may be too graphic for some of you- please read at your own risk.

My c-section site is infected so I am on meds to clear it up- the diabetes has reared it's ugly head again and made my healing difficult. I have 18 staples - yeck! If possible- they are to be removed this Thursday ( I'm a bit of a chicken and am more afraid of the removal then the surgery that put them there! ) and then the docs will determine if the infection is bad enough that I need to go back in the hospital for debreeing and/or to have drains to be surgically incerted to help with the healing process- I'm praying that I will not have to be readmitted because Ben is almost ready to come home and I want to be with him. My fever has been constant, as well as, I have increasing pains and an awful smell from the incision site- sorry if this it too graphic but I wanted to know of anyone else has had problems with infection from c-section and what their recovery was like?

Anyway, I'm jumping over to the new mommy threads and I'll jump back to the expecting threads from time to time to check in with everyone. Have a great holiday season!
__________________

 

[J&D]

Congratulations, Daydreamer64! Welcome to the world, Little Ben!
Hugs and prayers for the both of you!

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Congratulations and welcome Daydreamer64 & Benjamin!!

 

[lissawynn]

SL - OMG! What an adorable pic! I love happy little guys! Lucas seemed to really like Santa. I have to scan and post Jimmy's pic later today.

Welcome to the DIS Benjamin (I love that name!) and Daydreamer64! Positive thoughts and hugs to you both!

Alice28 - I hope you're feeling better today! The holidays are so stressful anyway w/o having to think about your DH not being with you and your kids. Your kids, btw, are beautiful. It's just a matter of weeks until your DH is home. I would keep the tree up and celebrate Christmas all over again when he gets home.
My DH used to travel for work and I missed him and his help on the nights he was gone. It wasn't so bad when Jimmy was a baby, but as he got older and busier, it really was hard being alone!
Happy thoughts to you!

joats - I hope you're feeling better soon! I've never had a sinus infection but I can imagine how uncomfortable you must be.

bellacam - Your DH will be home before you know it!

Tasha+Scott - Glad to hear your dr's visits are almost done. I have had many an ingrown toenail, but I've never had to have a dr. fix one. "Bathroom surgery" at home has always done the trick.

J&D - I have used the Pampers Cruisers, but not the baby dry ones. We need something with a stretchy band b/c of Jimmy being somewhat of a chubber. I read some good things about the Sam's brand of diapers and am going to try them next. If I don't like them, I'll give them away.

We have shortened classes today! The bad is giving their holiday concert this afternoon, so it should be a nice break from the usual crazy afternoon.
Hope you're all well!

 

[T16GEM]

Welcome little Ben!
Sorry that you are having a hard time Daydreamer, I can't help you with the C section as I didn't have one but I am sending you hugs hope you feel better soon.

got my baby exchange today thanks Andrea! Shelby got the most adorable Christmas ornament and a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a fleecy jacket, just the thing for the winter in the UK

Shelby has got baby eczema on her eyebrows which is causing her a bit of a problem, it looks a bit sore but we are using E45 cream on her and it seems to be helping thankfully.

DH has got the week off this week so we are going to put up the Christmas decorations today, we are off to get our tree in a minute, usually we have to re-arrange our lounge room but we are going to try to avoid that this year, as we aren't doing a big family meal at our house this year we probably won't be using the dining table so we are just going to shift the table down a bit and use the space that creates. Its very complicated!

I hope everyone is ok, I haven't had chance to read thru all the posts but hopefully I will get there eventually with that one!!

Gems

 

[bellacam]

Welcome Daydreamer and Benjamin! You are in my thoughts. I hope all goes well for the both of you.

Well, my first night alone with Aidan...not so good! He fell asleep while I was feeding him around 6:30 and did not want to wake back up. I put him in his crib and stayed up till about 11:00. Next thing I knew, it was 12:30 and he was wide awake! I went and brought him in with me, hoping he'd fall back asleep. No such luck. He was up till about 1:30 sleep till 5 and has been up for the day since. He had a pretty bad crying fit in the night as well. Not sure what's up with him, he is usually such a champion sleeper - Down at 7:30 up at 6 back to sleep till 8! I am definitely going to nap with him this afternoon!

 

[zalansky]

Welcome Daydreamer and Benjamin! I hope your CS infection clears up soon!

 

[vald1977]

Hey everybody,
I have been trying to get here for a couple of days now but it seems as soon as I finish reading, the baby needs me so I haven't gotten to post!

Welcome Daydreamer and Ben!

Robin,
What a great Christmas card pic! I'm impressed that all three are smiling at once . They are beautiful kids. Feel free to vent any time. We are all here to listen .

SL,
Wow, Lucas has the greatest smile . The Santa pic came out wonderful.

Gem,
Love the new pic of Shelby in your sig . What a little cutie! Enjoy decorating.

Lisawynn,
Very nice Christmas tree. Enjoy your concert this afternoon .

Tasha and Joats,
Hope you're both feeling better!

J&D,
I can't help with diapers. We use the Top Care because they go on sale at our grocery store every month or so as "buy one get two free" so it breaks down to a little over $2.00 a package. I'll use generic for that price . Plus, we have never had an issue with them leaking or anything.

Bridget,
Sorry you had such a rough night without DH. I hope tonight goes smoother.

Sorry if I'm forgetting something. This thread moves so flippin' fast .

I didn't end up bringing Katie to the doc. after all. The next day she seemed fine so I think maybe it was her teeth bugging her. She is getting very spoiled about sleeping though. I used to be able to put her in her swing and she would take a good 2 plus hour nap. Well, now that we have the tree up I had to move the swing to her room and she doesn't like being in there by herself so she screams if I try to put her in . Since DH has been home she has been napping a lot of times on him and sometimes in her bouncy chair (we have the kind that is also a rocking chair so we rock it with our foot). Now it's getting to where she only wants to sleep on someone, nowhere else.

At bedtime, I used to be able to just put her in her bassinett after her bottle when she was awake and she would go to sleep. Not anymore. It's been taking me at least 3-4 tries of putting her down asleep before she'll stay in her bed. If she wakes up she'll scream to be picked up again and then go right back to sleep while I'm holding her. And forget the crib. She hates that too. What happened to my good little sleeper ? I always tell her it's a good thing she's cute because she's driving me nuts .

My DS has to go to the ear doctor today for a follow up on his adnoids and tubes surgery. The school nurse told us that when she looked in his ears both tubes are already falling out. I really hope he doesn't have to have another surgery. This doctor's office is also the slowest place ever. We always wind up waiting at least an hour in the waiting room so I am dreading it with a baby. Ugh.

Well, that's all for me right now. I will post a pic of our Christmas tree later tonight.

 

[tkyes]

Welcome Daydreamer and baby Ben! I'll keep you both in my thoughts.

Bridget - I don't think Tyler sleeps as well when DH is away either. I don't know if it's just bad luck or he really knows his dad is gone. Who knows. One more night left for me.

I'm heading the Mall of America with a girlfriend and her 3 year old tomorrow. That should make the day go by quickly and I'll get a couple of presents off of my list.


Tamie

 

[Hillbeans]

Thank you T1GEM - Shelby and GEMS for the Baby exchange. Liam got a set of stacking cups (my older son Kevin of course played with them all night), a stuffed "moo" cow, and the most adorable baby booties with reindeers on them! I also got a Yankee Candle (Thanks!)!!! It was fun getting a package via Air Mail from the UK!!! Thanks again to Tasha for organizing the exchange!

I hope Shelby's ezcema gets better!

Welcome DayDreamer64 and baby Benjamin!!!! I hope you're feeling better soon after your hard delivery!

Alice - you'll be in my thoughts this holiday season. I'm sure it's got to be very hard with DH away.

I took a pic of Liam trying to roll over earlier today- he's so funny once he tries to gets going:

(Gems, you can see your stacking cups all over my living room - ha ha)

I'm so excited for tomorrow. I'm going to Manhattan to see Tim McGraw film a TV special. My Best friend is such a huge fan of his, and we've seen him a few times together. I lucked out and got tickets on-line for this concert tomorrow at Club Avalon in NYC. It'll be a fun night out, and I love going into the City around Christmastime - the smell of chestnuts and so forth. It'll be fun to have a night out with my friend - I don't get the chance to get out often w/o the Kids. I'll be sure to give a full report on Friday.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[lissawynn]

A question for the moms with older kids...
Jimmy has refused to eat any of the stage 3 baby foods, with the exception of the fruits. He will eat some "adult" foods, such as mashed potatoes and some meats and cheddar cheese, which we give him in very small pieces. The last few days his eating has been very sporadic. He'll eat a whole bunch of something and then not want anything later on. Also, he's decided he no longer wants formula and has been drinking whole mile. He seems to really enjoy that and has no problem with the adjustment.
Do you have any suggestions as to what I could feed him that he'd eat? Last night I tried some bite-sized pieces of chicken and rice. He mushed that up and spit it out. Then I tried jarred chicken stew. He spit that. Finally I gave him some mixed cereal. He ate about two bites and was done.

Also, Jimmy has been waking up in the middle of the night and crying. We tried to let him "cry it out" over the weekend. He had himself so worked up after about 10-15 minutes of crying. He started screaming and calling "mama". We felt terrible and put him in bed with us. This has been the pattern for the last several nights. I've been sleeping on the couch b/c Jimmy is kicking DH and me.

Any suggestions?

 

[tkyes]

Have fun Hillary - I love Tim!!! Lucky girl!

lisawynn - No advice since I haven't been there yet, but I hope things get back to normal soon!

Tamie

 

[DisneyPhD]

A question for the moms with older kids...
Jimmy has refused to eat any of the stage 3 baby foods, with the exception of the fruits. He will eat some "adult" foods, such as mashed potatoes and some meats and cheddar cheese, which we give him in very small pieces. The last few days his eating has been very sporadic. He'll eat a whole bunch of something and then not want anything later on. Also, he's decided he no longer wants formula and has been drinking whole mile. He seems to really enjoy that and has no problem with the adjustment.
Do you have any suggestions as to what I could feed him that he'd eat? Last night I tried some bite-sized pieces of chicken and rice. He mushed that up and spit it out. Then I tried jarred chicken stew. He spit that. Finally I gave him some mixed cereal. He ate about two bites and was done.

Also, Jimmy has been waking up in the middle of the night and crying. We tried to let him "cry it out" over the weekend. He had himself so worked up after about 10-15 minutes of crying. He started screaming and calling "mama". We felt terrible and put him in bed with us. This has been the pattern for the last several nights. I've been sleeping on the couch b/c Jimmy is kicking DH and me.

Any suggestions?

Sounds totally normal. Most kids don't like 3rd step baby food. They are really a waste of money unless you want to convence. Most kids also do what he is doing, like it sometimes sometimes eat a ton, and then go a while with out eating. They say to look at the overall picture not just each meal.

He is a wee bit early. Most Doc recomend waiting until 12 months for milk. However sense he seems to tollerate it fine what about other milk products. Chesse, slice of american cheese is great for little kids. Baby yogurt is good too, some kids really like cottage cheese. My kids have always liked hot dogs. I like national hewbrew brand (kosher means no dairy for us. ) Cut them up small. Canned Veanna sausages where a big hit with Anna and really easy. (and easier to chew then hot dogs.) Cut grape are another big hit. Any type of cracker is always a hit too. Lily likes cucumbers.

Oh and never underestate the value of banannas!

There are sometimes when I think Lily lives on them.

This is a good age to let him cry it out. It gets harder when you have a 2nd or more child in the house and you worry about them waking. If you can't tollerate the scream feast then at least try one of you to stay in the room with them until they are clam. (I often make DH do this sence he can't nurse her.)

Good luck.