The Official New Mom Thread

[justhat]

SL congrats on finding a coat! It sounds like it's pretty cute too. I had to laugh about you eating Fruit Loops for 3 months during your pregnancy. With Madison I ate Pizza Rolls everyday. Ugh, they're so nasty that I get ill thinking about that now. My husband loves them so we always have them in the freezer but I used to hate them (and did again after she was born). I also used to take those PB&J uncrustables to school/work with me to eat for lunch and one girl in my class saw me eating it and told me how nasty they look/are. Little did she know never to make fun of what a pregnant woman wants to eat!

Alice28, sorry you had to miss your meeting, but glad to hear that you're at least feeling better. That must have been so hard to go through, especially right now. Hopefully the other stones won't be a problem (though I really have no idea how kidney stones work). At least you have the excitement that your husband is finally on his way home to help you feel better!

Lissawynn, congrats on booking your trip! You guys will have a great time and I know your dad will love seeing his grandkids having fun in Disney. Jimmy will be a great age to enjoy things too. And even though you've got awhile, good luck trying for #2.

DisKim, if your family is willing to move with you then I say to go for it. I mean obviously there's more to it than that, but I really think having family around makes any place livable so if I were you I'd strongly consider moving. Maybe I'm biased cause I don't really love NJ anymore, but I really think it would be a good thing for your family. If it helps at all, we really want to move to the Phoenix area after my husband finishes his residency and my mom has decided she wants to go too (some of her friends retired there and she loves the weather) so that makes me feel a lot better about it. Otherwise, as much as I want to go, I really might consider staying in DC instead, just cause it's so much closer to everyone.

I seriously need to go shower and nap now. Last night was so rough. Madison fell asleep in the car at 6:30, so I knew if I woke her up she'd be up all night so I just put her in bed. Then I fell asleep from 7-10 (had to lay with her cause she woke up and I didn't want her thinking she could get up and play) so I was wide awake till 1:30, despite laying in bed forever. I finally go to sleep and Madison woke up at 3:30 cause she was hungry. Well yeah she was hungry, all she ate yesterday was Cheerios at 8:30am, about 10 french fries around 2pm, and then 1/2 a cookie at 6pm. So I got her some milk and she drank it, said she was done, and we went back to sleep. Then she woke up hungry again at 4:30 and my husband got her milk, but then she wouldn't go back to sleep! I should have known better cause she always sleeps for 10 hours if she goes to bed around her bedtime (otherwise she wakes at 8, even it if means sleeping 6 hours, she won't sleep past 8am). She got up and walked around the house for awhile, then went back to her bed for a bit, then climbed in our bed then around 6am she falls asleep. Well we get up for school around 6:30 so that was no help. So I basically slept for 2 hours last night and am exhausted so I'm going to shower and then nap till I have to pick her up at school. I have to admit though, I got pretty nervous thinking about what I'm gonna do if she has nights like this after the baby comes cause then I'll really be up all night!

 

[nucpharm29]

Alice28-glad to hear your feeling better. What an awful thing to have to go through. Also, really excited your DH will be home soon. A DH of a friend of mine is in Kuwait right now, and he gets to come home on leave, not for good, in a couple of weeks. She's having the same MIL issues you did. Spend those Gymbucks well! I'm headed to Old Navy today to check out their sales--I drove all the way out there yesterday only to realize when I went to get DS out of the car that I had no wallet!

Lissawyn--Congrats on your disney trip with dad--We are taking my DFIL and his girlfriend a week from Thursday. My DH hasn't seen his dad in over a year, so this trip is really special for everyone. And good luck on trying for #2 after your trip.

justhat-Sorry to hear you've had the morning sickness bug--I didn't have any with DD and then with DS-Whamo! I was sick all the time. I guess that's why I didn't gain any weight until 12-16 weeks along! That's really crappy about your stroller. Did you call the company to see if they would repair/replace it? Seems like an awful lot of $$$ to spend and then have it break so suddenly! But I know the airline people aren't known to be gentle with strollers! We'll see what happens to our double stroller next week!

edited to add- Justhat--I just read your new post and I know what you mean about the sleep thing. I was soooooo worried about how I would deal with two getting up at night. And thankfully, after 2 months, it has only happened twice; and that was b/c DD had a cold. But, I did forget how hard the midnight, 3, 6am...feedings were-but we made it through. Now, I only have to get up once! Hope Madison sleeps better for you tonight!
Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[justhat]

Quickly before I nap, I just wanted to say that we did the princess breakfast in Norway on 12/26 and then Cindy's on 12/30 and 12/31 (no, we didn't want to go twice, but we forgot to cancel and they charge you so we were stuck) and there were empty tables in both restaurants all 3 times so definitely try to get in and even try when you're there. We were shocked cause the Norway breakfast was at 9:50am, so not super late, and seriously about 80% of the restaurant was empty. Cindy's was more crowded, but even there I would say the 1st day it was about 90% filled (8:45am) and 2nd day (9:30ish) was about 80%. So good luck Nucpharm! I figure if it was like that Christmas week, then you'll have an easier time since it won't be as crowded. Oh, and thanks for the reassurance about sleep, I was really starting to panic again-it seems everytime I come to terms with this pregnancy and get happy about it, then something else comes up and freaks me out again. Off to nap!

 

[nucpharm29]

AAAHHH!!! This is what the DIS is doing to me! I just almost lost our dog. I was sitting here typing away and decided to let the dog out. We have an electric fence, but I was lazy and didn't put her collar on. Well, DD comes out and needs a diaper change, and I'm thinking something isn't right! I looked out back and the dog was gone! I think my neighbors must think I'm crazy walking out in the cold in pjs and slippers! Luckily, here comes our little dog waltzing down the street like nothing had happened. This thread is such a bad influence!

 

[WonderBelle]

Hi everyone, wanted to thank you for all your . My husband and I chose not to get the amnio. Another doctor in the practice explained to us that if we will not terminate the pregnancy for any reason there is no reason to put the baby in anyother danger with the amnio because it does hold a 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage. He also informed us that another more accurate test I took at a later date, compares ultra-sound measurements of the baby with blood work. This test came out to a 1 in 2300 chance of my baby having trisomy18. That gave is some peace of heart and mind. So we just have to move on and think about the future.

 

[llij]

Hi ladies,

I just wanted to pop in really quickly and say "hi". It sounds like everyone is pretty busy with a lot going on. It has been a rough couple of days here b/c John Paul is regressing in his sleeping schedule! I feel like a zombie and am so exhausted. We ended up changing his formula to soy formula b/c he was struggling so much with the gentlease. He was still so gassy and miserable. Poor little guy. He seems to be adjusting nicely to the soy but in the meantime he has become a "binky" addict. Ugh. If the binky falls out at night then he screams. Well, this goes on every 15 minutes for hours on end. My dd did this and I swore that I would never do this with John. Famous last words! Last night, we let him cry it out for a bit, but I don't want to do that every night. I'm praying he sleeps better soon. He will go 4-5 hours during the day for feedings and now at night it is 2 1/2 to 3 hours and then we throw the binky fits into the mix. Oh well. I start back at school next week, so I need this little boy to sleep a little bit better for me. Any advice? He is staying up more during the day so I am not sure why he is so thrown off. I feel like he is my first baby again, b/c it has been so long since I've had a new baby.

Alice28 - Glad to hear that your DH is in Kuwait! Yea! I'm sorry that you went through so much with your kidney stone though. I hope that you are better soon.

Nucpharm- Glad you found your dog! I would do the same thing!

SL - Glad to hear that you found a jacket for Lucas.

Justhat - Get some rest and I hope that you feel better soon.

Lisawynn - Have a wonderful trip to Disney this summer. You are going the exact same week that we went last year. The crowds were not bad at all. You will have a great time! It sounds like you got lots of great recommendations for places to eat too. Our personal favorite is Le Cellier! Yum. Yum.

DisKim - My DH's family all relocated from Long Island to Charlotte, NC years ago. The cost of living on LI just was too much. They really love the Charlotte area!

Valerie - My DD didn't get her ears pierced until she was 8 so I am not much help for advice.

Joats - Poor Jace with the spitting up the meats. My dd's hated the texture of meat and it was years before they ate it. They did the exact same thing that Jace did. Good luck to you!

Zalansky - I hope that you had fun at Outback. I was actually hoping that Tampa Bay would beat the Redskins so we wouldn't be watching more playoffs. My DH is a Giants fan so I guess it wouldn't have mattered though.

J&D - Sorry that you didn't have a lazy Sunday. I always feel like I am scurrying around on the weekends trying to pick up and get the house organized too!

Hi to Bellacam, Hillbeans, Gems, Tamie and everyone else!

Have a great day!

 

[llij]

Hi everyone, wanted to thank you for all your . My husband and I chose not to get the amnio. Another doctor in the practice explained to us that if we will not terminate the pregnancy for any reason there is no reason to put the baby in anyother danger with the amnio because it does hold a 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage. He also informed us that another more accurate test I took at a later date, compares ultra-sound measurements of the baby with blood work. This test came out to a 1 in 2300 chance of my baby having trisomy18. That gave is some peace of heart and mind. So we just have to move on and think about the future.

to you, WonderBelle,

I'm glad to hear that this doctor gave you some peace of heart. When I was pregnant with John Paul, we saw a perinatologist that we called "Dr. Doom and Gloom." He freaked us out telling us that John probably had Downs Syndrome and tried to push us to get an amnio. We chose not to do one and another perinatologist that we saw later seemed a little upset that Dr. D&G gave us such a hard time and freaked us out. It sounds like you and I had the same tests with the blood work comparison to the U/S. I hope all goes well for you and thank you for keeping us updated. Continue to let us know how you are doing!

 

[justhat]

Wonderbelle, . I'll be keeping you and your baby in my prayers for a healthy rest of the pregnancy.

Jill, I don't really have any great advice for you cause as I'm sure you've noticed Madison is not exactly a champion sleeper. But at that age she was actually pretty good so I'll tell you what we did. We always swaddled her very tightly and put her down in her bed awake, with the pacifier. Then as she started closing her eyes I'd take the pacifier away. I had to wait till she was in that 'too sleepy to care' phase and then she'd sorta look annoyed but she'd still drift off. She'd still wake up for it during the night, but not falling asleep with it in her mouth helped cause then she wouldn't wake up so fast when it fell out (like she did later on in life). Not sure if that's something that John Paul will tolerate or not, but maybe if he will it will help him a bit.

As far as eating, well Madison still woke up for a nighttime meal till about 15 months so take my advice lightly, but at that age I'd sorta force her to eat more frequently later at night before she went to bed, and after her last feeding I'd keep her up playing for about 30-45 minutes. I read an article when she was about 6 weeks old that said if you give them about 1/2-1 hour to digest their food before bedtime they'll sleep better than a baby who goes right to sleep after eating. Since you said JP was having trouble digesting his formula maybe that strategy will help him. Once I started doing that Madison would sleep from about 9pm-3am and then 3am-7am everynight. But one other thing to consider, which I'm sure you already have, is that he only weighs about 9 pounds so he really just might need to eat more frequently at night still. I'm thinking Madison was about 11 pounds when she started that sleep schedule I just mentioned, and that was around 6 weeks old. But when she was JP's weight she got up every 2 hours 24 hours a day (which was up to about 2 weeks old cause she was born at 8 lbs. 4 oz., lost a pound, then was at 9 lbs. at her 2 week check).

Right now I am so hungry, sick, and tired, but I feel bad taking another nap (though I had planned to since Madison is napping) cause my husband's at an interview so I'm here with his brother. Of course, he didn't wake up till almost noon, so I'm not sure why I feel bad sleeping while he's up, but for some reason I do. On average, how many waking hours are teenagers awake? This kid could seriously sleep till around 2pm everyday. He stays up late, till like 2am, but gosh, I don't remember ever sleeping quite so late and I stayed up forever too.

Madison's teacher said she was in "an awesome mood" today and asked me if she got a lot of sleep last night or something. I had to laugh at that after last night's antics. As nervous as I am about leaving her for 2 nights tomorrow, I am so looking forward to sleeping all night without someone climbing in my bed or kicking me. Of course with my luck I'll have to wake up to pee since it seems that the baby is beginning to encroach on my bladder. I can't complain about that though cause with Madison that started at about 3 weeks and so far I've made it to 7 without having to get up everynight. I have to search for something to eat that won't make me ill now, which is always a challenge.

 

[vald1977]

Jill,
If John was sleeping better and just now is not doing well again I would take him to the dr. just to check his ears. Sometimes they don't have any other symptoms except having a tough time sleeping (because of the pressure hurting when they lay down). Another thing I have done when I am desperate to get some sleep is let the baby sleep in the swing for the night. Katrina was always a great sleeper in her swing so if it had been a couple of rough nights I would let her sleep in it with me nearby on the couch.

Joats,
On the baby meats! My DS would never eat that chicken stuff either.

Robin,
I'm happy to hear you are doing better but so sorry you had to go through all that and miss your meeting. I am so excited for you that your DH will be on his way in 24 hours !! You must be on cloud nine!

Wonderbelle,
I will continue to keep you and your baby in my prayers .

Nucpharm,
Glad you found your dog .

Lisawynn,
Have fun planning!

Justthat,
I hope you got your nap. Reading your posts brings me right back to those days of constant nausea . I hope it passes for you soon.

SL,
Glad you found a coat! I have been searching in vain for some snow boots for DS. OTOH, I would have no problem getting our family bathing suits . Something is just wrong with that!

J & D,
Sorry you didn't get much down time this weekend.

Hi to Gems, Tamie, Hillbeans, and everyone else .

 

[tkyes]

Hi everyone!

I'm eating lunch quick while Tyler is sleeping and I thought I would check the DIS.

jill - Have you tried swaddling like others suggested? Can you get him to sleep without the nuk or does he like it too much? We had to cry it out with Tyler because he woke up constantly wanting the nuk. He was older than John though, I wouldn't (and couldn't) try it so young.

justthat - go ahead and take your nap. I slept a lot as a teenager. My brother is 28 and he could still probably sleep like that!

alice - sorry you missed your meeting. I am glad you are feeling better. DH will be home so soon!! YEAH!!

wonderbelle - I'm glad you found a better dr. Continued good thoughts for a healthy baby.

nucpharm - you're blaming us? lol! That's funny, I'm glad you found your dog!!

lissawynn - that's great that you picked a date!!

sl - congrats on the coat!

Tyler has these bumps on his head. They started out looking like a little pimple, but they have gotten bigger and kind of a bumpy texture now. He has about 7 of them. I don't think they bother him, he just ignores them. But I want to know what they are. He has a derm. appt. at the end of the month, I guess we'll have to wait until then.

Have a good day! I think my FIL is coming over for dinner tonight. I should take something out. We see him twice a year so I'm not extremely comfortable with him. DH and his father are not close. Should be intersting dinner conversation tonight.

tamie

 

[vald1977]

I wanted to share some recent pics. I can't believe my little baby is almost 6 months old ! Where did the time go?

Looking serious:

Getting ready to roll around the living room. She has become quite the expert at getting where she wants to go that way .

Playing with her kitchen that Santa brought her. She just loves this thing:

 

[llij]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

I'm pretty sure JP doesn't have an ear infection b/c he was just checked by the doctor. My oldest dd was queen of ear infections and had to have tubes twice. JP is a higher risk for ear infections though b/c of the cleft and not having any pressure in his eustacian (sp?) tubes. He will be getting ear tubes when he has his cleft surgery repair in a few months.

The funny thing about the binky is that he was never really able to suck on one properly b/c of his cleft. He loved them and tried, but they kept popping out. So I was on a search for a better binky and I managed to find an "ortho-pro" binky which he was able to keep in during the day without it popping out. I think I created a monster though by getting this new binky. He loves it!

I'll try to swaddle him tonight and put him down without the binky. I too, think he is still too young to cry it out. Justhat, that is a good idea about letting him digest his food a little before he goes to bed.

The funny thing about all of this is that JP ate at 8:30 this morning and it is now 1:40 and he hasn't cried for another feeding. He is actually taking a great nap at the moment. So I know he can stretch his feeding since it has now been 5 hours. I just want him to do this at night. My oldest was born 5 lbs. 15 oz. and slept through the night at 10 weeks. While I don't expect John to be able to do this same thing, it would be nice to go a little more than three hours at night!

Valerie - I love the pictures of your little one! She is a cutie!
Tamie - Good luck with your FIL tonight!

Thanks for the advice everyone! I will definitely try some of these things!

 

[nucpharm29]

Valerie--DD is absolutely beautiful!

llij--I hope John sleeps better for you tonight. DS tends to "cluster" feed in the evening; which means every 2-3 hr. And then he'll go 6 hrs at night between feedings. But he's also a little bigger than John, so maybe when he gains a little more weight he'll sleep better. DD was a binky addict, we had to put 3-5 of them in her crib, so when she was old enough she could just roll over and find a new one! DS doesn't like them as much, thankfully!

justhat-I just made my ressies for the Princess Storybook Lunch--and like you said, it was like they had a ton of open spots. I was surprised!

Well, a friend of mine has DD right now, and I suppose I should go pick her up. It was nice, though, to go shopping with only the baby. By the way, great deals at Old Navy!

 

[justhat]

Val, very cute photos! Katrina's getting so big!

Tamie, Madison has gotten little bumps like what you described a few times. In fact she's got 2 or 3 of them right now. I never really thought to ask her dr about them though. Oh, and I didn't get to take my second nap cause before I got the chance Madison woke up asking for ice cream. Gotta wonder what goes on in their little brains!

Jill, I forgot to mention we were out in your area yesterday at the Air and Space Museum (the Udvar-Hazy Center). We've been there twice before but Madison's got a thing for planes now so this was the first time she really enjoyed it. I was thinking about how convenient that will be for you when JP get into planes.

 

[ryleesmom]

Hi ladies,

Hope you don't mind me joining you. My name is Autumn and I have a 2 1/2 little girl named Rylee and I had another little girl named Lucy. She was born on December 5th, one week early. Labor and delivery went pretty quickly. I went for my 39 week appt. and found aout I was 5 cm and I didn't even realize it. I went to the hospital at 5:00 pm and at 7:08 pm she was born. Needless to say there wasn't anytime for pain medicine, so the time at the hospital was very painful.
This pregnancy was very difficult as I found out very early on that I had thryoid cancer. During my first pregnancy they noticed my thryoid was enlarged and ran blood tests and did an ultrasound but nothing came about it. Then at my first appt. with this pregnancy they again brought up the thyroid issue. This time they did the blood tests, ultrasounds, and sent me to a specialist. Because of the size of my thyroid they did a biospy and found out it was cancer. I had to have surgery in August, during my second trimester and was told I would need radioactive iodine treatment after the baby was born. During the pregnancy they told me when I had the treatment, I would have to stay 6 feet away from people 48 hours. They also said I could have limited contact with my children. Now today I find out that my treatment will be Feb. 15th and I can't have any contact with my girls for 5 days and I should stay 3 feet away from any adults. I just so upset today, because of this news and plus I have no idea where I will go for 5 days. Sorry for the long post, I just needed someone to vent to.

 

[bellacam]

Ryleesmom & Wonderbelle - You are in my prayers.

Val - Great pics! What A cutie!

Jill - Good luck with getting JP to sleep. Aidan would also only take an ortho pro paci. I did have better luck with him sleeping when we started to swaddle him.

Robin - Glad you are feeling better!

So much for my lazy Sunday! About 3:00 my BIL called and we started to plan our December vacation to Disney. We are getting the Grand Villa at the Boardwalk and I am very excited. Aidan will be about 16 mos when we go. I am also taking him out to CA in March to visit BIL and his family, by myself! I am a little nervous, especially about the cross country flight. It should be fun and we will be going to Disneyland as well. Well hop all mommies and babies are well!!

 

[justhat]

Congrats on your new baby Ryleesmom, but sorry to hear about your thyroid cancer. Not sure if it's any consolation to you, but my MIL had to undergo that radioactive treatment when my BIL was a baby and though it was hard on her to stay away from him (and her other 3 kids, though they were much older so it wasn't as serious for them), she ended up fine and he's now a normal 17yo boy (who is visiting us this week in fact). Try not to think about how hard those 5 days will be, but how happy you'll be when they're over and you can hold your baby in your arms again. Lots of hugs to you and your family.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Hi all! Just thought i would joing the crowd. I just had my son on December 28th! he was born 8 days early via a C-section (unplanned).
My name is michelle and my husband and i have 2 children now!
Autumn-Verona just turned 1 on January 5th and the new Gabriel Xavier!

Gabriel is not sleeping well at night yet but it's to be expected, it's just rough. My husband just went back to work today after taking two weeks off, and all is going well...at least i think so! haha...

 

[J&D]

Welcome, Autumn and Michelle!

WonderBelle and Autumn- Sending hugs and prayers your way!

Cute pics, Val!

Tamie- Good luck with your dinner.

Strawberry Lemonade- It looks like a giraffe dragon.

Lissawynn- Congrats on your trip.

 

[llij]

Justhat - You weren't too far from where I live! We are about 15 minutes away from the Air & Space Museum out near Dulles. We really enjoy it and I am sure that John Paul will too. Sorry to hear that you never got to nap.

Welcome, DisneyMommyMichelle! Best wishes for Gabriel!

Bellacam - I am so jealous that you are going to WDW and Disneyland! You are going to have a great time!!

Ryleesmom - to you. My DH had to have radiation on his thyroid this summer and had to stay away from all of us for a week. It was tough, but I imagine yours will be much tougher since you are the mom! Is there another room in your house that you can stay in? My DH slept in the guestroom for a week and I put his food on paper plates for him since he was radioactive. He had to do his own laundry and use a separate bathroom from all of us. I hope that it all works out for you. It is tough b/c your little ones probably won't know why you need to keep your distance from them. I wish you the best. Please let us know how it goes.

Nucpharm - Mmmmm....me thinks I might have to check out Old Navy this week! Glad to hear that there are great deals!