The Official New Mom Thread

[katerkat]

I teased dh and told him just imagine if I had bf...she would probably hurt my breasts if I didn't feed her fast enough. I have thought about nursing my 2nd child (since I know it will be my last I am afraid I will regret not trying it atleast once) but man, if the 2nd one has the temper that Kylie has, I'm scared!

It's not too bad - Russ just whacks me with his free arm and makes "heh heh heh" noises as I unsnap the bra. He'd better stop that by high school or he won't get to second base! But with breastfeeding, you have the advantage of not waiting to make a bottle, which helps!

We just got back from Russ' physical therapy for his neck and he was downgraded to once a month visits! He's doing so much better already - I'm so proud of him!

 

[lissawynn]

katerkat - I think most men still make that "he he he" noise, even if it is to themselves, when the hooks come undone. Congrats on Russ's progress in therapy.

DisKim - If I can remember correctly, Jimmy was rolling over in his crib at around 4 1/2 months. Also, when I worked in day care a million years ago we gave the parents a sheet every day covering when the babies ate, had a diaper change, napped, etc. I would consider asking your sitter if she can do that for you so you know Aidan's schedule.
I really feel for you at this time of year. I don't know if I could stay home full time. I really enjoy my job (unless this year doesn't get better), and I missed my co-workers when I was home.

justthat - I must be living in a bubble, but I didn't know your parents lived in NO. It's good to know they're ok. You can rebuild your home and get a new job, but you can't replace family.

 

[DisKim]

lissawynn - I really do enjoy my job too. I have great classes and great kids. I teach 3 periods of honors a day. Who could beat that?! I'm just torn between loving my job and wanting to be available to my kids. My kids edge them out, but staying home is not an option for me.

I had to post about my 5-year-old DS. He loves his new teacher, Mrs. Iorio. When he talks about her though, he calls her, "Miss My Oreo". How cute is that ?

 

[Tasha+Scott]

I had to post about my 5-year-old DS. He loves his new teacher, Mrs. Iorio. When he talks about her though, he calls her, "Miss My Oreo". How cute is that ?

Aw, that is so sweet!

About Aiden laying on his stomach...did the sitter lay him on his stomach or did he roll onto his stomach himself? If the sitter did it then I would just casually mention that you'd prefer that he sleep on his back to ease your mind while you are at work. Not a whole lot you can do about it if he is rolling onto his stomach himself, I am afraid. Kylie just recently learned how to roll onto her stomach and I can't keep her on her back no matter what I do. She does it in her sleep as well as when she's awake. I am not too worried b/c she is a very strong baby who can lift her head or turn it if she needs to. She can roll back onto her back but doesn't do it at night. Instead she screams until I come get her. At least she doesn't do it every hour or anything. It's usually at least 7 hours after I lay her down for the night.

 

[Alice28]

I can never remember to comment on everything, but here goes:

Tasha- I LOVE the WL! It was where DH and I stayed on our honeymoon- it was almost brand new then and it was simply gorgeous. We have gone back every trip (all of TWO, soon to be 3) since then to eat dinner there and walk around a bit. We have now outgrown the Lodge; well, not quite....but once Molly is past 3 we have. Wah. Can't hardly afford a regular room there anymore, not to mention a suite or one of the 1 bedroom DVC!

DisKim- Molly is a belly sleeper. Has been for the last two months easily. (she's almost 6 months). I think once they can hold their head up nice and strong, it's ok to lay them on their belly. But, I'm not a doctor.....all three of my kids slept SO MUCH BETTER on their bellies past about 4 months. Now Molly rolls back and forth all over the place (well, she's been doing this for the past month or so) so it really doesn't matter how I lay her down, she goes to her belly.

I tried letting her cry it out today- I went 20 minutes and she was PISSED! She's usually so easy, but I just couldn't get her down today so I tried to do it....I picked her up, gave her a bottle (like 2 ounces) and she was out like a light. We did this with the boys at 6 months and it did eventually work.

Ok, what else- justhat, sending good thoughts to your family.

Yay! For baby Russ's less appointments! Woo Hoo!

Only two+ more weeks til we go to Disney! I was mad reading on the restaurant boards that 'Ohana is changing their menu (also read on allears)- I called my parents and said, "No wontons, no grilled shrimp, no pineapple, no rice- you still wanna go? (I mentioned the new menu- potatoes, sausage, bread pudding) and she was like, ew....no thanks. So, we switched it to Cape May. The kids will like the food there better anyway. But I wanted one of those fru-fru pineapple drinks! I'm sure I can get "liquored up" at Cape May, right? But I will say buffets are a pain with 3 kids. At least Sam is old enough now to do his own plate and Molly will just nibble on bread crumbs and baby food. She just STARES at me when I eat and she tries to grab my food. I think she will be an early eater of "people" foods. She also is into grabbing my cups of water, diet coke, etc. She likes to "drink." I let her take a TEENY sip of the diet coke and her face was absolutely a crack up. Didn't like those bubbles!

Anyway, have a good night all!

 

[justhat]

It's not too bad - Russ just whacks me with his free arm and makes "heh heh heh" noises as I unsnap the bra. He'd better stop that by high school or he won't get to second base! But with breastfeeding, you have the advantage of not waiting to make a bottle, which helps!

We just got back from Russ' physical therapy for his neck and he was downgraded to once a month visits! He's doing so much better already - I'm so proud of him!

Congrats to baby Russ! What an accomplishment-I bet you're very proud to see his improvments!

Madison made that exact noise everytime I started preparing to nurse her. In fact, she still nurses every morning when she 1st wakes up and still makes that sound. I'm really gonna miss hearing that it now that we're cutting out the last nursing session too .


Lissawynn, actually my in-laws live in New Orleans, not my own parents. Yep, they're all fine, they got out in time. They have some home damage, but like you said, nothing compares to losing family.

 

[gwcollins71]

Jenn Lynn – Avery is a cutie. Such beautiful eyes! As for the car seat, Lily hates it. She has been known to scream for an hour and a half in it. A couple of weeks ago when we left my parents house and drove back to our house, she screamed from the moment we put her in it to the moment we took her out. UGH!! She has a nice set of lungs though.

Alice -- As I’ve said before, I look up to you. Mike is so hands on and I still can’t get anything done around the house. The whole house hasn’t been cleaned since she arrived. I am normally a terrible housekeeper but this is crazy. I haven’t mopped the floors, dusted or done anything major. It takes all our energy to get the day to day stuff done like dinner, dishes and laundry. Now I’m back at work and at school so its even worse. Mike really irritates me with this. Silently, I have not loaded/unloaded the dishwasher for 2 days to see if he’d do it. The dishes have been piling up in the sink since I started this. He still hasn’t helped out with it. Its getting bad now. We have no clean glasses. The sink is so full, you can’t use the faucet. In order for Mike to fill up the pitcher with water for his Crystal Light, he has to use the sprayer thingie. You would think he would get the hint. He actually had the nerve to tell me that there were no clean glasses. So he drank his CL out of a coffee mug. On a bright note though, the dishwasher has no glasses in it. They’ve all been removed.

DisKim, I am sorry that your first day back was yucky. I don’t why they always make teachers play these silly icebreaker games. How many accountants or lawyers do you know that they do this to? When do your kids come back? Our contract is still not finalized either although it is tentative now. Our raise isn’t as nice as planned, but they didn’t change our health insurance. The whole family is covered at no extra cost to us. That is a nice benefit.

Lisa, Why is it that kids don’t seem to do their homework. I had 18 kids out of my classes that didn’t do their first couple of assignments. I feel like it is too early to have to start calling parents for no hw. Whatever happened to the honeymoon period for the first couple of weeks where the kids try and do the right thing? Our mid quarter reports go out in a couple of weeks. I need to get my grades into the computer. I hate doing them manually now that I’m so used to Excel. Off the topic, but whatever happened to the summer school student who didn’t pay tuition?

Our school will make the news tomorrow. Our principal called 80 parents about kids out of uniform today. (wearing black gym shoes instead of black regular shoes) Kids were sent home. Parents arrived in droves. The police were called because of the random chaos – parents screaming and swearing in the office, outside the school and in the hallways. I ended up having to close the windows in my room (80 degrees & no air) b/c it was so distracting. The whole thing is crazy. Our school is the only one in the district that has to wear uniforms. It makes no sense and then they nitpick about shoes. Hello, I’m here to teach. . .

Side note . . . it sounds like hubby is unloading and putting away dishes.

Tasha, I hope all goes well with your brother. I’m crossing my fingers for your family.

Just that – Pixie dust to your in-laws. I am glad they are all ok.

Katerkat, you must be so happy about less therapy visits. I was so excited the third week when they didn’t have us coming in every couple of days to weigh Lily. I felt like we were always in route to the doctor’s office.

I hope everyone else is doing well. I will post a link to the news story if I can.

Gretchen

 

[tkyes]

I know this is off topic, but they changed the Ohana menu? OMG!!! My family is going to be so dissapointed, that's horrible! Hopefull enough people complain and it's back to normal by February

 

[DisneyPhD]

Gretchen, hubby and I used to do that all the time. She who could hold out the longest until the dishes were done. Now that I am "SAHM" mostly I do them, but sometimes I strike and see if he gets the picture. Most of the time he does. I remember before Anna was born we had a friend staying with us. DH and I would do the dishes strike and he would break down and do them! Too bad he did the normal bachlor job and I had to redo them all!

When I was at the hospital, one of the papers they gave us with suggestions of learning to adjust to parenthood was "Let housekeeping standards slide for a while." I took that WAY to heart. Now I have to worker harder since I have such a curious little rug rat.

Tasha, I forgot to say before that I hope you brother ajusts well to the new CI. It can be a difficult adjustment at 1st. Especailly depending on how much hearing he had before and how long he was with out hearing. Best of luck and I hope it works well for him. (I used to speicaize as a social woker with people who were deaf or hard of hearing and had many patients that had that surgery. Some wanted it, some didn't but got it because their families wanted them to.) Keep us updated on his progress.

Side note. Lily got ahold of something, we don't know what and had a terrible rash on her face. I hope it was something her big sister dropped, and not something new she is allgeric too and we have no idea what it is. The thing is I thought I got rid of most of the things she can't have. Maybe it was old and under the couch or something. I gave her benedryl, but I fear tonight will not be a good sleeping night. I did cancel the appt for her MMR shot. I am going to wait a while and at least talk it over more with her ped before I do it.

tkyes, I was rather disapointed myself about the ohannas menu. Mostly because I could eat the rice and pinapple for dessert. Now I can't have the cheese potaos or the bread pudding. Oh well maybe if I inform them I have those alleriges with the ADR they will do something for me.

 

[Alice28]

LOL at the dishwasher war- reminded me of an episode of Everyone Loves Raymond where they are silently arguing about taking the suitcase upstairs. DH and I have done that with various things too- too funny.

On another topic- I got some free Pampers wipes the other day at Kmart when I bought a case of diapers- they are Spring Blossom scent and I LOVE THEM. It's like opening up a Bath and Body Works product every time I wipe Molly's bottom! I always get cases of wipes from Costco, but I think I will have to have some of these on hand to do "special" jobs. I would guess it's an apple blossom scent....

Totally off topic- but I'm glad you all are in agreement the new Ohana menu stinks. Oh well....like we won't be eating enough this trip! (we have the free dining plan....and I think I'm fat now!!! )

 

[gwcollins71]

I remember that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. It cracked me up. Now I feel even more stupid. I think hubby got it this morning. I was loading diapers in the washing machine at 515 and crying at the same time. He comes up and asked whats wrong. I melted and started bawling. Before I can go to work, I have to take care of the baby, shower, straighten up the bed, bathroom, fill the diaper bag, trhow a load of laundry and make coffee and breakfast/ lunch. He gets up, showers and may hold her if she's fussy while I'm in the shower (she usually sleeps) and then goes to work by 5:30 and doesn't get home till 630-7 at night.

I'm done griping. I need to get to work.

Dis PhD, I hope Lily#1 is doing better. I don't know what I'm going to do about the floors once our Lily is crawling.

Gretchen

P.S. Here's the news article link about the shoes. Its not as bad as I thought it would be.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/top/j08shoes.htm

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Hi everyone. I haven't been on in a while because of some computer problems so I have a lot of catching up to do.

I love all the new pictures. So cute!

Saturday is my birthday and DH is taking me to NYC for the day. We were going to see a Broadway show but decided to do a double decker tour bus instead. My mom will take Lucas from Friday night until we come home on Saturday (her idea - so we can get a "good night's sleep" before our trip). Funny thing is he goes down at around 9:00 or 10:00 and doesn't wake up until 4:00 or 5:00 and then will sleep again until 8:00 so we're getting a decent amount of sleep. It's kind of cute - apparently my father mopes around the house all week asking my mom over and over when Lucas is coming. They just can't get enough.

I have to go back and read the rest of the thread. I hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend.

 

[Inside Ball]

Hi All thought it was about time I joined in I have been on the moms to be thread and this is the first chance I have had to join all the new moms.
I have 3 children and the newest addition Aimee is 4weeks.
Gretchen I know the feeling
Has anyone got any advice up until this week Aimee has been quite a good baby but its all gone out the window this week, she is quite good at night but during the day she won't settle and when she does it is always at the wrong time. Today it has taken me four hours to get her to settle but in an hour we need to go and pick the other children from school which will disturb her sleep and make her grumpy. I think she misses the others going back to school this week any tips or advice would be great. Sorry to go on in my first post.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hi All thought it was about time I joined in I have been on the moms to be thread and this is the first chance I have had to join all the new moms.
I have 3 children and the newest addition Aimee is 4weeks.
Gretchen I know the feeling
Has anyone got any advice up until this week Aimee has been quite a good baby but its all gone out the window this week, she is quite good at night but during the day she won't settle and when she does it is always at the wrong time. Today it has taken me four hours to get her to settle but in an hour we need to go and pick the other children from school which will disturb her sleep and make her grumpy. I think she misses the others going back to school this week any tips or advice would be great. Sorry to go on in my first post.

Welcome Inside ball and congradulations!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh to be the youngest (I was 3 boys and then me.) They get grabed out of bed, never get to do what they want. My RN calls it "low man on the todom poll." I would always tell Anna that we had to "pluck" Lily out of bed before we coudl take her to preschool. Anna would say "lets go cluck Lily out of bed." I should be happy she put a c there intead of an f!

She might be bored. I always try a change of senery when the baby is fussy. It often works. (helps mom too.)

Gretchen, You both work, your hubby needs to help out more. I can't imagaine getting up that early, having a baby and still being sane! When I worked I used to make sure I had everything ready the night before, and DD eat breakfeast at day care, I did at work. It made things a bit easier.

Last night wasn't a good sleep night. There is no doubt in my mind there is an conection between her allergies and poor sleeping now. The good news is if we can get me and her "clean" she sleeps better. She even vomited this morning, something she only normally does if she gets a significant amount of dairy or eggs. She is perfectly happy right now though. That is it though, all the food she can't eat is going out of the house. DH and DD will just have to suffer with the rest of us. (or eat it somewhere else.)

 

[lissawynn]

So much to respond to today. I finally have a moment to check in. I've been talking all morning and I can feel my voice going! I just love teaching grammar and sentence structure. My class (3rd period) seems to be full of really bright kids (they must all be in the top math group - math drives our schedule here) who whizzed though the material. Hence the time for me to post...

Inside Ball - Congratualtions! Welcome!

SL - Enjoy your trip to NYC! I am thinking about getting tickets to the Christmas show at Radio City. I really wanted to go last year, but since I was huge, DH didn't want to chance me walking around the city all day long. Jimmy would have to stay with his grammy or pop-pop b/c DH will not take him to NYC.

Gretchen - I am a neat freak, so when my house gets even a little cluttered I go nuts. I'm going home on my lunch break to make the bed and straighten up. I did all of the dishes last night before going to bed. DH made himself "lunch" after I went in, and somehow the sink is full again.
Btw, I love ELR! I sometimes feel as though I'm living it.
My students who don't do their HW are going to be in for a big surprise when progress reports go home in a few weeks. They know the rules and I'm not responsible for what they do when they leave my room.
Our school went to a "uniform dress code" this year. The students can wear khaki or navy pants or skirts, and navy or white collar shirts. There was a "peaceful" protest this morning for the parents and students opposed to the change. From what I understand, there were only 20 or so people there. I'll send you the link once our afternoon paper is online.

Ohanas - The menu was the old standards when I was there in the beginning of August. The food was delicious! Much better than the time DH and I ate there! They did have the veggies instead of the green beans. If it's changing that dramatically, we probably won't be going back. It's a shame b/c it's such a nice spot to see Wishes if you have kids who don't like the noise of the fireworks(like my DN).

 

[vald1977]

Good morning everyone,

WElcome Inside Ball ! I don't really have much advice. I remember Katrina went through a tough time for a couple of weeks being fussy but it did pass on its own. I hope the same is true for Aimee.

Tasha,
I'm sending good thoughts for your brother. I'm sure this is a very exciting time for him .

SL,
Sounds like a wonderful way to spend your birthday. We don't live far from the city yet the only time I have gotten to spend the day there was when we went with my school class in 7th grade! Someday I would love to go see a play there.


Well, we are back to the dotor's again. Katrina has a rash on her face and neck since yeterday and I have no idea what it's from . It looks like a heat rash almost but it hasn't gone away at all. So it's back to the dr.'s again. I feel like we are there once a week (maybe because we have been ).

 

[DisKim]

Gretchen - You just go ahead and gripe. Reading your post was like reading my own. Just know that you are not the only one in such a situation. I am too and so are my good friends at work who are all moms too. It just sucks. My oldest is 9 and I've been working all along. I do as much as I can the night before. I have lunches ready, clothes laid out and ironed, my briefcase and other junk packed in the car. That way, in the morning, I just have to take care of myself and feed and change Aidan and I'm out the door. I have a list of what each family member is responsible for. My husband did great yesterday. Everything on my list was done. Today, we're back to normal DH. The beds are not made, the counters and table were not wiped down (I hate coming home and seeing crumbs - it grosses me out). I break down and cry every so often. I let it all out on the phone with my mom yesterday. I'm just overwhelmed with work and I haven't even gotten any assignments in yet - it's the second day of school! Then, I remember how much people are suffering in our country and I feel terribly guilty for feeling sorry for myself. Anyway, go ahead and vent. I'm right there with you.

Inside Ball - Welcome !

Alice 28 - May I suggest the Kona Cafe instead of Ohana? We ate there and it was better than Ohana IMHO. Also, you can get the pinapple drinks there too. I think it's called a Lapu or something. We were on free dining also. I gained two pounds .

lissawynn and gwcollins - I'm laughing to myself at the posts on school uniforms. I can't imagine our administration having the guts to call parents about students' shoes. I sat in on an assembly for seniors today where they go over all of the rules and regulations. They were told as far as dress goes, "just dont wear anything too provocative." I guess mildly provocative is okay. I wanted to raise my hand and ask some very sarcastic questions like "exactly how many inches of belly can students show and still be considered 'mildly provocative'?"

SL - have fun in NYC. I went into the city for my b-day last year and saw Fiddler on the Roof. It was fantastic. We go in at least once a year.

 

[Alice28]

Welcome Inside Ball!

Hang in there to our Teachers- I hope that when the school year settles in that things will go smoother for you all~

SL- Sounds like a great Birthday weekend! I've never been to NYC; or any of the east coast sans Florida! Have FUN!

I got Molly's portraits done today- ya wanna look? www.flashportraits.com
My last name is Black; P/W: Molly. Click on Robin Black 9/8/05. My mom went with me, thank God, so I didn't spend a fortune- we bought a $199 package and split it (plus I got 10% off so it was only $179 total and a TON of pictures).

 

[Alice28]

I meant to say that I Love Kona Cafe- great food- thank you for the recommendation- it was between that & Cape May & the clams were humming to my parents, so that was the clincher. Plus we can walk off some calories by walking to the Boardwalk.

FAB baby sale at Gymboree- I'm off to internet shop right now! Almost all the baby clothes are on sale- even some of the newer lines up to 30-50% off! Plus you can earn Gymbucks! Would you believe I have none yet.

 

[justhat]

Molly's pictures are absolutely adorable! It's amazing that you got so many great shots with a baby-with Madison we're lucky to get 2 or 3 with her actually smiling. And yes, Molly does look like she's a very long little girl! Madison was the same way (though I think a bit smaller) and I just think they look so cute like that. Oh, and I'm kinda upset about Gymbo's new infant sizing. A lot of things seem to stop at 12-18 months now instead of 18-24 months, which of course is the size Madison will be in this fall/winter. I love their infant lines and am soooo upset that I can't buy anything from them anymore!

JennLynn, Madison HATED her carseat too. She screamed from the moment she was placed in it, till the moment she was removed. It made very, very long drives from DC-NJ. Around 9 months, we switched her to a convertible carseat and what a difference (she had been in a Graco infant carrier type till then). She never screams in her carseat now, and she actually seems to enjoy sitting in it and falls asleep. The change was instant once we switched her seats. If I had known that I would have switched her much, much sooner, like as a newborn. The seats she's in now are Britax (a Roundabout in my husband's car and a Marathon in my car). They feel much softer and more padded than her Graco infant seat. Not sure what kind of carseat Eli is in, but if it's an infant seat maybe try moving him to the convertible type.

I wanted to keep her in the infant seat cause I thought it was convenient-well, how convenient is it when the baby is constantly screaming in it, so you never even take it out of the car? Once I realized that is when we switched and I'm so glad we did. With our next baby, we'll try the infant seat again, but if he/she cries in it all the time then we'll try the Britax and see how that goes. Never again will I persevere with the infant carseat like that.