March 2010 Younger Babies

[MinEaston]

All are welcome, but I thought I'd focus this thread on babies less than a year old.

me: 38
DH: 42
DD: Anna, 5 last week
DS: Nicholas, 6 months this Friday

Accomplishments: Rolling over, according to his father, his sister, and his daycare providers. Mama hasn't witnessed it yet :rolleyes:. Sitting up very well supported, especially in the bouncy seat, bumpo chair or swing. Big fan of rice cereal and carrots so far.

Challenges: Teething. Poor boy rubs at his cheeks so much, they are all chapped despite continuous application of Aquaphor ointment. Last night he drew blood (note to self: try to trim fingernails). As a result, sleep is terrible. I'm also having trouble keeping up with his milk consumption, because I simply cannot be hooked up to my pump for 8 hours a day at work. I think I have come to grips with giving a supplemental formula bottle when I run out of the freezer stash (which will be very soon).

And in other life issues, my father passed away suddenly last Friday night (as some of you may know he'd been battling brain cancer since August 2008). He'd been in the hospital for pneumonia and had come home last Weds. He was home, which is comforting. I strongly believe he's in a much better place. And, while sudden, I think this was a better ending than the more drawn-out decline, including hospice care, that we were facing. I am so lucky to have my kids and DH to hug and take care of!

There's been a baby boom from the PG thread, and I hope those moms will come join us here.

[fancyn]

Mariana - I came over just to peak but I wanted to say I am so sorry for the loss of your father. It sounds like a huge shock but I agree that it was better than agonizing weeks/months of hospice. Please know you are in my thoughts. ((())))

[PoppyJ]

Me: 34
DH: 40
DD: Avery, 2.5 yo
DS: Gage, 5 1/2 months

Mariana, I am so sorry for your loss. ((()))) I hope you are getting all the hugs and kisses you need from your family.

We are in the middle of trying to sleep train Gage. Up until this past weekend, he was only sleeping with me or in his swing. He is now sleeping in his crib, but not very well. There has been tons and tons of crying- so much so that his voice is now hoarse. :( But he is getting used to it. He only naps about 30 minutes at a time in his crib so I have resorted to putting him in his swing for one long nap a day. And last night he slept from 8:30 until 3:30. That is the most sleep I have gotten since he was born!! I think it was a fluke but I am crossing my fingers for another repeat tonight.

He is rolling over like crazy. Any time I put him down, he rolls over and gets so mad. I haven't started him on solids yet. In the back of my mind, I thought he needed to be sitting up first, but then I read that is not the case. We are probably going to wait until he is 6 months and then try it. I am hoping that once we start solids, he might nurse less and start taking a bottle. I know that is wishful thinking, but a mama can dream- right?!

We are headed off to Hawaii next week. I am really looking forward to the trip, but this will be Gage's first plane ride. Fingers crossed!

[kbs]

Me: 35
DH: 35
DDs: Addie and Ellie, 3.5 months

((Mariana))- I'm so sorry for your loss.

I had been wanting to join this thread since graduating from the pregnancy thread, but just could never find the time. I just started back at work last week, so now I feel like I've got nothing but time :).

Accomplishments: Sleeping through the night! Well almost. Over the weekend, the girls slept until 7 and 7:30. This morning they were up at 6, which still isn't too bad, but it's earlier than my DH, who is home with them, would like. We're certainly not complaining though.

Challenges: Naps. Not that they don't take them, because they do, but we don't really have a schedule yet. And they don't take them in the crib. I feel like we should have a schedule and I can't quite figure out how to do it. I have tried to get them to nap in the crib but Addie staged a revolution and cried and cried, which was pretty unusual (they go right to sleep at bedtime)-she eventually fell asleep, but it was only for 45 minutes and she woke up twice and cried a bit during that time. So definitely not restful. So we just let them sleep downstairs in the swings.

The girls have their 4 month checkup next Thursday and it will be interesting to see their sizes. Addie was a peanut for the first month and then put on 4 pounds between her one month and two month checkups (a trait she unfortunately got from me) - so she's now got a least 2 pounds on her sister.

PoppyJ- I'm sorry to hear about Gage's sleep struggles. I'm with you on the naps though- while I'd like it to be the crib, I'll take the swing if it means a longer nap.

-Kim

[linsleyd]

Me: 34
DH: 32
Amelia: 7months

Things have been going really well over here. At least everything except sleep! She goes down like a champ but she's up a lot to sleep. She does much better during the week when she gets a mix of formula and breast milk at daycare and I'm thinking I'll need to supplement a bit with formula on the weekends. Yesterday she nursed constantly and I think she was just really hungry. Oh and bad, bad mommy - I had put her on the bed Sat to change out of a spit up on shirt and she rolled right off the bed. :eek: I was so horrified that I had turned my back on her for a second. She was fine and just cried for a minute or so but holy hell, the guilt!

She is eating like a champ. We waited for her to turn six months to start really getting into the food and she loves everything! We do oatmeal and fruit in the morning and oatmeal and a veggie at dinner. I've also given her mum mum's which she enjoys.

Mariana - I'm so sorry about your father! (())

Kim - good luck on the naps. I'm lucky in that Amelia never went for napping in the swing but I don't have any advice for you...

Poppy - watch out for the rolling! It was so nice when they were little lumps and you could walk away and not worry what they were going to do!:D

[Bawstinn]

Maria: 40
David: 36
Madeleine: 3.5
Christopher: 9 months

Mariana - I am so sorry for your loss.

Things are going well here. At the end of last month between the kids and I we had strep throat, 3 ear infections and tonsillitis. David's mom came out here to help us out - I was down about 40 hours at work between all the sicknesses this winter. She was here for 10 days and stayed home with the kids so they could get back to 110% before going back to daycare. I got to make up about 1/2 of the time I was down and it was nice not having to wipe noses for a while. ;)

I feel like Christopher has hit so many milestones. He is eating like a champ - eats anything and everything you give him except for peaches. He is figuring out how to use a sippy and is batting the bottle away so he is now getting a sippy of bm with every meal. Daycare still trying the bottle between meals with some success.

At the end of last month a tooth finally emerged. Tooth #2 is almost out too. He decided he wasn't happy with just crawling, so he is now pulling himself up on everything and trying to figure out how to move his feet. He goes between the couch and the loveseat (by way of the end table) but I am not sure he really knows what he is doing.

I've been using the word 'NO' a bit when he starts getting into stuff. He stops what he is doing, looks and me and smiles ... then goes back to whatever it was he was doing.

He is being baptized the Saturday before Easter. Finally. The challenge is trying to find a 24 pounder an outfit. His thighs are so big I can't even shoe horn him into 18 month pants unless they are sweatpants.

We got behind on his wellness visit since he was sick for his 6 mo one. 9 mo check-up isn't until the end of the month. Need to make sure I get the 1 year scheduled close to his birthday else I'll be getting hassled from daycare for his physical every year.

Sleeping - still a nightmare here so I am of no help. While he was home he was taking 2 - 2.5 hour naps every afternoon. He was even sleeping better at night (only waking up once, maybe twice). Back at daycare and his sleep has degraded again. :(

[MinEaston]

Looks like we are all dealing with sleep issues. Nicholas has at least decreased his nighttime wakings to one, maybe two, per night, but it's still exhausting. Especially on those nights that Anna has some nightmare or issue and yells for "MAMAAAAA" - never at the same time I'm awake with him.

At his 6-month well baby visit, he weighed in at 16lbs 2oz (up 2 lbs since his 4-month visit :eek:) and 27" long. Time to switch over to the next size carseat (I bought a Snugride 32 which I will then give to my brother, whose son is 3 months).

Rolling over both ways is officially happening in our household now. I can still park him in the middle of our bed or the middle of the playroom carpet and do stuff nearby while I watch him, but, those days are limited too. I think this is waking him up, too. Maybe one day he'll roll over onto his tummy and fall back asleep instead of getting mad.

[LaraW]

Mariana, so very sorry for your loss.

[NewMrsG]

Me (Jori): 39 (but for only 21 more days :( )
DH: 42
Macy: 3 1/2
Ari: 6 months :eek:

Hi everyone! I don't think I've posted since I went back to work in January!

Mariana - I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. I lost mine when I was just a kid, and I know it's a loss you feel forever. I'm thinking of you.

Poppy - can I sneak into your luggage??

kbs - you have my lifelong admiration for having 2 of these little creatures! I really do love their names.

Linsley - I completely hear you about the fall. I dropped Macy once when she was tiny. I was in our backyard and tripped over a rock, and my arms automatically let go of her to break my fall. I was horrified and beat myself up for months for what was clearly the lack of a maternal instinct that I'd drop my own child. She fortunately fell just between two pavers on the soft grass - but just within a couple of inches. Thank God.

Maria - congratulations on Christopher's baptism!

Ari is a 6-month-old as of yesterday, although gestationally he's still just 4 1/2 months. So hard to believe! We had his 6-month visit today. He's a peanut at 13 lbs, 4 ozs - 5th percentile, and not quite on the charts for height.

We're seeing a lot of the same stuff as you all. Sleep is on and off. He's still in our room, which I don't much like. He actually sleeps okay, but not every night, and not in a way that lines up with my routine. My shift is until 3:00 a.m. and my husband takes over after that. The worst nights are the ones when he wakes up at 1:00 or so, as it's really difficult for me to get myself down before 11:30. So just as I'm really sleeping ...

We started cereal a few weeks ago, but stopped when he got an ear infection, started again, and then haven't been very consistent (somehow we're just not very good parents with the second one). He's getting close to rolling over (or so I hear), but not quite there yet.

Some of you may remember that I had a lot of worries about what I thought was a lack of social connectedness. Thank goodness, he really came around at around 3 months. He's a really smiley, happy, social little guy. He likes being with others, smiles and flirts with everyone, and is cooing and laughing a lot. Still very easy and low-maintenance, thank goodness. I'm not sure DH could handle 3 high-maintenance people in the house. :o

I hope this won't be my last update for another 3 months! I've missed being here.

[aggie94]

Hello! I guess it's time to accept the fact that I'm no longer pregnant but am actually a mom now! :eek:

Me: Eva, 36
DH: Che, 38
DD: Iris, 2 1/2 weeks

I won't repost the birth story here (it's on the March pg thread if anyone is interested, as are pictures), but Iris was born on March 3 and weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces. She then promptly lost 13 ounces over the next three days, prompting the pediatrician (not ours, but another one in the same practice that saw her over the weekend) to push me to supplement with formula. I refused, and fortunately my milk came in the same day, and she has been steadily gaining back weight since. She was 7 pounds 2 ounces at her 2-week appointment. :)

With the weight loss came jaundice, and we had her on a biliblanket for a few days, but she's off that now and looking great. Our main challenge has been breastfeeding. I had a huge oversupply issue, and she was basically getting drowned every time she tried to eat, so she just stopped latching entirely. I've been working with a lactation consultant to adjust my milk supply down, and until she starts taking to the breast again, I've been pumping and DH has been bottle-feeding her breastmilk, which has definitely saved the sanity of all of three of us the last few nights. She eats like a champ and sleeps quite a bit, so I really don't have too much to complain about. Besides, it's hard to complain when she's so adorable. :D

Our other minor challenge is dealing with a rash on her bottom. We have had her in cloth diapers for about a week and are also using cloth wipes with just water, but it seems like the rash is exacerbated when she sits too long in a wet diaper. Problem is, she goes ALL THE TIME. Seriously, I know babies dirty a lot of diapers, but the 8-12 dirty diapers a day average I have heard about makes me laugh. We probably change her diaper 15-20 times in a 24-hour period. <sigh>

Otherwise, we are doing well and just adjusting to parenthood. It still feels very surreal that she is ours to keep. :eek: :o DH & I are both home right now and will be until mid-May, when I go back to work (and DH becomes a SAHD).

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here and seeing/hearing from you all what we have to look forward to as our baby gets older!

Oh, okay, I have to post just one picture of her snuggling with her dad:

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs465.ash1/25543_1384940060853_1152560242_1433169_3128210_n.j pg

[Bawstinn]

Just a quick hello from me to get us back on the page!

Rough week here. Monday morning (after I got out of the shower, of course) I discovered Christopher had a fever of 100. He had a slight cough over the weekend, but nothing too bad. Later in the day I called the doctor for an appointment for the next day. He was still at 100 but I figured we'd go get his ears checked.

By the time his appointment rolled around the next day he was at 105. :( Ended up being admitted to the hospital Tuesday. Tests and a chest x-ray confirmed he had a respiratory virus - nothing they could give him. So, we stayed until late Wednesday when he fever pretty much broke.

We are home until Monday when we go back to the doctor for his 9 mo checkup (a little late) and to make sure he is OK to go back to daycare. Sigh, Spring please!

Jori - nice to see you and glad to hear Ari is doing well!

[PoppyJ]

Just a quick post because I am still trying to catch up from vacation, which went really well.

aggie94- Congratulations and Iris is a beauty! I also had an oversupply issue and both kids would choke, gag, and scream when I tried to breastfeed them. What did your lactation consultant recommend? Mine told me to feed from one breast for 4 hours and then switch to the other breast for the next 4 hours. This helped me a lot and my supply has slowed down enough that Gage ususally has no problem nursing. Avery (my almost 3 year old) also had crazy amounts of dirty diapers when she was breastfeeding. I think it was like 24 a day- crazy! I think it was due to my oversupply. It did get better.

Maria- Sorry that little Christopher ended up in the hospital. I am glad he is doing better.

Off to tackle to piles of mail and laundry. I'll try to post more later.

[PoppyJ]

somehow we're just not very good parents with the second one.

Oh so true with us too!!

[aggie94]

aggie94- Congratulations and Iris is a beauty! I also had an oversupply issue and both kids would choke, gag, and scream when I tried to breastfeed them. What did your lactation consultant recommend? Mine told me to feed from one breast for 4 hours and then switch to the other breast for the next 4 hours. This helped me a lot and my supply has slowed down enough that Gage ususally has no problem nursing. Avery (my almost 3 year old) also had crazy amounts of dirty diapers when she was breastfeeding. I think it was like 24 a day- crazy! I think it was due to my oversupply. It did get better.

Ours recommended alternating breasts each feeding, and she eats about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, so it ends up being 5-6 hours each side. My supply has definitely decreased but unfortunately, she still refuses to latch on one side so I still have to pump. We have more success on the other side but not 100% of the time. It's a challenge, but I am fine continuing to pump in order to give her breastmilk if I have to.

[linsleyd]

Maria, I hope Christopher is feeling better!

Things have been going well for us, other than the 50th cold Amelia has once again caught. It doesn't dampen her spirits, though. She throws up from the mucous and just continues smiling!
We were given one of those activity things you stick the baby in the middle of and she loves it! She also was given a little piano toy and she loves that. Also swinging! Not much makes her sad!
Sleep has been getting better we're getting up 1-2 times a night which is a far cry better than what we had been doing!
I have to say I just love this age - she's so much fun!

[kbs]

Hi everyone!
The girls had their 4 month check up last week and Addie weighed in at 13.5 lbs and Ellie was 11lbs 12 oz, so they are almost 3 lbs difference. Both girls were declared to be the best babies ever! Ok, that may have been us that said that, but they were both fine. I had weight concerns for both of them (is A too heavy?? is E too small??), but the pedi said they were fine and their growth on the chart was a nice arc.

We tried solids on Sunday which was a nice experiment, but overall was rejected by the girls. Ellie would open her mouth but then spit it all out, and Addie just couldn't seem to understand why I was trying to put something in her mouth. IIt ended after 5 minutes once teh girls started crying. I'm not sure if it was the cereal or the highchair, but we'll maybe try again this weekend.

Ellie is trying very hard to roll over but just can't seem to figure out what to do with the arm that gets stuck underneath. Addie is just starting to show some interest.

We haven't had much improvement on the nap front except for the one morning when they woke up at 7 and then they had a nice morning nap in their crib. They get up kind of late (between 9 and 10) because we put them back down if they wake up before 6:30 - which is usually. Today DH told me that they got up at 8 (!!!!) which is great. I'm hoping that they start doing this consistently and then we can try to institute a daytime nap schedule.

Their personalities are really starting to come out now and it is so much fun. This is pretty fun age - they're so much more interactive, but still easily containable.

Maria- I'm sorry that Christopher was in the hospital. I hope that he's made a full recovery by now.

Jori- I'm so glad to hear that Ari has blossomed into a smiling charmer. Sorry about the sleep though - it's tough when there isn't reliable schedule.

aggie94- Congrats and welcome! Iris is beautiful! I hope that bf is going better. Your situation sounds similar to mine in that my DH is staying home (he got laid off) with the girls, so we were both home during my maternity leave. It was such an amazing and special time for us to all be together and get to know each other. It is also why I never felt too badly sleep deprived since we traded off feedings, and then
eventually starting trading off nights. Enjoy your time! It goes by waaaay too fast.

Linsley- Poor Amelia - it sounds like she's had a rough winter with being sick. But it also sounds like she hasn't let it get her down.

I'm going to attempt to post a picture of the girls- I've never done it so I'm sure it won't work. We took this last week when they turned 4 months.
ETA: GRRRRR. What am I doing wrong?? I pasted the URL from my picasa album. Is that not right?

-Kim

http://picasaweb.google.com/salmonpics/BowTieBear4Months?authkey=Gv1sRgCL227d6kmu-u7gE#5451601045126854770

[Bawstinn]

Hi all!

Thought I'd bump us back up before the end of the month.

Dare I say <knock on wood> that everyone seems to be healthy? Well, I have pink eye and David has a sinus infection but we don't count ;)

Christopher got the OK to go back to daycare. Weighed in at 24 lbs and was 29 inches at his 9 mo check-up. He was into absolutely everything while we were in there and the doctor proclaimed him "all boy". Not quite sure what that means but personality wise he is shaping up to be the opposite of his big sister.

He does seem to think he is a goat though. Anything and everything goes in the mouth. I sweep up multiple times on the weekend but she still seems to find something on the floor to stick in his mouth. When he isn't doing that he is in every cabinet he can manage to get into, pulling everything he can out. Again, exact opposite of his sister.

He has started cruising along furniture and frequently lets go, falling down. Doesn't let it stop him though.

Not much else here. Sleeping is so much better. I have to get up once to turn the music on and he eats about 3 AM. I'm OK with that; it was the multiple feeding sessions that was getting to me.

He is getting christened on Saturday at the Easter Vigil, so we have family coming into town starting Wednesday. I ordered 2 outfits for him online and need to narrow down which one to stick him in. In all reality, it is whichever one fits the chunky thighs.

[MinEaston]

Maria, I'm LOL at your post about Christopher. I have a feeling I'll be digging it up and quoting it when Nicholas is a couple of months older. Right now, he's not mobile (although he can sit up for a long time by himself!) but everything goes into his mouth.

N broke his first tooth last Thursday, but its appearance didn't help him sleep any better (he has been waking up around midnight, 2-3am, 4-6am, then for good around 7). I was beginning to suspect that he was hungry so I gave him a smalll supplemental bottle of formula before nursing him last Friday. Same wake-ups. Saturday & Sunday we gave him a larger bottle (4 oz), same thing. Last night DH gave him 6 oz while I bathed Anna, and then I nursed him a little. Bingo. He slept until 5am.

I've gotten over the guilt of supplementing with formula, consoling myself that he's much bigger than Anna was at this point and is just hungrier.

Solids are hit & miss, he does OK with cereal and has eaten pureed (homemade) sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, and applesauce. Sunday night we went out for pizza and he gnawed on Anna's "pizza bones" very happily - he even got really mad at my mom when she took a soggy one away from him so he wouldn't choke :eek:

[linsleyd]

We had our appointment with Amelia's surgeon yesterday and we are getting ready for her first surgery next Friday. I'm not sure if I posted before that her last three fingers on both hands are fused. At this surgery they are only going to clip the tips, down to the first knuckle. At least that is the plan, it appears two of the finger bones may be together which would require more work which would mean they would do one hand at a time. Afterwards she'll be in casts past her elbow for three months. Such fun is coming our way. Esp for a baby that LOVES being on her stomach, crawling, etc. Yikes!

In the food front, she still eats anything we give her. I gave her a cucumber Sun and she just knawed the heck out of that. I also gave her a peice of lavash on sat and she liked that, too.

Marianne, I'm going to try the six ounce bottle idea. I've been trying the 4 ounce bottle for the past few weeks and it's not changing anything with her sleep. last night I put her down at 6:30 and she was up at 12:30, 2:30 and then I woke her at 6am. The 2:30 wakening though took an hour and a half to put her back down and I really think she MIGHT have just been fussing in her sleep and I should have left her alone. It's so hard in the middle of the night to know when to leave them alone and when they need you when you are in a deep sleep! :D

At any rate that's my story! Let's hope April brings us all less sickness and more sleep!

Oh and Kim! Amelia is almost 8 months and weighs 14lbs 4 ounces. I think your beautiful girls are right on the money for gaining weight!;)

[MinEaston]

I've been trying the 4 ounce bottle for the past few weeks and it's not changing anything with her sleep. last night I put her down at 6:30 and she was up at 12:30, 2:30 and then I woke her at 6am.

Last night he only took 4 ounces before he passed out dog-tired (I couldn't get him to take any more). Woke up at 12am, 4am, and then around 5:45 (then he slept until 7:30). Tonight, I'm hoping to try 6 ounces and a little earlier. Let me know how you do.

Best of luck with Amelia's surgery - where is it being done? Is she in casts after next week's surgery, or is it not until they actually work on the fused bones? Either way best of luck!

[linsleyd]

I'll let you know how the bottle works out! ;0)

Her surgery will be at DuPont in Wilmington. She'll be in casts after next weeks surgery - it just depends on whether the surgeon will do one hand or both. They don't want her under anesthesia for a long period of time so it depends on how long it takes her to do one hand...

[PoppyJ]

linsleyd- good luck with the surgery. I will be thinking of Amelia and please let us know how she and you are doing.

I haven't been able to post lately because the kids do not seem to be napping at the same time.

We took Gage in for his 6 month check last week. He is doing good. His weight percentile dropped for 50% to 35% but it is nothing to worry about. We have tried to start him on solids but he doesn't like it at all. He just sits there with his mouth open, drooling and food falling out. He won't shut his mouth and won't swallow it. We keep trying hoping that he will get it. The same goes with the bottle, formula, and anything else that is not my boob. :p

I am glad to see that I am not alone in the sleep department. It feels like I still have a newborn. We have him sleeping in his crib now, which is huge for us. He still cries when we put him down, but not for too long. He goes down at 7, up at 9:30, 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, and usually up at 7. Its brutal and I am ready to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time.

Better get some stuff done before one or both kids wake up.