Well, September is over, and I think we've had a bit of time to adjust (LOL yea right) Anyways, I think it would be great to hear how everyone else is doing and what babies are up to right now!
My alex is an eating machine and he is gaining weight like crazy! He has just started to "talk," which is mostly him squeaking and grunting. He also is starting to smile on his own (without the 'help' of gas bubbles) and I've heard him giggle on a few occasions.
He isn't sleeping through the night, but oh well...I am adjusting to life without sleep. I decided to take an idea from another mommy on the board, but I altered it a bit....I do the four "b's" every night, which are: bath book bottle and bed! He knows the schedule by now and he seems to sleep better when I follow it. (It's just getting daddy to do it when it is HIS turn lol.)
My favorite thing to do with him is to take him to the coffee shop and read while he just chills. EVeryone knows him there and they all coo and fuss over him, and he is such a ham that he takes it all in!
I am also battling post partum depression, but I went and got help from the doctor and I am feeling so much better and in more control of the situation. I am reading the book my Brooke Shields and it helps so much. I have my hard days, but they are getting fewer!
Anyways, I am looking forward to hearing all of your stories! (I am especially curious to see how pitbulllover is doing with her twins!)
Take care!
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He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.
Ah heres the Sept mommies thread. heh I am not much for starting threads so I posted in the Oct. mommies since I was supposed to be. hehe plus I had a similar issue as she did.
Is your baby BF or Bottle fed? I am curious as to what everyone's babies are eating (estimate/oz.) per sitting. I am thinking mine may be needing more but sometimes he spits up so I don't want to over load him and have him spit it all up.
My guy has no routine unless you count wanting to be held every second of the day a routine. I miss being able to potty and bathe when needed. lol Now it's kinda when I get a second, that's probably why my insides are so screwed up, STILL! My little man, the first week slept constantly and I was wondering when is he going to wake up and be alert and now I am wondering when is he going to sleep and not be fussy. I have to watch myself for post
partum depression because I do have some moments I am overwhelmed and I was on anti depressants for years and haven't needed them for awhile thankfully but I don't think it would take much, especially now for me to go downhill again.
the area that I had stitched up that tore is still sore and I honestly don't think the dr. did it right because it's kinda out of whack. ha! if that makes sense. I am thinking it's going to be major scar tissue.
Thanks for starting this thread! My baby girl is 5 weeks old (6 weeks tomorrow). We are breastfeeding. I'm doing the SAHM thing for now.
Miss T, I am pumping in addition to feeding so that we can have a supply for when I'm not available, and also give occassional bottles now. Right now, Ava takes a bottle of EBM that is 3 oz. Just last week we were doing 2½ oz. The bottle is generally the last feeding before we officially put her down to bed (around 10:00pm...or sometimes a midnight bottle). I breastfeed her the rest of the day. My husband gives her the bottle. Sometimes my husband says she would have taken a little more if it had been in the bottle, but not urgent enough to where I've had to step in and feed her extra...and sometimes she doesn't finish the bottle completely. So, 3 oz seems to be about right for right now. She weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz one week ago.
A guideline I'm using which seems to be working pretty well...I pump 1 full breast in the morning, and however much that is seems to be is how much I figure she'll take in a bottle. I made that guideline up, so don't use it as fact, but so far it seems to be about right for us. As of this morning, I've pumped just shy of 4 oz from 1 full breast. I've never pumped that much before. That must mean she's going to be wanting a 4oz bottle sooner than later.
We started bottles and pacifiers in the 3rd week. She isn't having any trouble with nipple confusion. She'll eat out of any bottle/nipple we give her, and suck any brand pacifier. We are sticking primarily with the Avent bottles because the nipples seem to drip slower than the other's we've tried, and we like the shape of cool wide bottles. We also have Evenflo, Medela, and (something else I can't think of this second).
I bought "The Happiest Baby on the Block" as recommended by others and I was able to take control of the screaming on the very first day of reading the book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing. My husband doesnt' think it works and says it only works because I'm her mom, but then he has never read the book...he just imitates me...and he gives up within 60 seconds of trying. It is a helpful book!
No smiling yet (aside from baby dreams). I think it will some soon. She is geting more alert and looks around more and more each day. She definitely does a lot of moaning, groaning, and grunting while she sleeps. It's kind of funny.
Well, I need to think about feeding time. Glad to see everyone. I hope some of the others from the pregancy board find this.
Gayle
I was about to start this thread if no-one else had. I'm sitting in the library with my daughter snoozing away quietly on my shoulder. I breast fed her whilst i was typing some e-mails and she then fell asleep so I'm taking the opportunity to catch up while i can. i can't take too long though, as she appears to have filled her pants and it's now a bit stinky round here! I think i'm more embarassed about the smell than of breast feeding in public (although it's not really that busy in here).
On a good day, Amy will sleep for 4 hours in the night, but on a bad one she will wake up only an hour after settling, then she won't go back to sleep after a feed. i have tried not changing her diaper unless it really needs it as this makes her wide awake, and I also try to only pat her gently to wind her, but I'm worried that she might spit up in her sleep then. It's all trial and error at the moment, though I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep one day in the not too distant future. I'd prefer her to sleep from 9 pm to 9 am than 7 pm to 7 am, though, at least til I have to get up early when I go back to work.
I am trying to follow the EASY (Eat, Activity, Sleep, You) format outlined in the Baby Whisperer books, but sometimes Amy just wants to go straight back to sleep after a feed and sometimes she will not go to sleep for about 3 hours. Fortunately, she doesn't cry excessively, but this may be because I give in and pick her up when she has cried for more than 2-3 minutes, as she seems to get more and more agitated. She has awoken a couple of times when I've been in the bath and DH was at work and I left her to cry a bit longer then, but she didn't stop til I went to her (but at least she stopped). i might check out that book you mentioned, Gayle.
I love to see her smile when she has wind or is dreaming - I know it's not intentional, but it's nice to see what it will be like when the time comes. She has a cheeky glint in her eye when she is wide awake which is really cute.
Amy had a slight cold this week, which seems to be clearing up, although she did manage to pass it to me first. That makes getting up in the early hours of the morning even harder.
I wonder how kkkk is. Hope she gets a chance to update us soon.
Ethan just turned 1 month old last Saturday. I can't believe it's been that long already. He's grown so big already since he was born. Yesterday I put a sleeper on him that used to hang off him an now he just about fills it out legs and all.
I'm really, really lucky so far where sleep is concerned. He is a very regular baby. I give him a bath at 8 p.m., he has his bottle at 8:30-9 and he's asleep by 9:15 every night. He gets up at 2 or 4 a.m. like clockwork and then usually sleeps till 7:15. If there's a substancial change in his daytime routine it sometimes varies by an hour but it's usually right on. Even in the daytime he has really regular nap/awake times unless we go somewhere. He only really cries when he's hungry or when his clothes are getting taken on and off (changes or in/out of bath) or during tummy time. He finally got used to being in the tub as long as I make really slow movements and no loud noise. As soon as he startles in the tub it's game over. Most of the time he's very content and he's started to really look around and do some talking. It's so cute when I'm in the kitchen and from across the living room I hear a big loud "Ahhhhh!" He likes it when I "Ahhhhh!" right back at him.
We really wanted to breastfeed but he just wouldn't keep at it. He was never getting enough and it would take 2+ hours to even get close. He was losing weight until we finally started bottle feeding and now he eats 4-5 ounces a time.
Better go, it's just about "tune time" for us. lol It's dancin' and singin' time. He loves music, and even my terrible singing. Poor boy.
It is amazing how similar babies can be at particular ages, but then how different as well... Kennedy is 3 weeks now and just had her second check-up. She gained 2 pounds and grew an inch. Some days I look at her in the morning and it is like I can see her growing! I already miss her at her 7 pound self
As for sleeping, she is all about it during the day. Waking up every 2-3 hours to eat, look around for a few, then back to sleep. At about 9pm though, she is wide awake and stays that way pretty much until 12:30. At this time she also likes to eat constantly! I am breastfeeding so evenings have been painful. I am trying a pacifier to see if she is just wants to suck, but she isn't taking to it very well. I have been working hard to improve her latch as feeding is still very painful. Since paying closer attention to the process it seems to be getting a bit better.
I am going to start expressing and bottle feeding to prepare for return to work (boo hoo) and to see if it makes nighttime feeding easier. If anyone has any tips on pumping and introducing a bottle, I am all ears!
Still waiting for a calculated smile and some noises that don't sound like growling (although those are cute too). Best of luck Mommies... keep posting, I learn more from this board than anywhere else!
Just wanted to say a hello to you all. I was hoping someone would start a Sept babies post. Anyway, Sophia and I are doing well, I think I love her more every day, at 7 weeks old, she grows more and does new things everyday. Im very lucky that she is such a good baby, very mellow, quiet, and only cries when she is hungry or doing tummy time. She's been formula fed since birth and has been doing well with it, we tried using different bottles and ended up with the Avent brand and they seem to be doing the job. She loves her swing, and her chair, and she loves to be held, sung to, and kissed, I love her eyes when she is watching intently and her little sighs and sounds. She is the sweetest little thing. Her eyes just follow me around and Ive seen a smile a time or 2 when talking and singing to her. Her sleeping habits during the day are pretty good, mostly she falls asleep in her swing or chair, and I'll leave her in them because she does wake up if picked up (which I discovered all too often) so her pediatrician just said leave her in there. Her sleeping at night habits are as such: she gets a warm bath, a bottle and a story and is in bed in her crib around 10 pm at the latest, and she sleeps through the night til she wakes up around 5 am, when her daddy gives her her morning bottle, shes up until around 6:30 and my husband will put her in the co-sleeper in bed with me before he leaves for work, she and I will go back to bed and sleep until 9. I think she has my sleep habits, which is fine with me because I am a person who LOVES to sleep. Ive been doing tummy time with her and shes really not crazy about it, and will cry unless I lay down on my tummy in front of her and talk her and sing to her, I stick with it because I know its good for her and her neck muscles. Her visit with the pediatrician is coming up soon and I know she has gained weight since she has the chubbiest little legs and arms. I will let you know how much shes gained in weight and length, Im worried about vaccinations then, I know its going to be a bad day and I hate to see my baby girl cry and be in pain. Im afraid what I will do when I see the nurse coming at her with a needle. Well this post is getting long and I need to eat dinner, glad to hear from other September Moms!.
speaking of tummy time... when is it appropriate to start having them spend time on their bullies? My DD is 3 weeks, should we be spending some time on this now or is she too little still?
she is good for tummy time....I use a boppy so my DS doesn't smash his face into the floor. You can use a rolled up towel, and put it under her chest so she has something soft for her face.
As a side note, Alex slept from midnight to 7am this morning. I got up every few hours to check on him, but he slept so well!!!! Hopefully it wasn't a fluke!
I also began to feed alex some cereal, and a bit of fruit. I know I know...everyone says it's a nono, but the formula isn't doing it for him. He was eating around 6 ozs every two hours....it was ridiculous. A nurse said to give him a bit of cereal just so he felt satisfied every once in a while. It's been working so far, and his poop is ok too. Plus he seems to love it!
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He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.
Jamie...I am also dreading Vaccination Day. I've still got a couple weeks to go before then, but I'm thinking I'll have a hard time watching that.
Today I go to see me OB for my 6-week checkup. I just stopped bleeding about a week ago (so I bled for 5 weeks). Glad that's all over. I'll be glad to have this visit over. Anyone thinking about having another baby? I'm not...just asking.
FLAngel...I'm doing the pumping in addition to nursing. Did you have any Q's? The one thing that surprised me when I started pumping is going through engorgement all over again. I was stimulating production more. Now, I have to keep pumping...no days off...and stick with my pumping schedule...or my breasts' schedule gets messed up. Is anyone else having these issues? I would have never thought pumping just twice a day in addition to nursing would require such a rigid pumping schedule or I'm hurting.
Gayle
I can't stay on long today, but I would be grateful for any advice on how to keep a baby awake in the day time. I know it seems like a strange question when most of us want our babies to sleep, but Amy has managed to confuse day and night and sleeps for over 3 hours in the day if I let her, then can go for several hours at night without sleep. I have tried waking her after a couple of hours in the day, but nothing seems to keep her awake.
I can't stay on long today, but I would be grateful for any advice on how to keep a baby awake in the day time. I know it seems like a strange question when most of us want our babies to sleep, but Amy has managed to confuse day and night and sleeps for over 3 hours in the day if I let her, then can go for several hours at night without sleep. I have tried waking her after a couple of hours in the day, but nothing seems to keep her awake.
Rebbie
My son was like that too for a while. Aside from just keeping things really as interesting as possible during the day and as bland as possible during the night, I found it helped to dress him a little cooler in the day. He's warm enough but the cool air on his skin helps keep him awake. Warm jammies on at night. I also make his bottles a little smaller in the daytime. They're enough satisfy him at the time but he gets hungrier more often and wakes up for more. I only swaddle him at night since he sleeps more soundly unless he's been up a long time in the day and is getting grouchy.
Hey I just wanted to see how everyone is doing--has anyne else survived the six week growth spurt? The other day DS ate pretty much 48 hours straight...no joke. I can so tell he is growing out of his "smalls." I remember when the 0-3 onsies wouldn't fit! Now he is a little porker
I hit seven weeks old tomorrow, and he is starter to sleep a bit better....two days he has slept for seven hours in a row, and I practically jumped for joy! I kept on getting up every few hours to see if he was really ok lol. Well, then he went back to getting up every three hours Oh well it was nice while it lasted!
Anyone else dressing up their baby for halloween? I got a little lobster costume! I can't wait to go out (mostly to show him off to family, not for candy lol)
I look forward to hearing updates!
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He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.
Hi LexJude...Your baby was born 1 day before mine, so our 7-week mark is the day after.
I've been waiting for a 6-week growth spurt in the traditional sense. I can tell she is gaining weight by her cheeks and thighs, but still fitting very comfortably in Smalls. I almost think that she is having a growth spurt by eating more at each sitting...but not wanting to eat any more often than every 2 hours. I have seemed to notice lately that she is sucking a lot harder when she eats, and the breast feels completely drained.
I'm also pumping a lot more milk out. This morning, I pumped 5 oz out of 1 breast. I could have kept going, but my container was full, and I didn't feel like starting a new container. I've never pumped that much at 1 time...let alone out of 1 breast before.
As for the sleep, I'm experiencing the same thing. Ava also slept 7 hours in a row for 2 nights in a row. The third night it looked to be the same, I woke her up to feed her. As nice as it is to sleep that long, it just didn't seem right for her to be sleeping that long. I went through a period of weight loss with her in the early weeks because I was letting her sleep for longer periods day and night when I should have woke her up to eat...so I'm kind of scared to let that happen again. I know it won't, but it's on my mind.
For Halloween, we have a pumpkin/halloween sleeper with a matching hat. It's a size small, and was way too big on her last week. If it doesn't fit, that's okay. We're just passing out candy at the door anyway.
Ava seems to be getting cuter as time goes by. Her milia and baby acne (it was a mild breakout) is just about gone now. No signs of cradle cap going on yet. That's good. I'm noticing now that she has my eyes and nose and my husband's chin & hair. This has just become noticeable in the last week.
That's what's going on with us. Every day, I'm thankful to not be pregnant anymore. Now that time has gone by, I can still say I really hated being pregnant. Glad it's over.
Gayle
Hi everyone!
The kids are keeping me REALLY busy so I'll share some basic stats and then I have to run.
It's great to hear that everyone is doing so well!
After the twins were born I needed surgery to fix my back, which I had two weeks ago. NOT FUN, I can't pick them up or hold them yet, but will soon. My mom has been here helping ever since my surgery.
Jack now weighs almost 11lbs (he's a pig) and Savannah is a bit more petite at 9.7Lbs.
They eat every 4 hours, formula now cuz I can't breastfeed and are eating 6-8 oz at a time.
I'll write more later, but we are all doing really really well!
Hey all,
I'm glad to read that everyone is doing so well. DD is 6 weeks old as of last Sunday and she's doing really well. She was born 6lbs 15 oz and now weighs 11lbs 9oz. We're breastfeeding and she's loving it. I have to admit it was torture the first few days. I don't know if she just had a strong suction or was latched on incorrectly, but I was in agony. Somehow we got past it though. I refused to give up. I'm so glad we stuck with it because now it doesn't even faze me. I had the opportunity to meet with a lactation consultant so that helped a lot.
DD was very calm in the beginning when we brought her home and we thought, "what a calm baby we have!". Not so. She isn't super fussy, but she is more vocal (crying) about her needs now. She doesn't sleep through the night, but I would never expect that of a baby. Heck, I don't know any adults that sleep all the way through the night!
She's talks to us now. Her coos are adorable and if we coo at her she cooes back. She also has the biggest grins. They're great and they make all of the frustration that come with having a baby worthwhile.
We practice AP style of parenting and honestly I didn't even know there was a name to it, until I stumbled across a website about it. It's what I was doing all along.
I've been suffering from PPD which has had some really bad low points. I'm so thankful that I have such a supportive DH because I don't think I would have been able to handle everything on my own. I found that comforting her while she's crying rather than working on quieting her down helps us both mentally. I don't know how to explain that. It's like, I'm allowing her to vent her frustrations and trying to let her know that I understand that she's frustrated and really focusing on her, rather than being annoyed and just trying to get her to be quiet.
We don't do tummy time on the ground because she haaaates it. We just lay at an angle on the couch and put her on our bellies. She seems to like that because she has an incentive to sit up. When she sits up we coo at her and she cooes back. It's adorable.
Okay I've written waaay too much. Hope everyone continues to do well. Good job mommies!
Last edited by MissChicopea; 10-26-2005 at 08:57 PM.
Amy is doing well and putting on 6-8oz a week. She is now 8lb 8.5 oz at six weeks old. I'm prepared for a growth spurt, though.
I have tried to keep her quiet at night and stimulated during the day, but she still seems to sleep for hours in the daytime (regardless of light, noise, etc) and when I try to wake her up, she just dozes straight back off. I have had some good nights, though, but the most she sleeps is about 4 hours, after which she wakes up every hour. I think I am going to try only feeding her every 2 hours at night time, and just cuddling/soothing her back to sleep when she wakes up in between. She's not the sort of baby who you can put down when she's almost asleep so that she can settle herself - as soon as she senses that she has been put down, she gets more and more agitated and waves her arms and legs about, and the little mutterings turn into all out screams. I can only swaddle her when she's already asleep as she's like Houdini when she's awake!
Amy has also had a bit of a rash on her face, which seemed to be connected with a cold she had, but it is now beginning to clear up. I have to admit I did the meningitis 'tumbler test' just to put my mind at rest, even though she seemed OK otherwise.
I'm in the library again and hubby has just turned up with Amy in the pushchair (asleep - surprise, surprise!), so I'll be off now.
Good morning. It's so cool to see how everyone's babies are growing. Aside from the big scare with DS he's healthy as could be according to the Docs. We had his six week checkup and visited the nurse this week. He's growing like a weed. We already had to retire all of his baby sleepers in favor of the bigger ones. He's still generally a happy baby although his wonderful burping skills have gone down the tubes. It takes a lot longer than it used to and he screams bloody murder all through. The other day I had to put a blanket between his head and my ear cuz I swear I could feel my eardrum breaking. He's also taken to screaming at night when he wakes up. He's fine during the day but during his night feedings he's terrible. It's not crying, its screaming rage! We just switched his formula and although he's pooping a little it's very small and very dry so we're thinking he's a little backed up. The Dr. recommended some Milk of Magnesia so we're giving that a try. Hopefully that'll calm the screaming down. I remember being constipated very well while I was pregnant so I can't blame him from being upset. It's not just his bum that's having trouble, last night he got hiccups while feeding and threw up the whole thing all over me, the chair and the carpet. I was really worried about him but when I brought him into the change room to clean him up he lied there on the table with the biggest smiles I've ever seen. Apparently he thought it was the coolest thing ever! Must've felt good I guess.
He's just starting the big smiles. I've only gotten them a couple of times, once when I picked him up and last night after he soaked me. He's full of "La'ssss", gurgles and grunting seems to be his favorite. I'm waiting for some giggles now.
I don't know about anyone else but DH is driving me though. This week he comes home from work, goes to hockey and they this morning when I ask him to feed DS so I can at least have a peaceful cup of coffee he quits halfway through because DS is smelly and screaming about having to burp. Am I the only one who would like to say, "Look, when I'm taking care of this 75%, (or more) of the time do I get to just pass him off when I don't feel like doing it anymore?" He's off at hockey three nights a week and I can't even have a coffee? Also if I hear him say that he works a full time job so he shouldn't be expected to do alot after work I'm going to scream as well. As far as I'm concerned this is a full time job as well! More than really, I'm on call 24 hours a day not 8. Sorry, had to vent there but sometimes I would like to kick him.
Also if I hear him say that he works a full time job so he shouldn't be expected to do alot after work I'm going to scream as well. As far as I'm concerned this is a full time job as well! More than really, I'm on call 24 hours a day not 8. Sorry, had to vent there but sometimes I would like to kick him.
OMG I gte the SAME lecture!!! WHere are these men getting it from? I mean are athey all reading the same handbook on how to get out of doing the dirty work? Grrr! My DH works night shifts, so five days out of the week it's no sleep for me, and I don't even have the option of im taking ONE of the feedings. And when he is home, he wants to SLEEP. He acts as if all I do is lay around all day eating bon bons.
I wish I could switch rolls for ONE week. Then we'll see who's singing what!!!
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He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.
Well this post is getting long and I need to eat dinner, glad to hear from other September Moms!. 
