Hellobee Boards

oooh! thanks for starting this!!!! Love that we start with a re-cap!

Estimated Due Date: May 1 2012 (though May 10 by my charting)

LO Birth Date: (at exactly 38 weeks): April 17, 2012 @ 8:28 pm (Glee was on TV singing burn baby burn disco inferno!)

Delivery via: vaginal, with episiotomy, no drugs because 1st stage of labour went too fast. (Water broke then 3 h later contractions started, then 3 hours later pushing started, then 2 hours later baby born).

Birth stats: 7lbs 15oz, 21 inches long and a full head of strawberry blonde hair (on a cone head!)

Breastfeeding or Formula (no judgement): Exclusive breastfeeding. Just introduced a bottle of breastmilk this weekend at 4.5 weeks old.

Baby Name: Nico Bannon (the middle name 'Bannon' was my maiden name)

Other notes: Nico had some bad jaundice so we had a 2nd hospital stay with the phototherapy light blanket and things turned around quickly for us.

Can you tell it's nap time? I'm ready to respond again already.

@marriedandlovingit: ha, Nico went from 21 to 20.5 at first visit too! The nurse just said, 'well, we will just still call it 21 inches' (well, actually 53 cm because we are in Canada).

@marriedandlovingit: I have been really lucky so far that Nico has never had a sleepless night. He was a frequent nurser, but always went to sleep. (Wait, there was one night where he kept waking up because I couldn't figure out how to swaddle him properly in anything but this one particular blanket that was way too hot on that particular night.....ended up just putting him back into the sweaty polarfleece thing! Since then I have figured out one more of the swaddlers for the summer weather, and have also learned how to do a traditional swaddle with receiving blankets). Hopefully tonight Cooper will let you sleep. Maybe you can get a nap in today when he naps? Good luck!

Estimated Due Date: by LMP - May 9; by my charting and u/s - May 12

LO Birth Date: May 5, 2012 @ 6:40pm (Cinco de Mayo!!)

Delivery via: vaginal, med-free, 1.5 hours after arriving at hospital

Birth stats: 7 lbs 0 oz, 20 inches, tons of black hair

Breastfeeding or Formula (no judgement): breastfeeding and occasionally pumping so I can get a break!

Baby Name: Liam Thanh (Thanh is Vietnamese - it's DH and FIL's middle name)

@LAGS: Looking back in my log, last Wednesday he was up for 5 hours in the morning and then again 3 hours in the evening, which is much more than normal and if anything I'd say he slept more that night than usual. I didn't note any fussiness. Hopefully yours will be okay.

@duckduckkristen: Thanks for sharing your baby blues story; I think it's hard to admit that sometimes and it's helpful to hear what others have experienced. For me, I took out my emotional stuff on DH a lot; fighting with him and screaming and crying, which I normally never do....then I'd pick up 'my baby' and take him away, cuddling him like he's my teddy bear or something while crying on him. My hormones and emotions have definitely come back to normal and I'm glad about that. I know that PP depression is common enough that probably one of us will have it, and almost everyone will go through the 'baby blues'.

Nico fed once and is still napping. He's got a pretty predictable morning and evening awake stretches. He's due to wake up for the evening soon, so I'll stop being such a thread freak soon.

PS. Today Nico is 5 weeks and my maternity benefits FINALLY dropped into my bank account for the first time. I was getting a little worried as I'm in credit card debt for the first time in a couple years right now. Even with my new money it will take me a couple months to get out. (Baby splurges plus reduced/no income = big credit card bill). Oh, and banks are such predators: they 'rewarded' my new bad situation by offering me MORE credit. How backwards is that?!

Oh, how fun is this!!??

Estimated Due Date: May 9th (Doctor's Due Date), April 21st (Based on LMP)

LO Birth Date: April 26th @ 1:06 p.m.

Delivery via: Vaginal Delivery (was induced due to placenta issues, low fluid levels). My sister-in-law delivered my daughter and she said it was the fastest delivery for a first time mom she's seen! I was induced (water broken, pitocin started) at 9 a.m., baby was born at 1:06 p.m. AND I only pushed for 12 minutes! I did have some complications, though, as my placenta did not detach and I began to have post partum hemmorhaging (and lost 1200 mL of blood). Luckily, we're all good now!

Birth stats: 6lbs, 4oz, 19 inches long

Breastfeeding or Formula (no judgement): I breastfed for the first three weeks, until I got mastitis and my supply dropped. Now I'm doing both, but may go to just formula once she hits the one month mark.

Baby Name: Caroline Jane

I also definitely had a tough emotional time between days 7-10 postpartum. I cried a lot in those days, and just didn't feel like myself at all, I was so relieved when it passed, because I was so scared it would turn to PPD. My DH was really good through it all, he would hand me the baby to snuggle with and sit with me rubbing my arm or leg while I cried it out. It was the best thing he could to just to listen and be there.

We had our first weekend away from home this long weekend, we went to our hometown, and visited with family. The extra stimulation/handling really had an effect on poor Sawyer, he had his worst night sleep ever on our 3rd night away, I got a grand total of 1 1/2 hours sleep all night! I am used to 7-8 with him (2 3 1/2 - 4 hour stretches) so I really drug all day. He also was showing his mommy-centeredness, and would get really fussy after being passed around too much, but settled really easily as soon as I held him for a while. I really enjoyed getting home for a visit though.

I might need to buy some new pants soon. I have lost enough weight (I am almost 20 pounds below pre-pregnancy) so my pre-pregnancy pants are getting too big, but my pre-pregnancy "skinny" wardrobe doesn't quite fit yet ... I am trying to avoid it as long as possible, thinking I could get into my skinny wardrobe soon enough, which would be ideal. Wearing big baggy pants isn't very attractive though.

I went and invested in some nursing tops and a dress this weekend, and I love them so much. So much easier to have cute tanks with easy nursing access, so I don't have to either strip to my waist or expose my belly. I will keep my eyes out for wrap tops and dresses though, because they will transition to when I stop nursing, but I was desperate for better nursing apparel with so much running around to visit!

So much fun, thanks for starting this thread!

EDD - May 11

LO Birth Date - May 4

Delivery - scheduled c-section b/c she was breech (the first few days were bad, but every day after that was ten times better than the day before and was feeling great by one week).

Stats - 7 pounds, 4 ounces, 20 inches, lots of brown hair, perfectly shaped head.

Pumping and breastfeeding and a few formula feedings mixed in early on, but entirely breastfeeding for the past few days.

Name: Lucinda James (a/k/a Lulu)

I can totally relate to the weepy, bluesy feeling. Last week I felt so emotional. I would cry about how much I loved my husband and baby and then five minutes later would be so mad and frustrated by not being able to breastfeed well and want to leave her in a basket outside. The hormones are insane, but luckily they have seemed to calm down and we are getting into a good feeding and sleeping pattern. She is back to birthweight so I am no longer waking her up to feed her and she slept for 5 hours last night!

@msmini - amazing about your weight loss! you must feel so good being close to pre-pregnancy skinny. I am about 8 pounds from my PP weight, but my stomach feels a bit saggy and lose still. I can't wait to start some more serious walking/exercising soon.

So today Sienna is 1 week old, and it's my birthday!!! Whoot whoot! (I'm 29!) Not only did she let me sleep in a little (woke up at 9 this morning) but I stepped on the balance and I'm 1 lb less than my pre-baby weight! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

finally jumping in...it is crazy how little time I have now. Gees!!!

EDD: May 13th

LO birth date: May 14th after induction

Delivery: I was induced due to high blood pressure. The whole process was about 14 hours. I had insane back labor and 7 hours in I had only progressed 1 cm (from a 5 to a 6) so I asked for an epidural. Epidural didn't work and I had a bad reaction, so an hour later I got a second one that worked. Pushed for an hour and baby came, sunny side up!

Stats: 7 lbs, 13 oz, 19 inches long (and that was with her conehead....she is probably really 18 inches). Short and chubby, so cute! Full head of black hair

Name: Willa Capri

Exclusively breastfeeding

Definitely been an emotional wreck the past few days. Feeling bitter toward DH because he gets to sleep completely through the night and leaves the house whenever he wants for as long as he wants. I feel so cooped up.

Fitting into my pre pregnancy clothes, but have no idea what I weigh since we have no scale. Still have a grandma belly though (lots of loose skin).

Just realized that today Sawyer is 4 weeks old, so no longer considered a newborn! Time has definitely flown by!

@Mrsdaredevil: ha! The conehead extra height! But of course! That explains why Nico was shorter at his first doctor appointment than at birth. But of course!

@Mrsdaredevil: love the term 'grandma belly'. I'm looking trim, but my belly button is bigger than before and I've definitely got some 'grandma' skin going on. Hopefully this will pass?

@volksgirl64: My babe also flew out after the episiotomy. I thought my doc was the only one still giving episotomies....seems like from everything I read online the theory is to let the tear happen naturally.....but personally I'm glad that my doc did it because the recovery has been great...not that I have anything to compare it to.

@MsMini: what? after 1 month not a newborn? really? had no idea that there was a cut-off like that.

@duckduckkristen: wow good for you going for your 7 hour trip so early! I thought it was such a big deal for me to take our 4 week old 1 hour away.

@blushink: Happy Birthday!!!!!! Glad Sienna didn't steal your birthday date.

Hey, just noticing that no one went late. I totally thought first time moms have their babies late!

@cvbee: Luckily LO didn't have any issues sleeping that night either. It looks like today is going to be round two of up all day. Hard to get things done, but much better than up all night!

@blushink: Happy Belated Birthday! Also, your maternity photos are beautiful!

@duckduckkristen: Ohh good luck with your trip! Let us know how it goes and any advice you have afterwards. In June we'll be taking a 5 hour visit to the in-laws one weekend and a 9 hour trip to my parents later in the month. I'm nervous!

@MsMini: I hope Sawyer and your DH are feeling better soon. Hopefully LO can fight off the other symptoms! I love that you have a baby friendly time to go to the movies, I'll have to look into that.

LO is two weeks old today, time really does fly. I weighed her yesterday and our scale said she was just over 8lbs!? I have no clue how that little frame could have packed on a whole pound since birth, I guess we'll find out how accurate our scale is at our first Dr's appointment tomorrow.

Have your LO's put on similar amounts of weight?

@msmini the stars and strollers sounds like so much fun Wish we had something like that here!

I am totally agreeing with everyone on the time flying! LO will be a month on Monday! I just ordered one of the little monthly onesie sticker kits on etsy to take monthly pictures. I can already even tell a difference in DD's looks from the time she was born. Especially now being more awake and alert!

So we have had our first mini scare with baby girl in the past couple of weeks. About 1 week after lo was born, the genetics department at the children's hospital called to tell us that one of lo's test results came back abnormal. Initially it was a big run. Around between genetics and our pediatrician to get information and of course we were scared/confused/me a blubbery mess for a couple of hours until we got the full facts. The test that came back abnormal was for a biotinodase deficiency. Basically, biotin, is a vitamin that we take in from our diets and reuse and recycle. Someone with deficiency cannot reuse and recycle biotin therefore becoming deficient. if it goes untreated pretty nasty things can happen ( hair loss, skin rashes, developmental delays) list goes on and on. But, if it's treated with a biotin supplement early on there are no symptoms at all. So we had to take lily at 9 days old to a geneticist to talk to us and get bloodworm to see what dosage of biotin she would have to take. Watching her get blood work sucked I couldn't watch, but she handled it well barely cried! Luckily we recently got the results that she has a very mild deficiency and will only have to take the minimum dose, but she will have to take it for the rest of her life. It could be worse Im thankful for the genetic screen that caught it. Hubby and I now know that any other children we have will have a 25% chance of having biotinodase deficiency. I guess we will better know how to handle it. While I do admit we are lucky that the condition is mild and very treatable, hubby and I are both still so nervous making sure lily drinks every little drop of her bottle that we put the supplement in.

Sorry that was sooooo long, just wanted to share!

@cvbee: Yeah, it is weird that no one was late. I kept reading that the average first pregnancy is 41 weeks and a day, so I was shocked I went early and it seems everyone I know IRL has gone early lately too!

@MsMini: oh no! I hope Sawyer gets better soon! Stars and strollers sounds fun. I wish we had something like that around here.

@LAGS: I'll definitely let you know how it goes and give any tips I come up with. So far DS passes out the second the car starts moving, so I'm hoping he'll just sleep the whole drive.
Liam dropped to 6 lbs 11 oz at 3 days then at 2 weeks was up to 8 lbs 1 oz, which seemed like a lot of weight to me, but I guess that means he's eating plenty!

@Mrs.M57: Is the biotindase part of the PKU test? I'm sorry you had to go through that, but at least it's treatable and mild. Watching babies get bloodwork is so sad!
I'm also jealous of those in their pre-preg clothes. Even though I still have 15 lbs to lose, it seems like I look a lot skinnier from the side, but my hips look huge! Can't wait to start working out either!

@LAGS: Ah thank you!!! I can't wait to see the rest. The photographer is really really talented. I love her so much (She took pics of my son's first birthday too)

@MsMini: Ooo I've always been interested in those strollers / movie thingy. I heard the movie is great/hilarious/tear jerker so I can't wait to see it. Who knows, maybe I try that strollers/movie thing too.

You probably saw my weight related thread, but I'm 0.5 lbs shy of my pre-pregnancy weight with Mavrick!!! Meaning I lost 16 lbs already and I gave birth 8 days ago. I'm so excited because I've been wanting to get back to my college weight of 160 lbs. (25 lbs to go, but do-able!)

@LAGS: Maybe yours will be an up-all-day kind of baby. A friend of mine at Mom and Baby class has a little one who does that and has done it 'almost since the beginning' and she is now 4 months old. Her babe also slept 'through the night' really early and consistently. And regarding the weight, Nico did put on 1 pound in one week when he was 2 weeks old. I was floored. That's when I decided I could stop 'waking him up to eat'. I can't wait to find out how much he weighs now at 5 weeks, but I won't get to know until our 8 week appointment. I try him on our scale but our scale isn't that accurate, so it's hard to tell one pound difference.

@Mrs.M57: so glad that the genetic thing for Lily is something manageable.....phew. When Nico was getting blood work every day for his jaundice they always took him away. They said that parents are not to be in the room as it is too stressful on the parents, and that we might have an uncontrollable urge to punch the person taking the blood! (and they actually weren't kidding). The nurse would bring him back in a new diaper and all swaddled up and he seemed very alert but happy. Glad I didn't see it. Hey, good for you for getting the 1 month stickers. I meant to do that. I have been really good about taking a photo every week actually of Nico just in a diaper on the same blanket in his bassinet. I figure in the end I can get some text added to the photos.

@pastemoo: Welcome Gabriel!!! Good luck with getting better so you can get away from the formula like you'd like to do.

Today we visited with a friend who has a 6 month old baby. I LOVE getting together with friends who have babies. We have endless things to talk about....kind of like this May baby group of ours! It's great!

Funny baby note of the day: Nico PROJECTILE pooped this morning when I was changing his diaper. I did notice he was pooping, which he often does while I am changing him. I just leave the diaper open and hold his little feet up and let him keep going and wait for a bit until I think he's all done and then I wait a little more. Okay, except this time it shot out, no word of a lie: 5 feet across the room! It his his crib, the carpet, me, the crib skirt. It was soooooooooooooooooo funny. (and a terrible mess). Guess I'll be changing my diaper-changing strategy. He was wearing a pee pee tee pee at the time, but who knew I had to worry about number 2? 5 weeks in and I'm still learning every day (every hour!).

My new goal is to add 30 minutes of yoga to my day because my posture muscles are starting to feel awful, especially my upper back from all the bending over and breastfeeding etc. I am taping a yoga show every day and will do it. Today I got 10 minutes in and Nico needed my attention (food) and then it was time to go. I'm going to give it a try again as soon as I finish this post.

Take care everyone!

Estimated Due Date: May 21 2012

LO Birth Date: May 19 2012 @ 8:48am

Delivery via: Induction - vaginal birth with one 2nd degree tear.

Birth stats: 8lbs 9 oz, 20 inches long and light brown hair

Breastfeeding or Formula (no judgement): Formula and pumping. Not enjoying the pumping - feel a little like a heifer.

Baby Name: Audrey Marie (DH decided he liked Marie better as a middle name than Jane, and that Natalie had too many "unwanted" nicknames).

Scary part of delivery - while I was pushing, Audrey's heart rate kept dropping. So they put me on oxygen. I didn't even ask why - didn't want to know. Instead, I focused on getting her out in as few pushes as possible. The OB almost wasn't ready to catch her! Apparently her cord was smushed between her and the birth canal.

Sleeping is going better. Our pediatrician recommended putting her to sleep in her crib while she's still awake but drowsy so she starts associating the crib with sleep (instead of DH's chest with sleep). Worked like a charm last night and seems to be going okay tonight - put her down at 8pm and was out of the room in under 5 minutes.

I've definitely got periods of baby blues going on. Today I was pumping and just feeling sorry for myself. My nipples are sore, my boobs are huge (and don't look like mine anymore) and I just don't enjoy it. Which is rough for something you do every 3 hours. Then I felt like a bad mommy for wanting to go to formula only so I could get back to being me, plus the costs of the pump and everything. I'm hoping to stick it out until the end of maternity leave, but don't really anticipate it going longer than that. And I figure Audrey will benefit more from the breast milk now than a few months down the line, so I'm not bothering to build a stash. We're just using the breast milk for every other feeding during the day and every feeding at night (so much easier than mixing formula at 2am!).

Now, to catch up on everyone's posts . . .

Well, last night was rough, Sawyer was up a lot because he was so congested, and I had to get up and suction then soothe him back to sleep. I have been doing saline drops like crazy, and have taken him into the bathroom and got it all steamy to help keep all the mucous liquid. He was coughing this morning, but stopped by the afternoon. My poor little guy has been extra sleepy and cuddly today though, I feel bad for him, so I have basically held him all day, and DH is holding him now.

This saturday we have a dinner out, and birthday party to go to, and Sawyer is going to come along to both. So far he has been great with outings, but we usually keep them brief, and only 1 at a time, so hopefully the long night out goes well!

@LAGS: Stars and strollers is awesome, they keep the lights a bit brighter, and you don't have to worry if your LO cries, because everyone else's does (LOL). It only costs $8 for admission here, so I might hit a movie every week or 2!

@Mrs.M57: I am sorry that your LO has a biotinodase deficiency, but glad that is is easy to manage!

@blushink: Congrats on the weight loss! I am hoping that my pregnancy weight loss, and breastfeeding helps jump start me to losing some weight as well.

@cvbee: Ack! Projectile poop! We haven't had one so far, but the way he poops I am sure it is soon to come!

@Goldilocks1107: Good job with keeping up with the pumping! Every feed of breast milk is a good thing for your LO. I only pump once per day, and I don't really love it, but I overproduce like crazy at night, so if I don't my breasts hurt all day long.

Man, I'm late to the game (and still have so much to catch up on!)

Here goes!

Estimated Due Date: May 27, 2012

LO Birth Date: May 17 , 2012 @ 6:14 a.m.

Delivery via: Vaginal birth after roughly 12 hours of labor in hospital. On arrival to hospital, was 4 cm dilated and contracting at 8 minute intervals. A few hours later was dilated to 5 cm and midwife stripped my membranes to get things really going. Contractions got crazy and four hours later got my epidural, a few hours later my water broke and labored through the night Started pushing at just before 6 a.m. and baby boy arrived just 15 minutes later.

Birth stats: 5 lbs, 5 oz, 17.5 inches long (peanut!!) and looks a lot like daddy!

Breastfeeding or Formula (no judgement): Breastfeeding and trying to supplement with pumped breastmilk. We had to supplement with formula the first few days at home before my breastmilk came in because Tyler was low birth weight.

Baby Name: Tyler John

We are just so in love with our little guy. The first 8 days have been up and down but the highs have far outweighed the lows. Tyler lost almost 10% of his birthweight in the hospital, which was really stressful and my milk didn't come in until we were home two full days and and we couldn't figure out breastfeeding for a full day after that. At his 4 day follow up, he had gained a few ounces back, which was a relief. The first few days at home were really tough - I was crying a lot (mostly due to breastfeeding and worrying about his weight)...and he was barely sleeping at night (turns out he hates being flat on his back and also dislikes being swaddled as he self-soothes with his hands). Since figuring out breastfeeding three days ago, I have felt much more like myself and trying not to worry so much about his weight (though, I still do).

Lots to catch up on.............