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@chibee: yay, glad he's home!
2 things I love:
1. "Sweet baby cuddles" as I've been calling it
No explanation necessary!2. Watching his facial expressions! So many funny faces.
Not loving:
1. Each feeding session takes over an hour now between offering both sides, a diaper change, and burping after each side. Not enough sleep left
2. He is starting to get a bit cranky in the afternoons and doesn't automatically fall asleep after a feed.
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loving:
1) he's a pretty easy baby overall. we like to sleep in til 9:30-10am in the mornings (alllllmost makes up for not falling asleep til 11 or later at night
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2) his facial expressions are awesome.hating:
1) the gas. OH MY GOD THE GAS.
2) LO#1 was a 1 poop every 2-3 days baby. This one....is not. -
@chibee: so glad he is home!! I too felt very overwhelmed the first few weeks at home (my mom cams every day- she lives 40 minutes away. I could.not.have.done.it without her and dh. I stressed over feedings too bc he struggled to latch those first few weeks and spit up a lot. Things have gotten easier but I still question things I'm doing daily!
Things I love:
1. How he looks around when he's awake with his head held high.
2. The successful night feedings when it's quiet and dark and he falls right asleep on my shoulder when he's done.Things I'm not loving:
1. My lack of confidence in all things baby related. I had a post about breastfeeding because I was so unsure of what I was doing! My dh has basically banned me from googling things. I google everything he does to see if it's "normal" and get very stressed out!
2. I think I have to come to terms with the fact the LO is a fussy baby. he will be awake during the day (usually only naps a few times during the day) and will be looking around for about 20-30 minutes and then promptly gets fussy and only wants to be held and rocked and walked and bounced... I'm terrified to go anywhere with him for fear he will fuss and I won't be able to help/soothe him. He does not like traveling in the car unless he is already sleeping so driving alone with him gives me panic attacks just thinking about it!
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Well this morning is a bag of mixed emotions. On one hand LO slept from 11pm to 6:30am... Glorious!!! On the other hand I woke up with an intense pain in my right breast and chills. I'm worried it could be mastitis. I've since nursed twice, pumping after one of the nursing, taken some ibuprofen and drunk a lot of water and I already feel a lot better so hopefully whatever it is will heal quickly. In the meantime I guess I need to take precautions against this. So no more 8hr stretches of sleep in my immediate future
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@JennyPenny: oh man, that's amazing he slept that long! Do you feel any hard lumps in that breast that could be a clogged duct? I got mastitis a little over a week ago and I had a fever and body aches and a red, sore spot on my breast. I hope you don't get mastitis. It's sucks.
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@mrskc: I don't feel any lumps but it's definitely red. It's not just one spot though, it's pretty much the whole underside of my breast which makes me wonder if it's from the massaging I've been doing to help/check if it's still sore. But it hurts way less than this morning and I feel pretty much fine with the exception of some tiredness. How long did it take you to feel better? Did it require antibiotics?
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PSA: don't google image search 'mastitis'. Yikes!
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@JennyPenny: omg that is amazing i would kill for that sleep time!!! how old is LO?
Jack has gained 9ozs since his last ped visit on Sat! She says she no longer wants to treat him as a baby that has been in the NICU but a normal, healthy full-term baby since he is thriving so great.
How is everyone's postpartum recovery? i still don't feel normal at all but the pain has lessened considerably.
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@chibee: oh - that is great news!! YAY!
My recovery has been even better this time around than my first. Although I have started bleeding again when it was non existent after day 2. But I probably should not be picking up my toddler...but it's hard not to pick her up at all.
Cramping during nursing has lessened which I'm so grateful because it was really painful at times even on Motrin!
My supply this time around is SO much better than the first time so I'm so extremely excited about that. I'm so afraid of not establishing a good supply early on I'm even considering setting up an alarm at night. I know it's crazy but I worried way too much about LO1's milk intake.@JennyPenny: Yikes - hope it's not mastitis!
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@chibee: I was pretty excited at first till all the ickiness set in. I guess I'll just have to pump in the night if he does it again.
Just got back from the dr with a confirmation of mastitis and some antibiotics. I started feeling way worse after lunch. *fingers crossed* they work well and I'm back to good soon. It's so hard to take care of LO when you feel awful yourself
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@JennyPenny: i hope you feel better soon!!
question - where are your babies sleeping at night? Jack sleeps in the fisher price rock n play bassinet (not the inclined one) next to my bed, but I'm kind of not loving it and looking into a co-sleeper - where are yours sleeping at night?
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@chibee: thanks, and I forgot to answer your question. LO is almost 5 weeks. He sleeps in a crib in his own room. I slept on the daybed in there the first 3 weeks and then moved out when DH started taking over a night feeding with expressed milk
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@chibee: why don't you love it? He's in the PNP but I was thinking about getting that bassinet because co-sleepers are so expensive.
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@chibee: he starts the night in his bassinet next to my side of the bed, (sometimes 'starts' means 20 minutes if he won't settle) and then winds up in bed with us at the first feeding otherwise.
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@chibee: we use a summer infant by your side sleeper in bed with us. She'll be in that until she outgrows it then move to her crib in her room. Probably around 4-6 weeks because that's when big sister outgrew it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CXHH3DU/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_h.qcub0ZVTBJR
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@JennyPenny: hope you start feeling better soon! It took about 2 days on antibiotics to start feeling better.
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@T.H.O.U.: I'm actually not loving the rocking feature of it - when he stirs at night it rocks and i feel like it wakes him up, and i don't like the height of it - it's really awkward for me to reach down and get him out without having to get up and out of bed to do it.
@regberadaisy: i actually haven't come across this one yet! does it stay put on the bed?
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Another question for you guys - is anyone supplementing? If so, how much do you offer after BF?
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@chibee: it's stationary so it doesn't move. The sides are mesh and there's a steel tube around the top. There is a tiny mattress with a removable cover.
When my milk didn't come in yet I supplemented with 10ml of formula. But I only did that if she seemed unsatisfied. There are charts online that shows your babies stomach capacity at each age in the beginning. I would use that as a guide?
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Oh my goodness, how is K over a week old already?!
I haven't had time to think about coming on HB to check in!
To start:
Loving:
I do NOT have anxiety this time. I didn't even know how bad it was PP with L until I've experienced it without the anxiety. I can leave the house, get off the couch, take a shower... It's amazing!!My sweet girl. Her cuddles, her chubs, her baby smell - she's jut the best!
Not loving:
BFing... Again. Ugh, something must be wrong with my boobs. I have birthed two jaundiced babies who will NOT wake up to eat. I learned from last time and started pumping and bottle feeding right away, and my supply is still sooo low. It looks like another long life of EPing
K loves to sleep during the day, not so much at night. I need to learn to stop hating naps because I just about cry when she wakes up every 1.5 hours at night -
@chibee: Haha, I have such a problem with this every night so far! My goal is to have her in her crib. She doesn't seem to like it though, and I need sleep too much to push it. We usually start out in the swing for one 2-hour stretch. Then we move upstairs for a 2 hour stretch in the crib. Then it's a cluster of crap the rest of the night of rocking chair/crib/sofa/bed/wherever my sleep-deprived brain takes me.
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@chibee: recovery is going well. Much easier than last time. Almost 3 weeks pp, I'm not sore anymore but still bleeding. Baby girl starts out in the rock n play then sleeps the restr of the night in our bed. It's just so much easier because we both just fall back to sleep while she nurses.
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My boys are 3 weeks old today.. I've barely had any time for hb, except when I've done a few searches about feeding/sleep schedules and mastitis.
Loving:
1. There's 2 of them to play and cuddle with
2. Them falling asleep on me
3. Watching how devoted and doting Dh is with themHating:
1. One of the boys has reflux and wasn't eating as much, causing lots of 'heated debates' between Dh and myself on how much we should feed him, frequency, whether we should wake him for feeds.. Etc
2. How hard pumping is! I'm not bf'ing because the boys were supplemented with formula from the beginning and what little they did latch is now gone as they refuse me every time I attempt to bf. It got to stressful and upsetting for me to keep trying when I had 2 hungry crying babies who were refusing me so I decided to EP and supplement with formula as needed. -
Finally getting a chance to say hi...
Days and nights around here have been so hit and miss! My first day alone (Wednesday) was pretty rough. Baby barely napped, we had had a bad night of sleep, etc. Then yesterday was great, I got him to sleep for a while, then had a short outing with my mom in the afternoon. Today started off again with a bad night of sleep, and it took a while to get E to nap, but he has been quiet for about an hour now. Mostly sleeping, but his eyes have been opening a bit. Not sure what's going on...
I finally decided to call a lactation consultant, and she will be here in a few minutes! E latches and eats well, but I can't seem to get off the nipple shield. He has been spitting up a whole lot at times, so I'm worried that he could have reflux. Also, he is growing out of football hold and I can't get us comfortable any other way. Hopefully she can help!
Newborns days are rough! I should be napping now, but I decided to design a thank you note with our pro photos since it made me happy to look at them. I shared the blog post on FB, but there are so many other great photos she didn't include, so I need to figure out how to share a few more when I have a chance.
Hope you are all hanging in there too! It gets better soon, right?!
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@chibee: where my boys sleep for the night depends on where we are settling down for the night. If we are in the family room (downstairs level by the kitchen), then they'll sleep in the swing, rock n play, or on the couch with us.
If we go upstairs to sleep in our own bed, they'll be in the pack n play, mamaroo, or in the bed with us. Settling in upstairs allows us to get more comfortable sleep in, but it has its own challenges bc we have to prepare 6-8 bottles, snacks for Dh and I, my pumping stuff, a budget of soapy water, and other misc things just to get through the night. It's a whole production! They have yet to sleep in their nursery yet, mostly bc it hurts my heart to have them sleep in a separate room away from me. -
@Mrs.Someone: hope the LC apt went well!
At three weeks:
Loving:
Still a squishy baby with frog legs and a floppy neck. Fingers that grab onto yours and eyes that droop after too much milk.
He's a great nurser. Easy to latch, no pain, good suck, and doesn't totally use me as a pacifier (although he loves his milk!)Not loving
Middle of the night poops that make him grunt for almost an hour.
Laundry! -
Second time moms - when do nights get easier???
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@chibee: what's going on?
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@chibee: what are you struggling with? I'm not the best to ask that question because nights didn't get easier until my son was sleeping thru the night at 15 months when we finally moved him to his own room.
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@chibee: 2 months for me last time. Hoping the same this time around!
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The LC appt went well! She was able to get him to latch on and feed for a little bit without the shield. So I'm supposed to try a few times a day near the end of the feed and let her know how it goes. Tried a little bit today, he was able to take a few sucks, but didn't stay for long before getting angry. I'm encouraged though.
@chibee: OMG, us too! Seems like every other night is awful.
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Finally checking in and I managed to read through most of this thread! Hope everyone is doing well!!!
Loving: The newborn phase (trying to really take it all in since this will probably be our last baby). DS is a super sweet baby and so far calm and barely cries. I'm praying this doesn't change too much. He must have listened when I told him he had to be sweet in exchange for nine months of pregnancy nausea hell! I also love how our daughter tries to kiss all the time (although sometimes I worry she will head butt him)!
Not loving: That it's pretty much impossible to ever take a nap with a newborn and toddler. I'm not much of a napper anyway, but once a week I could use one!
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@Mrs.Someone: yes to every other night!
last night was horrible. ok i have to say, i know it's not the worst he's not colicky or anything but his night time feeding sucks! During the day he is a every 3 hours kind of guy, takes from breasts very well, then supplemented with some formula, then 90% of the time, out like a light or very content and awake. at night for some reason, he will only do half a feeding, fall asleep COMPLETELY like can't even wake him up with a cold wash cloth, so inevitably, since he hasn't taken much, he's up in an hour hungry, then repeat. how can i fix this??
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@chibee: what I do is feed and when he falls asleep I change his diaper. He hates diaper changes so it wakes him up enough to finish eating.
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it's so good to read everyone's loving/not loving. is it terrible that it really soothes my soul that other mothers have hard things too? i was beginning to feel quite lonely there, in my sleep deprived state, questioning anything and everything i was doing!
@chibee: we tend to do what @kodybear does. either a diaper change right when he wakes up and/or between rounds of feeding (sometimes i switch boobs, sometimes i don't). my little guy also has pretty bad reflux so we have to be sure to burp and keep him upright so that often wakes him up. which sucks a little bit because he has been increasingly more difficult to put down after night time nursing/wake ups. last night, his 1:15 wake up led to a solid hour and fifteen of wakefulness, and when he woke up again at 5:00, he didn't go back to sleep for any real chunk until after 8:00 am - at which time he slept on me until 9:30 as I dozed as well. Not ideal! I'm just jealous of your every 3 hour daily feeding schedule - I can't seem to get longer than an hour and half between nursing sessions unless he is napping during the day.
Sometimes he legit eats at 8:00 am, 9:30 am, 11:00 am, and 11:45 am. And then something like 3:00 pm, 4:30 pm, 5:30 pm, 7:00 pm and then before he goes to sleep. And I think it's because I can't get him to eat a 'full' meal during the day. Has anyone else experienced this?
My guy is one month tomorrow (holy shite!) and I am beginning to get super sad about going back to work. I'll start up part time in 4 short weeks, and then fully back when DS is 10 weeks. It feels so impossible to think he'll be on a consistent eating schedule by then AND we don't actually have the whole daycare situation worked out yet.
Anyone else taking little adventures to get out of being stuck in the house? I realized I would go crazy if I didn't see something other than my TV each day.
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@chibee: We do the same as @kodybear, diaper change inbetween boobs. Works every time. The only time I don't offer both is if he didn't go very long inbetween feedings. So if its been an hour or so, then its often just one. I play it all by ear though.
And one suggestion for you. We finally gave E another bath last night (his first non-sponge). He hated it, no surprise. But he slept for a long time afterwards. DH mentioned it to my MIL, and she said that thats why she bathed her kids every night. We may try it tonight and see how it goes.
Last night was weird... E couldn't fall asleep and was trying to nurse really aggressively (and constantly). We finally assumed he was in pain probably from constipation. He didn't get to sleep until 1:30ish. Then he slept all the way through until 5:30, longest ever! I woke up thinking something was wrong of course. E was on his way to waking up. Now if we could just do that twice a night, I'd feel great the next day
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@yellowskates: that sounds really similar to our schedule! I say normal!
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@yellowskates: actually this sounds really similar to my schedule! He was told he had reflux during his stay in NICU so I have to burp and keep him upright at least for 15 min after his feeding. So his feeding, changing, burping takes a solid hour at least, and then i have maybe 2 hours before the next round, and he is pretty good about being put down after that during the day but at night he refuses to go to sleep afterwards. We have a pretty routine schedule during the day but at night it all goes to hell and it's been exhausting!
I've taken your (@kodybear: @yellowskates: @Mrs.Someone: ) advice and have been changing his diaper in between the boob and supplementing and it's definitely been helpful. I realized it was partly my fault - the bad night we had, i nursed him in bed lying down and i fell asleep and didn't monitor his feeding - why didn't i realize this? So last night, i made sure to get out of bed and go on the couch where i usually nurse (my glider has YET to arrive from PBK - it's been about 13 weeks!!!!) make sure he gets his full feeding and i got to sleep between 2am and 4am, then again at 5:30am and 7:30am. That's been basically my nightly sleep every single night - please tell me it will get better. I have a hard time napping during the day when he naps bc i feel like there are a million things i want to do/get done around the house!!
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@chibee: it'll get better soon! That's one thing that's easier this time around. I know there is an end to this newborn sleep. And I do make an effort to take a nap once a day even if I don't feel tired bc I know if I don't ill b a zombie at night. Eta have you tried to top off with a bottle before the last feed of the night? I believe u said u were supplementing. I definitely top off at night and I get a long stretch of sleep. It might help!
Anyone hitting the first wonder week? It's a week early according to the due date but baby has been extra fussy the last couple days. I don't think it's colic or at least I hope not. He just seems to need extra cuddles and isn't napping as well. Hopefully it'll pass in a couple days. And we're also dealing with baby acne! It doesn't seem to bother him but I'm not sure if I need to do anything abt it as my first didn't have any. How's everyone else doing?
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@JennyPenny: so sorry to hear you have/had mastitis! Hope you're all recovered!
@yellowskates: our schedule sounds similar. When he's awake he usually wants to eat every hour and a half- try as I might to stretch it to 2 hours (as my doctor advised) sometimes it is just not possible! I try and keep him upright for 15-20 min. after feeding too! I have left the house a handful of times but it is stressful when I'm alone because it is a toss-up with whether he'll cry in the car the whole way (usually), fall asleep (rarely) or just sit content (sometimes). I have to make a 40 min drive weekly starting this week and am just bracing myself for tears!!
@kodybear: I think we may have hit the 6 week wonder week (I think that's when there is one, right- or maybe it was a growth spurt?) early at 5 weeks as his fussiness really peaked then.
@chibee: so sorry to hear your nights are rough! LO doesn't sleep for long stretches either; I feel your pain and hope it gets
better soon for both of us! I also hope your glider comes soon!@ms.mug: it sounds like you guys have a good routine going- I admire you! I think having one baby is tough so I admire you having two!!
So as I stated above LO was really really fussy all day long for like two weeks straight. I actually took him to the doctor I was so concerned about his fussiness and discomfort. We started him on gas drops and reflux meds. He had a really good week after that with a few fussy days here and there.- so I'm hopeful things will get better from here! Now I just wish I could drive places with him without stress. Anyone else's LO hate the car? Funny thing is sometimes he stops crying the instant I take him out of the car...
@Mrs.Someone: that's awesome you were able to feed without the shield! How is that going? I'm still using it.
With his fussiness before I just couldn't imagine adding something else to the mix that would piss him off- especially since BF was the only thing he didn't fuss at! Now that he seems less fussy I want to try and wean off the shield. Any advice?Hope everyone is doing well!
No explanation necessary!
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