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Well, we have been having a good week around here. Everyone was finally over their colds, and Sawyer has been getting super social, all smiles and trying to vocalize with us when he is awake. He has such a great full face crinkly eyed smile!

We have our 6 week doctor visit for him tomorrow, I am super excited to see how much he has grown. At the 1 month mark I measured and weighed him at home, and from birth he had gained 2 pounds and 4 inches already!

Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with severe left breast pain. There is no heat or redness, and no palpable duct, and it didn't resolve with a good feeding and pumping, so it isn't a plugged duct. I am hoping it resolves overnight, but if not I will ask our family doctor about it tomorrow. I am concerned it might be mastitis starting (though usually a plugged duct starts that so IDK).

@Goldilocks1107: Blech - growth spurts are brutal! I hope upping her bottles gets you some more sleep tonight. For showers, I just pop Sawyer in the bouncy chair outside the shower (right after a feed). Usually he takes a catnap, but if he fusses I can just reach an arm out and pop in his soother.

@pastemoo: that's exactly what Penny's like when she has a growth spurt. Last week I legit nursed her for like 3 hours strait with a couple of burp breaks and a diaper change. Happily, we are over that for now!

I was finally able to pass her to DH tonight and vacuum the living room. It's amazing what a clean room will do!

@Magilnyc: Congrats!!

@krsmall: I bought one from Target and it's pretty supportive. I haven't worn it out of the house yet, but I would definitely wear something over it.

@pastemoo: I feel the same way! I need somebody to give him a bottle at night so I can sleep!

@Goldilocks1107: We had a rough night last night too. Liam would only eat from one breast each feeding (he usually takes both) so he would wake up every hour or so because he was hungry. He also had a poop explosion all over me when I was changing him on the bed. It shot out and covered my legs and even got in my hair! So gross. I really can't wait til all our babies can sleep through the night.
When I shower I put Liam in his bouncy seat and bring it in the bathroom. I put it close enough so that I can reach out and rock him if I need to. Usually I shower right after a feeding so I know I have plenty of time!

@MsMini: Glad everyone is feeling better!

For those of you who pump, how many oz does your LO take in one feeding? DH gave Liam a bottle yesterday and he took 5 oz and was still hungry so I had to feed him anyways. He's 4 weeks old and that seems like way too much!

@Nskillet: @Pastemoo: I"m paranoid about my supply too! I have felt engorged before and if he doesn't feed for awhile, my boobs feel bruised...I rarely leak though - once in a while one boob will leak while I'm nursing him on the other. He usually only takes one boob a session, too, and prefers one side so I worry the other side will dry up and try to pump at least 2 oz from whatever boob he's not feeding from to keep my supply up.

@Goldilocks1107: I always wished for big boobs, but now I feel so weird having them. My boob is MUCH bigger than DS's head it's freaky. It's awesome that you get to measure exactly how much Audrey is getting in each session...one of the benefits of the bottle!

@marriedandlovingit: I feel guilty whenever I do anything for myself lately - yesterday took a 30 minute walk (without Tyler) and felt so selfish. Right now he is propped in the boppy while I'm typing - feel guilty for not holding him. Never ends, I think it's normal for new moms but know we shouldn't feel this way.

@krsmall: Wow, congratulations - beautiful name and I hope you are all doing well!

@duckduckkristen: Oh dear...he is adorable!!! Tyler is only 2.5 weeks old, but when we feed him a bottle, he usually only takes 2 oz before he signals being done or falls asleep. He nurses pretty frequently though (only goes 3 hours at night).

@volksgirl64: She is gorgeous! What beautiful family pictures!

@MsMini: So exciting that Sawyer is at a fun age!! I hope your breast pain resolves - mastitis sounds so scary!

@pastemoo: Awww, Gabriel is so cute!!

@cvbee: Thank you so much for all of your tips - we are having some burping issues so I'll try that one.

@MrsDareDevil: I hope Willa's sleeping gets better - sounds like a great trick with the nursing tank!

Things here are going well - Tyler is 18 days old now. Another busy weekend of visitors, which was fun, but can be exhausting. Sleeping and nursing is going better - forcing the swaddle I have been able to get Tyler to sleep for 2 good stretches of 2.5 hours (sometimes 3) and then the third stretch is a crapshoot - he is much more awake so freaks out with the swaddle and then is hard to put down/cries and by the time he goes back to sleep usually only sleeps for 1.5-2 hours max. All in, I'm probably getting about 6 hours a night (in chunks, obviously). I take the occasional nap during the day, too. I need to start going to sleep earlier but then I would never see DH.

Nursing - during the days he has been cluster feeding lately - literally ate every hour yesterday. He still has a strong preference for left boob but I try to force the right at every other feeding (he usually feeds only off one side and I'm too paranoid to take him off the boob and try to give him the other). Nights, he does not eat nearly as much as during the day - he's a quick 10 minutes then done....but then I change him, burp him and try to feed him more....if he's done I need to sooth him, get him reswaddled and trick him to going back to sleep. All in, I'm up for 45-hour every time at night. How long are you guys up at night for? Oh also, one of my arms is SO sore at the crease of my elbow (not the elbow, the other side) from having my arm bent so much while nursing. Anyone else?

Moms of boys, does your LO have lots of open air accidents? Happens 1-2x a day and is getting old! He pees himself, not me, but we are going through outfits like crazy!

@Goldilocks1107: As for showering, I usually just jump in immediately after I put him down (he still does day naps in his swing....) and try to be very very quick. Usually when I get out he is still sleeping though yesterday he was crying when I got out : (

@volksgirl64: Gorgeous!
@duckduckkristen: He's so oute! And sleepy.
@winniebee: I force him to alternate sides each feeding.
I'm up 45 min to 2 hours at night--i'm better off napping daytimes.. He is only "sleeping" (lying down but sometimes eyeswide open) 1.5 to 2 hours/nap at night.

So far he only pees if we re putting vaseline on his circumcision--and we always have a washcloth right there. When we do put on vaseline he pees 100% of those disper changes.

@Goldilocks1107: Cuuuuuute!

We had our 6 week checkup today, our doctor is super happy with Sawyers growth and development, so no more Sawyer check-ups until the 6 month mark unless something comes up! He is 10 pounds 3.5 ounces now, and is following the 50%ile perfectly so far. Sawyer was nice and awake for the checkup, and was trying to chat a bit, which was cute.

My poor left boob is feeling better, but not 100% today, it did have a red patch last night, but this morning the red/warm spot is gone, although it is still quite tender to the touch. My doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics to hold on to just in case I need it, but I am going to continue to feed/pump that side quite a bit to try to remedy it without the antibiotics.

@duckduckkristen: Hm, well, we have only given Sawyer 1 bottle recently, and he took about 4 1/2 ounces. I don't think babies over-eat as a rule.

@volksgirl64: Cute pictures!

@winniebee: Sawyer did a lot of day-time cluster feeding at that ago, I didn't mind though because he slept longer at night! I hope Tyler gets over his boob preference soon!

@Goldilocks1107: I hope your first solo drive goes well! I was weirdly nervous the first time I went out with Sawyer myself (LOL). Your little girl is adorable!

@LAGS: What a cute little girl!

The past couple of days have been hell. Last night, I thought I was going to loose my mind.

Penny is 4 weeks as of yesterday and was in SERIOUS rare form. She woke up on Saturday night at about 1:30 like normal, but nursed almost nonstop until about 5 when we finally got out of bed. Neither of us were able to go back to sleep until about 7 on Sunday morning. Then, all day she was so out of whack and hardly slept that day either. Luckily she slept a little more Sunday night, but it was hard. She nursed and nursed and nursed and just would NOT go to sleep. I was getting really frustrated and I had to have DH just hold her for a bit while I walked away. Yesterday was a little bit better, but she still didn't really sleep well during the day. Then on top of that, all of the sudden my nipples are bright red and raw. So she wants to nurse more than ever, and I am in pain for the first time. Great.

Luckily, she slept really well last night. She wouldn't sleep at all in her pack and play though, so that breaks the two night streak we had going on. But this morning, she slept in our bed for a bit without me so that I could have DH listen for her while I showered. This morning we went to the babywearing session at the local center for breastfeeding. It was good because she showed me how to use the moby wrap and let me try her sling to see if I liked that better for nursing (I do). There was also a lactation consultant available, so I had her watch me feed Penny and she noticed that her latch got messed up somehow, which is likely why I am sore and red. So now I know to make sure her little bottom lip doesn't suck in and we should be good. She did warn me that it could be thrush if it doesn't heal with the latch fix so I am keeping my eye on it. In the meantime, I am air drying and using the EMAB nipple butter to sooth.

I feel much more in control today, which is good. I did not like feeling frustrated with a 4 week old who doesn't know what she is doing. I felt terrible about it.

@bpcmarj: you need to save your image less than 550 px. You can't resize using HTML coding. It doesn't work

@Magilnyc: congrats!!!! Wishing u a speedy recovery!

Man, I feel so out of the loop. I feel like it is so impossible to keep up with this thread while having a newborn. I can make other posts from my phone, but I need my laptop to follow this one!
I wish I had time to respond to everyone, but I don't since I need to wake LO up in two minutes to eat. I will do generalized responses, lol.

I am glad other people are struggling with nighttime sleep. Last night was the worst night we have had yet with LO. She was up LITERALLY the entire night crying. Now she is sleeping all afternoon, but I can't get her to eat for the life of me. She was on my left boob for about 5 minutes before refusing it, and then an hour later on the other one for about 5 minutes. Anyone know what could be causing this? I feel like she is starving!

In response to the bra/big boob thing, my boobs have gotten huge. I went up four sizes or more during pregnancy, and probably an additional three since I have been BFing. I went and bought a nursing bra at Target yesterday and I had to buy size XXL (the biggest size they make). The band is too loose for me, but it's the only one that would fit over all my breast tissue. I think XXL is like a 38DD or bigger! YIKES!

I don't have a flickr account (and probably couldn't figure out how to use it) so here is a link to my blog with some pics of Willa. My birth story is also on that post, but you can just skip past it because most of you already know it!

baby pics:
http://ewokmomma.blogspot.com/2012/06/willa-capri-is-here-and-i-am-mommy-our.html

What sort of things do you guys do to stay busy during the day? Sometimes I just feel so cooped up and want to leave, but I have no where to go. The whole walk thing is getting sort of old... anyone have any suggestions?

@Goldilocks1107: congrats on the super duper weight loss sister! and I feel you on the muffin top thing.... I don't have much 'poundage' to lose, but my body shape is so different, I have pudge spilling over everywhere! even though I have can button my pre-preg jeans, I have been wearing the bella band just to smooth things over.

It's nice reading what everyone's experience with a LO is like. I am sure I will be going through the same thing in a couple of weeks when our LO leaves the NICU. Here are some updates on my little peanut. He was on CPAP for less than a day. He is off all IVs with the exception of some fats he has to get until his feeds increase. He is still in a

@Nskillet: I'm a SAHM and I definitely felt stir crazy the first few weeks. Now that LO is a month old and I feel much more comfortable taking him out of the house, we've started going on short trips out of the house. Today I took him to visit DH at work and showed him off to all his coworkers and tomorrow we're going to run errands. I'm actually totally a homebody, so I don't mind being home all the time, but I do need to get out of my yoga pants occasionally and dress up so I feel good about myself!!

@Mrsdaredevil: Willa is adorable! And so much hair - just like my Liam!
I feel like there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done! So, I don't really have any ideas for keeping busy. My days are full of laundry, cleaning, organizing, cooking, and sleeping. Since nursing takes up so much time, there isn't a whole lot of time for other things. Can you take the baby to a lake or park or something and hang out and read a book?

Since it's easier to have friends over here than go out, we've been inviting our friends over on the weekends and just grilling stuff and hanging out. After being alone with the baby all week that definitely helps. And it also lets our friends without kids know that we are ready to be social so they keep in touch more instead of being afraid they are bothering us.

@krsmall: So glad things are going well for your LO! Hope his progress continues!

Here is a picture of Brennan... hopefully it works

http://s1068.photobucket.com/albums/u445/ksmeschke/?action=view&current=IMG_1529.jpg

Wow, I'm sorry the picture is so big..

@krsmall: Aw, he is adorable! How big is he? He looks similar to my son's size at birth - Tyler was 5 lb 5 oz at 38.5 wks!

@pastemoo: I got a bravado nursing bra - body silk seamless. it's super comfy. I need to get another - I have a sleep nursing bra (sort of pointless/no support but I do wear it at night) and I also have a Bravado nursing tank as well as a nursing tank from motherhood. I need another bra, but was hoping to just get by on one until my milk regulates/boobs get smaller.

Here's what I have been dealing with: http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lessons-in-sleep-deprivation?replies=9#post-181475. Oh, and open air accidents, which I have posted about.

Tyler is finally sleeping and even though he fed 3 hours ago, not going to wake him up....bad mom?

Oh my goodness, I can't keep up with this thread either... and I'm on the computer more than I thought I'd be!

I think we can have a general consensus that SLEEP is not a forte with newborns! @pastemoo: @Goldilocks1107: @Mrsdaredevil: @winniebee: soon we can start a zombie mom group... ha!

Sienna has caught our cold this weekend and though she just has a stuffy nose and is sneezing constantly, she's doing pretty good. She's been fussy and we have to hold her often, but who doesn't want to be held when they are sick. Heck I still call for my mom when I'm puking my brains out. Okay maybe not at that point, but it's comforting to have a mom around when you aren't feeling great.

She was super fussy and waking up every hour in her bassinet, because it was flat. I tried putting a towel underneath the mattress, it helped but not enough. So I decided to let her sleep in the newborn chair. (in the sleep position) I know it's not the best ... but it's allowed us to sleep at least 2x 3 hour stretches. I just hope switching her back to the bassinette won't be a hassel. :\

@krsmall: Glad to hear things are going well!!! I'll be thinking of you and your family and hope you can go home sooner than later. Keep us updated.

@Goldilocks1107: I love having the hubs home. He's actually not working (on a waiting list to get surgery) so it's nice that he can help out. Our rule is that he takes care of Mavrick and I of Sienna (seeing she's basically velcroed to my body) Well... he's exhausted. My husband that is... so it makes me happy that he realizes that it's lots of work. And that even though he wanted to take part of my paternal leave, that he's not really fit for it (full time) We are BOTH working parents, and we need to work for our sanity. So I get you when you want to switch places with DH. I wanted to do it multiple times with Mavrick (and he was an easy baby - as they call it)

Yesterday, Sienna turned 3 weeks old! Crazy how time flies.

Let's just say it was an amazing Wednesday. She turned 3 weeks, I fit in my pre-pregnancy jean shorts (and they were actually falling off) I weighed myself and i'm 1 lb shy of being under 180lbs, which I haven't been in what 4 years. (I think I was 175 lbs at my wedding 4 years ago) I got this wonderful gift in the mail from another bee (mrs. seabreeze)

and I got all the pictures from my maternity shoot!!! whoot whoot!

Tomorrow is Sienna's newborn shoot. Though we are a little late (she will be what 23 days old) the weekend of all being sick has delayed us. I'm planning on doing simple and 2 themed shoots. (1 bath related, 1 milk related) I need to go out and get a few props today (I have majority of them) but little cute soaps and stuff.

I managed to get 8 hours of sleep last night . . . because I got a migraine and told DH that I physically wasn't capable of getting up with Audrey. I did my pumping sessions and went back to bed. Feeling a little better, but definitely need to call my doc today to find out if my migraine medicine is okay to take when I'm breastfeeding.
Saw two preview photos from the newborn shoot yesterday - and I'm super pumped to see the rest, make my birth/we've moved announcements.
Today's goal: make it to the library to pick up a book I have on hold . . . if my headache completely goes away.

@krsmall: me too. yesterday i got 6 oz from left boob and 1 oz from right boob.... funny too, because left boob is the one that baby's latch hurts like crazy and hurts the whole feeding

i only pump 1x/day now. when i pumped more often, i got less each time.