[KariAlison]

Hang in there Heather! We are thinking about you! Hope it happens soon!

Kari

[J9Maulucci]

Sorry I have been MIA.. I have been SO TIRED. I try and sleep when Gianna sleeps and it has not been easy. The b reastfeeding is much better and KARI it will get better with time I promise. I have been trying to pum 3 to 4 times a day to keep up the supple I hate not knowing how much Gianna is getting. I am supplementing with formula and at her 1 month appointment she gained 1 lb 3 oz and grew almost 2" so that is good..

I am also on facebook Jeanine L. Gould Maulucci add me as a friend I have such trouble posting pictures on this thread.

HopefulinCO I have been checking in and hope all is well and you have a wonderful delivery I can't wait to read your post when she finally makes her grand appearance.

to all the new babies it is SO EXCITING we are finally Parents and although I am dead tired I LOVE it !!!

[KariAlison]

Oh Jeanine....I absolutely LOVE the picture of Giana! What a doll! She really is gorgeous! Congrats! I'm sorry you are so tired, I hear ya, it is so hard to get any sleep. I can't sleep when Lily sleeps either. I feel like I am so busy pumping, trying to breastfeed, cleaning bottles, doing laundry, taking the dog out, paying bills...and then 3 hours is up....and I'm back at it with feeding her! Oh well, she's well worth it! We are having the time of our lives with Lily! There is simply nothing like being a parent! We are all so blessed to be where we are now....all our hard work has paid off!!!

Thanks for the encouragement on the BF. My milk seems to be better now, so at least I know with pumping that she is getting a good amount, and getting lots of good breastmilk. She's getting a bit better at breastfeeding, but it really does take along time, and with my pain issues, it's really hard. I do it mostly to keep her close and soothe her, her main source of food is breastmilk from the bottle, we do also supplement a bit of formula too.

HopefulinCo - Can't wait to hear from you!! I have a feeling that you are in the hospital or getting really close to delivering! Keep us posted when you can!!

AFM - Hope everyone is doing great! I too am on Facebook...Kari Southerland Huffman, feel free to add me as a friend too! Hope everyone is enjoying every moment with their little ones! We are all so blessed with our little miracles!!

Kari

[HopefulinCO]

Hi everyone! I have not gotten to catch up completely on this thread or any other, but I wanted to let you know that Rachel Lily arrived on October 20 at 3:23 am. She was 6 lb 10.5 oz and 20 1/4 inches long and did great!

I came home from work on Monday, still having lots of contractions, though nothing painful. Was going to go take a walk but decided to eat a snack first. I was standing at the kitchen sink and my water broke about 6 pm. Russ got home about 6:30, we finished getting the bags together and went out to eat (the waitress had no idea until we were leaving that the reason we needed to borrow the pen was that we were timing contractions ). We got home around 8:30, called our doula who came over and brought a Doppler so we could check baby's heart rate. I was still only mildly uncomfortable, so we sent her home to get some sleep and sat down to watch a movie. The contractions started getting more painful and at midnight I felt a pop and a much bigger gush of fluid. When I was able to check I saw that there was meconium, so we went off to the hospital. Got to the room about 12:30 am, but have "crummy" veins so couldn't get out of the bed until they got the IV in at about 1:30. Oh, and was about 4 cm dilated. Then was about to get up and bounce on the birth ball. Started to get really bad pain with contractions about 2:15 or 2:30, couldn't think about anything but giving in and getting an epidural through the first third of each contraction) so Russ called the doula to come. He stood up with me thinking that if we changed positions I might feel better, but it just got worse and by 2:45 or so I felt like I HAD to push. Nurse checked and I was 9.5. Next contraction I was a 10 but still ewas trying not to push since ur OB hadn't gotten there yet. Thankfully, he was the doc in the hospital that night so he just had to get out of bed and walk down the hall. Finally I got to push for real and it was so wonderful. Pushed through 2 contractions and out came Rachel! Russ got to catch her and everything!

Since coming home it's been up and down. I think she and Jack will make a good couple because she's up from about 1-4 am an can't seem to eat enough. That little open mouth is all I see for that period of time. Have been talking to lactation most days. Right now we're nursing and then pumping every 2 hours during the day and trying to let her go 3 hours at night. Of course, she has her own idea about that part! The problem was that my breasts weren't completely emptying and getting really engorged, so this is what we hope will be the solution. I'm glad to hear from the last few postings from you all that it will get better!

Ok, time to get our little Nugget up. The photos we have are too big to post, even at lowest resolution, so we'll try again with another later.

Thank you all!

[J9Maulucci]

Originally Posted by HopefulinCO

Hi everyone! I have not gotten to catch up completely on this thread or any other, but I wanted to let you know that Rachel Lily arrived on October 20 at 3:23 am. She was 6 lb 10.5 oz and 20 1/4 inches long and did great!

I came home from work on Monday, still having lots of contractions, though nothing painful. Was going to go take a walk but decided to eat a snack first. I was standing at the kitchen sink and my water broke about 6 pm. Russ got home about 6:30, we finished getting the bags together and went out to eat (the waitress had no idea until we were leaving that the reason we needed to borrow the pen was that we were timing contractions ). We got home around 8:30, called our doula who came over and brought a Doppler so we could check baby's heart rate. I was still only mildly uncomfortable, so we sent her home to get some sleep and sat down to watch a movie. The contractions started getting more painful and at midnight I felt a pop and a much bigger gush of fluid. When I was able to check I saw that there was meconium, so we went off to the hospital. Got to the room about 12:30 am, but have "crummy" veins so couldn't get out of the bed until they got the IV in at about 1:30. Oh, and was about 4 cm dilated. Then was about to get up and bounce on the birth ball. Started to get really bad pain with contractions about 2:15 or 2:30, couldn't think about anything but giving in and getting an epidural through the first third of each contraction) so Russ called the doula to come. He stood up with me thinking that if we changed positions I might feel better, but it just got worse and by 2:45 or so I felt like I HAD to push. Nurse checked and I was 9.5. Next contraction I was a 10 but still ewas trying not to push since ur OB hadn't gotten there yet. Thankfully, he was the doc in the hospital that night so he just had to get out of bed and walk down the hall. Finally I got to push for real and it was so wonderful. Pushed through 2 contractions and out came Rachel! Russ got to catch her and everything!

Since coming home it's been up and down. I think she and Jack will make a good couple because she's up from about 1-4 am an can't seem to eat enough. That little open mouth is all I see for that period of time. Have been talking to lactation most days. Right now we're nursing and then pumping every 2 hours during the day and trying to let her go 3 hours at night. Of course, she has her own idea about that part! The problem was that my breasts weren't completely emptying and getting really engorged, so this is what we hope will be the solution. I'm glad to hear from the last few postings from you all that it will get better!

Ok, time to get our little Nugget up. The photos we have are too big to post, even at lowest resolution, so we'll try again with another later.

Thank you all!

Rachel Lily... We have all been waiting for you to make your grand entrance into this world..

[cobiker]

Yeah Rachel Lily and Heather and Russ!!!

BF does get better. I pump every 4 hours and bottle feed them breast milk. I'm not so concerned about exclusively BF. It's getting the nutrients to the babies that counts. We feed every 3 hours and sometimes the babies want to stay up, which is great but not so fun when it's 2:00 am.

You'll get into a routine and once Rachel gets closer to 10 lbs, you'll have a whole new baby.

[KariAlison]

Originally Posted by HopefulinCO

Hi everyone! I have not gotten to catch up completely on this thread or any other, but I wanted to let you know that Rachel Lily arrived on October 20 at 3:23 am. She was 6 lb 10.5 oz and 20 1/4 inches long and did great!

I came home from work on Monday, still having lots of contractions, though nothing painful. Was going to go take a walk but decided to eat a snack first. I was standing at the kitchen sink and my water broke about 6 pm. Russ got home about 6:30, we finished getting the bags together and went out to eat (the waitress had no idea until we were leaving that the reason we needed to borrow the pen was that we were timing contractions ). We got home around 8:30, called our doula who came over and brought a Doppler so we could check baby's heart rate. I was still only mildly uncomfortable, so we sent her home to get some sleep and sat down to watch a movie. The contractions started getting more painful and at midnight I felt a pop and a much bigger gush of fluid. When I was able to check I saw that there was meconium, so we went off to the hospital. Got to the room about 12:30 am, but have "crummy" veins so couldn't get out of the bed until they got the IV in at about 1:30. Oh, and was about 4 cm dilated. Then was about to get up and bounce on the birth ball. Started to get really bad pain with contractions about 2:15 or 2:30, couldn't think about anything but giving in and getting an epidural through the first third of each contraction) so Russ called the doula to come. He stood up with me thinking that if we changed positions I might feel better, but it just got worse and by 2:45 or so I felt like I HAD to push. Nurse checked and I was 9.5. Next contraction I was a 10 but still ewas trying not to push since ur OB hadn't gotten there yet. Thankfully, he was the doc in the hospital that night so he just had to get out of bed and walk down the hall. Finally I got to push for real and it was so wonderful. Pushed through 2 contractions and out came Rachel! Russ got to catch her and everything!

Since coming home it's been up and down. I think she and Jack will make a good couple because she's up from about 1-4 am an can't seem to eat enough. That little open mouth is all I see for that period of time. Have been talking to lactation most days. Right now we're nursing and then pumping every 2 hours during the day and trying to let her go 3 hours at night. Of course, she has her own idea about that part! The problem was that my breasts weren't completely emptying and getting really engorged, so this is what we hope will be the solution. I'm glad to hear from the last few postings from you all that it will get better!

Ok, time to get our little Nugget up. The photos we have are too big to post, even at lowest resolution, so we'll try again with another later.

Thank you all!

Welcome Rachel Lily!!! Yeah, we are so happy you are here! Congrats to your new family! Sounds like all went well, and she made a wonderful grand entrance! Can't wait to see pictures! Love her middle name by the way!

Kari

[hopeful33]

YAY! Congrats! So happy for you. I hope that you are feeling well!

I hope everyone is doing well.

[zappy208]

Heather!
Congratulations!!! Welcome Rachel Lily! I can't wait to see pictures. And it does get better- even little jumping Jack is now getting some 4 hour stretches at night. Glad to hear that labor went pretty smoothly and quickly. As far as the nocturnal thing- Heather you are a pediatrician so I am not sure what you'll think of this- but DH (also a pediatrician) heard this from one of the nurses and I swear it turned his schedule around- hold her (supported obviously) upside down for a minute- it supposedly resets the circadian clock. Also, I heard exposing them to sunlight early in the morning helps- good luck and can't wait to see pics here and on FB!

I had my 6 week postpartum appt today- I am now cleared to BD again- we'll see how that goes! We have found some techniques to get Jack to sleep- shooshing really loudly in his ear helps, lying him in the middle of a standard pillow with both sides kind of up to surround him and bouncing puts him into a trance and to sleep. He is ok at night- but hates to nap during the day! In fact he just woke up- have to go!!!

[HopefulinCO]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the warm welcome. It's been a challenging few weeks (as you'll soon see) but I wouldn't trade my baby or motherhood for the world. I've posted on the Fall 09 mommies thread, but I thought I'd turn to my tried and true friends for some help... I've been having a little bit of a rough time with some baby blues since the delivery. I know in my head that it's normal, but I just feel so helpless when she's crying and I don't know what she wants that it tears at my heart.

Please tell me again that this will end at some point. Poor DH has been really good about offering to take her for me, but sometimes that just makes me feel worse, like I REALLY can't help her. During the day I couldn't ask for more. We wake her up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours to nurse and she pretty much sleeps through until we wake her up again. Then about 11 pm she goes through this crazy phase where she just cries and cries and roots and screams and I swear she would eat for 2 hours straight if I would let her, except that during that time if I do put her on the breast, she falls asleep and doesn't really suck. I've tried using my finger as a pacifier and she'll drift off, but as soon as I put her down in the bassinet she's up crying and rooting again. If she was awake and calm it'd be a whole different story because we could just play or read or something.

Anyway, I'm curious to hear more about your idea of hoding him upside down, Wendy. And I'm particularly glad to hear that Jack has gotten out of his vampire phase! And Samantha, I'll look forward to the 10 lb mark! We're going to the pediatrician again on Thursday, so we'll see how she's doing...

Thanks for listening, and I'm getting the hang of Facebook, slowly but surely. I think I've gotten to be Friends with Kendra and Wendy, but for anyone else who's on, I'm under Heather Chegwidden Welfare.

[KariAlison]

Originally Posted by HopefulinCO

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the warm welcome. It's been a challenging few weeks (as you'll soon see) but I wouldn't trade my baby or motherhood for the world. I've posted on the Fall 09 mommies thread, but I thought I'd turn to my tried and true friends for some help... I've been having a little bit of a rough time with some baby blues since the delivery. I know in my head that it's normal, but I just feel so helpless when she's crying and I don't know what she wants that it tears at my heart.

Please tell me again that this will end at some point. Poor DH has been really good about offering to take her for me, but sometimes that just makes me feel worse, like I REALLY can't help her. During the day I couldn't ask for more. We wake her up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours to nurse and she pretty much sleeps through until we wake her up again. Then about 11 pm she goes through this crazy phase where she just cries and cries and roots and screams and I swear she would eat for 2 hours straight if I would let her, except that during that time if I do put her on the breast, she falls asleep and doesn't really suck. I've tried using my finger as a pacifier and she'll drift off, but as soon as I put her down in the bassinet she's up crying and rooting again. If she was awake and calm it'd be a whole different story because we could just play or read or something.

Anyway, I'm curious to hear more about your idea of hoding him upside down, Wendy. And I'm particularly glad to hear that Jack has gotten out of his vampire phase! And Samantha, I'll look forward to the 10 lb mark! We're going to the pediatrician again on Thursday, so we'll see how she's doing...

Thanks for listening, and I'm getting the hang of Facebook, slowly but surely. I think I've gotten to be Friends with Kendra and Wendy, but for anyone else who's on, I'm under Heather Chegwidden Welfare.

Hi Heather -

I totally understand how you are feeling. I feel really bad too when I can't figure out what's wrong with Lily. I feel like it's my job, and sometimes I fail at it. It's really hard, but all part of being a mom. I had super high anxiety at first, mostly because the breastfeeding wasn't going well, and I literally wasn't sleeping at all. I got put on anxiety medication and melatonin, that are both safe for the baby, seeing that I pump and give her breastmilk. It has really helped me calm down and be a better mom, because the anxiety is under control, and I'm sleeping.

I wish I had some suggestions for you to get Rachel to sleep at night. I usually swaddle Lily only at night. During the day, I let her be loose, and she does ok with naps, but she usually sleeps better at night, maybe because she's swaddled. Also, if we give her formula at all, it's at night. A friend told me that formula fills them up more and might let them sleep longer. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Well, hope you can find something to help. I'm so sorry, I'm sure it will get better though. I wish we could get longer hours of sleep between feedings at night, although I think it's still a bit early for that. My pediatrician said 2 months is when they usually sleep longer.

Great to see you on facebook.

Kari

[glisten28]

Hi Heather. I just saw your post and had to respond. I'm now 2 months in and I can say things have gotten much better. I had a very strong hormonal depression in the 2nd week that was fueled by lack of sleep and shock that the baby was here 6 weeks early. I remember being up in the middle of the night with a crying baby, thinking, I can't believe I'm so bad at this and I ruined my life and I can't undo this. Now that I'm out of it, I know it was an irrational reaction to hormones. I had been on meds for anxiety pre-pregnancy and they make all the difference then. If the anxiety continues, I'd check into that...you don't want to remember the beginning of your childs life as being torture for you.

Another thing about depression people should know that I didn't...I had lots of problems with BFing and I made it to 2 months then decided to stop pumping (I had been bottle feeding with breastmilk for a few weeks). I stopped pumping abruptly and that made the hormones go crazy again and brought the depression back hard for about a day, so I went back and decided to ween slowly.

At 2 months, I'm still way more emotional that I was before becoming a mom, but I'm in love in a whole new way so that's to be expected. The love is also growing each day, especially since he started seeing me and knowing that I exist. If you haven't gotten there yet, just keep believing that you will because it's amazing how much that little thing can keep you going through screaming fits and long nights.

[HopefulinCO]

Thanks Kari and Glisten! Every day is getting a little better. I keep telling myself exactly what you told me (and what I've told countless parents too) which is that it will get so much better once you get some positive reward. I can't wait until she actually smiles AT me or reaches for me. Good to know about the weaning as well.

[kennieb1]

Heather~I had alot of the same things you have going on with Keira. They were 7 weeks yesterday and she has gotten SO much better over the last couple weeks. She would do all the same things you described except she would get so upset that she would just scream until she turned purple. Very unnerving. I don't know if it was just a combination of things that has made her better; we started adding acidophilis to her formula and apparently we were over burping her and it was making her throw up. I didn't know that was possible but apparently is is...LOL She still has bad days but it's nothing like it was in the beginning.

Oh and it is SO worth it when they do finally smile at you and mean it. I got teary the first time she smiled at me. The last few days I can barely get one out of her because she's such a daddys girl (I get all the smiles from Dom) but as long as she's smiling I'm happy

Hope everyone is doing well...What is everyones stance on vaccines? We are supposed to have the twins first set next week. I know a couple of you have probably already taken your babies. Was it horrible? Were there any problems afterwards?

[KariAlison]

Kendra - Hey, glad to hear that your LO's are doing well! I know what you mean about the smile, Lily had her first one the other day, and it made me so happy! I think it was real, and not just a poopy diaper! She smiled at me when she first woke up, so adorable.

What is acidophilis? Just wondering if I need to add anything to her formula? We don't give it to her that often, mostly breastmilk, but it seems that when I do give her formula, her tummy gets a bit upset.

Thanks,
Kari