April/May 2008 MOMS (all others are welcomed too)

[rebeccaj]

hello all,

wc, thanks for the tips of the nanny, i wish it was me looking but i think it's babyb....will defintely keep your advice to hand for the future though as at some point i am going to have to get out there to earn some $$$!! did the tummy time mat arrive? any luck? you mentioned a book - has it helped you with your twins? i am struggling with the sttn and napping - it changes every day and am worried about not having a rigid schedule.

vlada, i have about 4lbs to go - i haven't done any excercise apart from lots of walking with the girls ans always seem to have one of them in the carrier, plus all the rocking and car seat carrying!! i think the additional 4lbs must be boob as all my old clothes fit again everywhere else - i think BF'ing has been the answer as i haven't been watching my diet and am constantly hungry!!

one last question - do your babies like their buggies?? mine are ok for 20 minutes MAX the all hell breaks out and i am stuck! it's making walks very stressful and i can no longer get anything done!

thanks!

[woodcliff]

Oh Rebecca, I am so sorry...I do so much too quickly these days...getting online is one of them!!!

Can't believe you are only 4 pounds away! Congratulations...good for you.
What type of 'buggy' do you have?
I've found my Mountain Buggy City Stroller has a problem: It is 'heavy' by the handle, meaning it could tip easily with the babies in it if I'm not careful. Scary. We put bricks in the bottom carrier to give it some heft, but I think I'll have to get a Bob or Valco or something more solid. sigh.

Don't worry about a 'rigid' schedule....the girls aren't ready for it yet.
Mine were born April 3...and have just recently gotten into good schedules ... although they are very good sleepers, naps vary. Sometimes it's for 1.5 hrs in the afternoon, and spotty 30 or 40 min naps in the mornings.
My friends say this will even out by month 5 or 6...
I am not so worried.
The book, healthy sleep habits, happy baby is wonderful. The writer, a physician is very flexible and tells the mom not to get too rigid...it's great.

Loads of love to all of you.

[kipatte]

Hi WC:

I think I will get the book. Stephie sleeps well but I do love to read.

Stephie loves her buggies. We have one for travel (quinny zap) which her car seat fits into. Then we have the bugaboo which she loves and we use to stroll on the beach and round the neighborhood. We just converted out of the basiness to the regular seat because she like to see more.

love to all,

kipatte

[Babyb]

About pre-pregnancy weight -- DAMN you women are doing well. 4 lbs, 7-8 lbs? I feel WAY behind!!!! I have about 10-11 lbs to go and I am just starting to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes at 13 wks post pregnancy. Not everything fits and I definitely have some tummy bulge. I haven't really worked out or dieted (I'm BFing/pumping so not much time for anything) so that may explain quite a bit. I go back to work in 3.5 wks and I'd really like to get my shape back, but I don't think it is realistic to lose this much in this time period. My boobs are ginormous and migrating south -- VERY UNHAPPY about that. I started off as an a/b and now I'm a big C -- I hate it! None of my tops fit and I just look out of proportion. I really want my body back.

WC: Nanny search continues. Thanks for all of the advice. We met with one yesterday who has twin/triplets experience and she wants to live in 5 days and go home the other 2. This might work for us. Need to act soon as my hubby starts back to school again end of Aug. I can't believe how quickly time has passed and how little I have accomplished in this time period. As soon as I get back to work, NOTHING will get done around the house. Oh, well, c'est la vie, right?

[woodcliff]

BabyB, it took 9 months to gain all of this weight. I'm definitely not going to have it all off until 9 months passes! I am 12 pounds over the weight I was at when I got pregnant, but 25 pounds over the weight I WANT to get to...so I am taking it slowly.

re: the live in.
You should get her to do some housework. At LEAST to clean the kitchen and do laundry and vaccuum ... of course she will do ALL of the baby stuff...ie: bottles, vacuuming and dusting the babies' room, organizing EVERYTHING in there (you should be able to walk in and it's all set).

Now, the housework is a 'techy' issue with nannies.
In fact, my current really good PT babysitter lets dishes sit in my sink. She's going to lose hours this fall to a student who said to me, in response to my comment re: the babies are sleeping a lot now so I don't know how much help I'll be needing:
"That's when the babysitter pulls out the mop and starts housecleaning."

Indeed, this young lady does my dishes and anything else I request.
You bet she's my #1 choice for sitter!

Sooooo...bring this point up...stating that when the babies nap you need her to do XYZ. The main reason is that live ins are tougher to unload than live outs...I see ads for live ins all the time on my multiples board...meaning families didn't mesh and they want to get rid of their "FABULOUS" nanny. ha. if the nanny is so fab-o, why do they want her gone?

Another thing: I am so sick of seeing nannies blabbing on the phone as they push strollers...and yakking at the park with their friends as kids are ignored. Talk to her about this ...
Good luck. You should also meet face to face with a family she worked for.

OK--these are my new rules, as I learned so much in the first 6 weeks.

Best of luck to you...so sorry you have to head to an office. I know I could not do it...if I had to leave the house I'd be too freaked out about the babies (I do leave them daily for errands, but would die in an office!)

xxoo

[robinsonpr]

It's been ages since I posted so I just thought I'd drop in and say HI!

Things are going well...nighttimes are wonderful now - bedtime at 6.30/7.00PM and then we don't hear a peep out of either of the boys until 6AM!!! I didn't think we would ever get there, but I'm so glad we have!

I think seperating the boys into seperate rooms helped a lot, as I guess they don't wake each other up during periods of light sleep. There have been a few nights where one has woken and cried a little at around 3AM, but it wasn't a proper cry, more of a whimper. So we just left him and he sorted himself out. I'm so proud of myself for not rushing in and picking him up!

So having sorted nights out, daytimes can be really stressful. I find it really difficult to get them to nap in the daytime now, even though they are obviously tired. They just get really miserable and it gets harder and harder to get them to sleep. Sounds like some of you are also finding this, so hopefully you're right woodcliff and it'll settle down into more of a routine around the 6 month mark. I am thankful for the nights at least!

How's everyone doing with feeding now? I'm down to just 4x7oz feeds a day, and twice a day we'll also give a small amount of baby rice or baby yoghurt/pudding. I know books say you shouldn't feed them stuff like this until they're 4 months but the recommendation always used to be 3 months until fairly recently. My boys are nearly 16 weeks now so I'm sure it'll be fine. They don't take much food really, it's just to get them used to something with a bit of taste!

Still struggling to poo unfirtunately (them not me ). Sometimes it'll be 4-5 days and then they'll only actually go if I help them by holding their legs up with the nappy off! The doctor says this is quite normal for some babies. Anybody else experiencing this? I'm hoping this will improve once we start feeding more proper food, vegetables, fruit etc.

Anyway must dash...gonna try again to get them to have a proper lunchtime nap.

Love,

Hayley xx

[Vlada]

OK, i am ready to pull my hair out, literally!!!!
Tesa is really good during the day time, she takes her three naps about the same time, it is great, but nights have been horrible recently!!!
Last three nights she went to bed at about 7 30 pm, woke up at midnight, around 2 30 or 3 am 5 am and 6 40 am to eat!!! I don't know what to do, if i didn't give her food she would scream like crazy, also Tesa is very active, so i have to swaddle her at noght and during day time naps, she breaks out of her swaddle at night and can't sleep.
Any advise? Sounds like all of the babies here are sleeping through the night except mone
I thought it was a growth spurt, but she last week was the same night behaviour, i don't think that growth spurts can be every week, or can they????
Vlada.

[woodcliff]

Vlada, how old is Tessa now? I think she's just not settled into her routine, but will in a bit...my son is now waking at odd times cuz he squishes himself into a corner of his crib. He's also hungrier than normal.

For awhile I had to swaddle but quit it last week (mine are 17 weeks old now)...because they'd always break out of the swaddles.
Is Tessa trying to suck her thumb, by chance? My girl was, and my swaddling really, seriously bothered her cuz she could not get to her thumb!

Hopefully Tessa's sleeplesness will pass for you...I think these things go in stages or days or weeks...but pass.
My son tried to roll over today.
oh joy.
My nights'll be hellish when he does, as he can't roll back over

Hayley, wow. Congrats on the sleeping at night with the boys...
good eaters!
Mine still aren't on rice cereal at 17 weeks...I go to the ped on Tues and will talk to him about it...I will put them on it next week, I think. Should be fun.
loads of love you all!

[Vlada]

Woodcliff,
Tesa is 3. 5 months now ( by the way i named ner Tesa with one S , i know she will hate me for that later because she will have to tell everyone that is it only one S in her name, but i liked it this way better :wink)
Anyway, she does try to suck on her hands, just fiests, not the thumb, plus she is a VERY active child, she moves around a lot, so swaddling is challenging, but without it she won't sleep at all
I am really hoping that she will settle in the night routine soon because i am getting super tired, i can't function during the day
Vlada

[woodcliff]

Oh Vlada...I hear you! I hope she settles down soon too...
I don't think my girl really 'found' or could 'suck' her thumb until the past 5 days...she'd stick her hand in her mouth as well...and pop out her binky. Drove me nuts. But when I quit swaddling her at around 15-16 weeks she calmed down...found her thumb!

Tesa with one S. Oy.
I have the type of name everyone mispells...although it's a classic...I'm always correcting people... It comes naturally!

Good zzs to you all...I'm going home for 3 weeks, can't wait...my babies are sooooo cute right now! They will be so adored on by my family.
I have a sitter flying there with me, then she'll stick around for a few days and go see her own family...she's a sweetheart and I'm so happy to have her help during the flight!

xxoo

[Vlada]

Woodcliff,
I am wishing you a stress free flight, must be nice to have a sitter with you
I am still doing it all by myself ( well, DH helps out too) getting really tired with Tesa's "night routine", but at the same time enjoing it a lot. She goes with me everywhere. I went to get my pedicure done by myself today and when i came home i realized that i actually missed her!!!!
Vlada

[kipatte]

Hi Everyone:

Just reading through some of the posts. It is sometimes confusing because there is so much information out there and sometimes it seems contradictory.

I was told not to swaddle her after we got home from the hospital because baby's get too hot and need to move their arms. She's been a good sleeper so it must have worked. We do put her in a sleeping bag on cooler nights but the arms are still free.

I also read in baby 411 that it's okay to start some food at 4 months but they recommend you wait until 6 months. I am going to try to wait as long as she is satisfied with her bottle. This time is going so quickly I wished it would slow down.

We bought her a 6 speed swing today and should receive it on Tuesday. I am hoping that keeps her occupied for a little bit so I can get some things done. When she is awake she likes to be entertained and does not like to be left alone. She is just starting to enjoy her play gym but only for a short period of time.

Bye for now.

Kipatte

[woodcliff]

Vlada! Cute..missing her...I find that if I'm away from home for a couple of hours I can't wait to return, that every baby 'cry' I hear makes me want to run home and hold my babies!

I have to take the sitter on the plane because the airline won't let me fly alone with 2 babies. I had no choice...I won't need her once I'm at home, as my babies are really easy at this stage and I'm sick of sitters right now...I gave my 'regular' sitter the 30 hours a week she wanted and it drove me nuts...thank god she's gone, except for a few hours tomorrow then she's off on holiday...I'll regroup in Sept. and see what I need.

I really just want someone to relieve me for a few hours a week. I'm sure that'll change once the babies rock and roll and walk!

xxxoo

[Babyb]

Just curious: How much are all of your babies weighing these days? We just went to the pediatrician and our boys are now just a little over 10 lbs at 14 wks (they have grown so much already -- hard to believe).

WC: I didn't realize you can't fly alone with 2 babies. Is this all airlines? How long does this go on? I wonder what a woman would do if she couldn't afford a sitter or simply couldn't get someone to accompany her to the airport? Are the rules different if you purchase an extra seat for the 2nd child so they can sit in their car seat?

My boys are still not sleeping through the night. They seem to go about 5 hrs (10-3 ish) when my doula is here, but for some reason, they stay on a pretty rigid 3-31/2 hr schedule when my DH and I cover the night shift. Go figure.

I go back to work in 3 wks and no luck on a nanny. We interviewed one we liked, but now she doesn't want the job (she is afraid we will ask her to do housekeeping and she doesn't want to be flexible about occasionally switching a M-F schedule). Oh well, not the right woman for us. So, the search continues. I'm going to call more agencies today as I haven't been happy with the agency with whom I am working. I think they have sent me 4 people to date -- that's it.

Still BFing exclusively (well, pumping). Don't know how long I will continue. Thinking about doing another round of IVF and freezing embryos (we want a little girl, are thinking about trying with my eggs -- still a risk since I MAY be a carrier of the disease that killed my DD ). It is WAY TOO soon to star thinking about being prego again and I'd like some real time off. However, nearing 42, my fertility DR says best to at least retrieve them now and freeze for the future. If I go down this road, I need to stop pumping. I have read that while there are benefits to BFing beyond 3 mos, most of the benefits are reaped from 1-3 mos so I think I should be OK to stop in a month of so (at 4 1/2 mos).

OK, gotta run.

[rebeccaj]

hello, have a moment of rare quietness so thought i would post...

babyb, my girls haven't been officially weighed for a few weeks now but i jumped on the scales with them the other day and they are around the 11lb mark. they are 16 weeks today. i've read that bf babies tend to be lighter than bottle fed. i also read that bottle fed babies are more likely to sleep through the night as they stay fuller longer. i'm still bf'ing and we have one - two feeds at night. i do a dream feed at 11 when i go to bed and then we have a wake up call from one of them around 4am. i can't wait for this feed to be over as it's a killer! i try and feed them together so it's only one feed. i think you've done great bf'ing them for this long (i'm pretty proud of myself too!), just make sure you wean them off the boob slowly otherwise it will be painful.

good luck with the ivf if you decide to go down that route again. sounds like a good idea. that way you'll be splitting up the procedure (and needles) and hopefully it will be less stressful. i too would like another baby at some point and do have some frosties waiting for me. imagine if you get twins again!!!

good lunck with work and finding a nanny x

ok, my window is up - feeding time1 xxx