BUMPIN' 08 - Fall Mommies

[CT_Michele]

Mellie- I just had to post and respond about dh's. Mine gets frustrated easily too. Ella has become quite the momma's girl, even though i did not try to make it that way, she just spends all day with me so she is used to me. He will try and feed her and if she cries he gets frustrated. As hard as it is for me to hear her cry, I told him the only way to fix this is for him to fight through it and feed her more often and spend more time with her when he is home. He also assumes alot that she needs to be put down or to sleep, and i try and explain it is trial and error, sometimes get up and walk, sometimes let her stretch out, sometimes lay her up on your chest. I don;t think he realizes how much time I spend during the day just interacting with her. He must think i am a lazy bum when he comes home at 3 or 4 and dishes aren't done, laundry is not done, house is a bit messy and i am still in a bath robe...lol, but babies at this age require a lot of attention. And let dh know it is more and more rewarding everyday.

Good luck on round two, we may be joining you soon, but not so soon. We will probably be calling RE around august. Since I am a teacher, I need to plan it around the school year. My prayers are with you girl!

[geckogirl]

Mellie - Good luck with the new round of IVF. I am happy that you are going for it! I wish we could. We have 4 frozen blasts just waiting for us by my DH has decided to rethink having another baby. I don't understand him. We had agreed to more, but he is freaked out. I am hoping that he changes his mind. At my age I can't really wait for several years....

CT - Your Ella sounds like a bundle of joy! I can't wait for my baby to get a little older so that he enjoys going out to shop and see the world. He just gets cranky now.

Loopie and Suga - I thought that hosting Thanksgiving was hard! I had dinner for 15 people at my house and Declan got really tired of being handed off from person to person, so DH ended up spending most of the time after he woofed down dinner upstairs with the baby - missed most of the evening. I had to entertain guests and do all the clean-up. It was HARD. However, it sounds like going to someone else's house was no picnic either. I think just adjusting to the baby and all his needs is difficult, especially with the holidays. But it was so nice to see everyone cooing over him........

Corny - I am sorry your DH is gone so much too. It is really hard to be a firefighter's wife in general, and now with our babies I think it will be a little harder.

Rio - I am sorry you are feeling sad. I get that way too and end up having a crying fit. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. I thought that all the hormone issues were done with, but I guess they aren't. I sure don't feel like I am in control of myself all the time. I am not depressed though. Perhaps I am just tired, tired, tired.

Jomae - Your comments about DH are just what my doctor said. I talked to her about it and she said that oftentimes fathers get ignored in this whole process and get feeling left out because all of the attention is on mom and baby. They need to figure out where they fit in, especially after the novelty of the whole thing wears off.

So Declan has learned to smile! It is the most adorable thing ever. What a payoff! I can't believe he is two months old already! He goes to the doctor tomorrow for his first shots. I am a little nervous about that. I hope he doesn't have a bad reaction to them. I am really curious about how much he weighs too. He eats ALL THE TIME! I have been keeping track and it is about 35-40 oz a day. Also, he had been sleeping for a 7 hour stretch during the night from about 5 weeks on and all of a sudden the last two nights he has been waking every 3 hours for a feed. What is that all about?!?! Anyone know when we can add cereal to their diet? I am wondering if eating cereal in the evening would help him sleep longer. Any ideas?

Well, he is crying in his swing so I have to go!

[sugabeanzs]

Gecko: You can add rice at 4 months. That is what all RE says. But mine added it sooner just because of their reflux. Also, he may be going through a growth spurt and that is why he is eating all the time. Mine do that sometimes as well.

[CT_Michele]

gecko- good luck with shots tomorrow. i also dreaded that day when we had to go, it was actually election day. We voted first so right after her appt we could take her home. Here is what I learned from ella's first shots. She did screech when she was pricked, but we had a bottle ready to go and that worked wonders. The dr gave the shots and then handed her to me and i immediately gave her a bottle, she calmed right down. Before going to the appt, the dr told us to buy baby tylenol and bring it with us. When we got there that day he said not to give it to her b/c there was new research out that may link childhood asthma to giving acetametaphine in babies 1 and under, so we didn;t give it. We ended up having to give it to her the next day because she was running a slight fever. The dr said if babies have fever, definitely give it to them, but there was no need to give it before the shots when we didn;t know what would happen. He said some babies are fine with shots and don';t run a fever. I am sure your dr will advise you.

You should also ask about the cereal. I told my dr that everyone kept telling me to start giving her stuff, like cereal or rice in her bottle, applesauce and so on. He told me 4 months is when we start doing that. He told me not to worry about cereal or rice in the bottle if she is a good sleeper, which she is, but if your little guy is not satisfied, they may reccomend it. It sounds like he is eating alot! 35-40 oz is alot, ella is 3 months and eats between 25 and 30 oz a day. Everything i read says they should be eating 2.5 times their body weight in 24 hrs as a guideline, so if a baby weighs 10 lbs, they should be eating around 25 oz in 24 hrs. How much does he eat at once? Maybe try uping the amount per feeding and he might go longer in between feedings. Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

[CT_Michele]

I just had to post and tell you guys quickly, Ella laughed for the first time last night! In the past she had made some noises while smiling that almost sounded like a laugh, but last night it was a full on laugh. I was bouncing her up and down on my knee making booping noises and she just started laughing. She did it like 5 or 6 times in a row, and i am so glad dh was there to see it. I was so happy it brought tears to my eyes. I never imagined something so simple could bring so much joy! We are trying to get her to do it again so we can tape it and share....talk to you all soon.

[sugabeanzs]

Michele: I do the same thing when they do something new...I cry! haha. I am so happy that you both got to see it! Mine will do an occasional giggle but I think it is more an accident. But I love that they are talking now and talking to you (well, babble! haha)

[jomae]

hey girls
Just popping on to kill some time i'm so tired but have to wait a little while longer to give Katie her last bottle before i go to bed she went from 10.30 to 3.30 last night between feeds which was a nice change seeing i think shes been going through a growth spurt and wanting to feed approx every three hours.

Mellie good luck with your new cycle i hope all goes well. I know what you mean about the not wanting to wait to long if dh is really serious about having a third child we'll be going back at the end of january and cycleing february i respond badly to the meds also and can't imagine what quality i will produce if anything

Michelle Katies beginning to laugh already too its not a full on laugh yet but definately the beginnings of a good chuckle and it's definately a nice reward for the sleeplessness.

Suga how did the transition to the cots go for your girls.

Gecko hows Declan gone with his needles did he get a fever or has he been lucky. I have Katie booked in for next week and am not particularily looking forward to it temperatures are scary

Hello everyone else hope all is well with you and your little ones
JOMAEXXX

[loopie]

hi all!

anyone heard from Tammy, Weezie, Mbre, Kildean, Katie? (I'm sure i've forgotten someone) How are you girls doing???? I miss you

Things are good here

Michele - I can't believe you're done xmas stuff already!!!!!! I think we'll get a tree this weekend, but am pretty much planning on getting gift cards for barnes and noble bookstore for the nieces and nephews- I do love to shop and even more love to wrap gifts, but I just have no idea what they need or want - and other than that, I think we are going to buy part of a water buffalo from Heifer Project - if you don't know about it, it's cool and a great way to give a gift to someone who really needs it- I've done this a few times, and it's a great gift for those who don't need another chatchkie to dust! check it out at www.heifer.org

I made and sent out announcements and a few more thankyou notes - I swear, if i get anymore quilts, we'll need to build a new closet for them!!!- actually- it's very sweet, thoughtful and oh so generous, but we've received 10 handmade blankets/quilts so far and are poised for at least 2-3 more- plus all of the other bought blankets - its wild! - so for xmas- Pulman will get- a tree!

suga- i really do think you must be a saint- to take care of 2!!!
got to go-
hugs!!!!

loopie

[sugabeanzs]

Joame: I have only put Mackenzie in the crib during her naps during the day. At night she is still in the car seat because her reflux acts up if she is not upright for awhile. So probably end of this month, Jan, I will put her down all the time. Brooke is still up all the time because she is still horrible with her reflux. Just comes right back up even when she is propped up!

Kenzie is fighting her nap right now...crying in the crib *sigh* and I need a nap!

[geckogirl]

Hi Moms,

Everything went really well at Declan's two month wellness check. He is in the 53rd percentile for height and weight and 75th percentile for his head measurements. He is now 11 lbs 9 oz and 23 inches long. I thought he was too big but my doctor assured me that his is fine. She said to just keep feeding him as much as he wants. She also said no cereal until four months so after his next check in February we will start him on that. His shots went ok too. I couldn't look and he sure did scream!!!! Thankfully, he has had no fever or any other reaction to them at all. I am glad to not have to use the baby Tylenol. He was a bit fussy yesterday and this morning but that could be from anything.

Michele - So exciting about the giggle! Declan isn't even cooing yet though he does smile. I can't wait. I am with you on the Xmas stuff. I am almost done shopping because I did almost all of it online. Hooray! We are not putting up a tree this year because Declan won't care this year and we are not hosting Christmas, but we are putting up outdoor lights. I think lights will go up this week when DH has his days off. We still need to wrap presents though. I did the big family Thanksgiving so it is up to the rest of the family to host Christmas.

Jomae - It sounds like you are all well again. That is great. I hope it hold for the holidays. I am so excited for you getting into the IVF again. I hope that you will keep us all posted on how it goes.

Rio - When is your surgery? Is it going to interfere with your holiday or are they putting it off until the new year?

loopie - I am continually writing thank you notes too. Gifts just keep showing up! Everyone is just so excited for us because they know what we went through to get him so they keep bring him presents. What a lucky little boy! I never got around to announcements though. They are nice and I wish I had but I guess it is too late now.

So when is everyone going back to work? I have to go back in January for the start of the new semester and DH is staying home all that month to be with the baby. We are starting him in daycare in February. What a shock that was. Not only are most of the centers and home care places full, but they are really expensive too. We are paying $1830 a month for the place we found for Declan and are interviewing a woman referred to us who runs a home daycare this weekend. We are hoping to move him from the pricy daycare to her place in April or May if we like her. She only charges $1200 a month. I had no idea it would be so expensive. Is it just the west coast that is this much? I live near San Francisco. I wish I could just stay home but we need my salary to make our mortgage. If we end up having another baby, we will probably need to move to someplace cheaper so I can be a stay at home mom or work only part time. America is so backwards about childrearing.

On a more fun note, we took Declan to the Picture People last weekend for his first formal photo shoot. He did really well and we got some great pictures for Christmas gifts for the grandparents and aunts and uncles. We also did Christmas cards and got some pictures for ourselves. We plan to do something formal every three months or so because he changes so much and it was so easy to do. It took an hour for the photo shoot and then the pictures we wanted were ready in about ten minutes.

Where are you Tammy, Weezie, Mbre, Sassy? Let us know how you are doing.

[jomae]

OMG Gecko
You'll have to move to Australia do you get any of your childcare money back i know the Aussie dollar is different but my god for two days a week care for ds i pay $13 dollars. on a better note glad Declan is coping well with his needles. your right about how quick they change with ds i took a photo every week and now realize with katie it's a bit excessive and am only doing it once a month its definately a great way to record their growth

Loopie aren't you a good thing thinking of others for xmas you must have some good Karmah coming your way

Suga sounds hard the reflux that is and especially seeing it's by two. Again i have to tell you your doing a great job

Anyhow best go Katie is doing great and finally getting into a nice sleep feed play routine which i'm sure will be a little out of wack next week when she has her needles

Btw what is everyone buying their bubs for xmas i'm looking for ideas

Take care JOMAExxx

[CT_Michele]

Hi Ladies,

Jomae- I don't know how the australian dollar and us dollar compare, but $13 is crazy cheap. I don't think i could get a teenage babysitter to come to my house for an hour for $13. Daycare here is ridiculous. Most of the time it is cheaper to just be a stay at home mom b/c your entire check will go to daycare, which is part of the reason I became a teacher. Atleast I know when ella is in school, I will have all of the same time off she does.

As far as xmas goes, I know ella is not old enough to really enjoy it this year, but I enjoy the heck out of buying presents for people, so I went a little overboard. Walmart had some prices I just couldn;t pass up. Most of it she can not play with until 9 mo, but I just put the stuff away. The one toy I saw and really wanted her to have was by playskool/hasbro and is called the busy ball popper. It was rated on amazon as one of the top toys this year and was not expensive. I know she will love it when she is old enough. The box says 9 mo, but I think 6/7 will be fine.

Gecko- i am glad declan did well at his shots. I knew he would do just fine. When i get a chance later, i am going to check to see if you put his prof. pics on photobucket. I have wanted to go get pics done, i have just been holding off. Digital pics are so awesome know, it is almost all I need. We take pics of her almost everyday, and she loves the camera, just stares at it. How much did the picture people charge you?

As far as work goes- interesting you should ask, as I am going to apply somewhere today. I went to go visit my old school yesterday, since we won an award for last year and every teacher got a $350 check (sweet!). When I was there I found out they still needed some after school tutors. I called and it pays $45/hr! I will have to go 3 days a week for an hr, and the drive is 20 mins each way with no traffic, but I think it is the perfect extremely part time way to make some extra cash. And I won;t need to worry about daycare...dh will be here 2 of the days and mom in law the other, just for an hour.

Suga- that reflux sounds bad, it must be tough. Hopefully they will both be in the crib soon. I am glad ella is there now. She hasn't used the bassinett in my room for weeks now, but for some reason I still have it set up...

Loopie- So nice of you to be charitable this time of year..awesome thing to do. I have also received a crazy amount of presents in the mail an other various ways. . I was not so vigilant about thank you cards though. I got a basket of stuff from my dad's work (he is a mgr at a grocery store, and a very proud grandpa), and friends of family I don;t even know sent stuff. It reminds me of a funny story. One day a box showed up wrapped in brown paper and over taped and I had no idea who the return address was. It almost looked like something dangerous could be in the box, so dh had to bring it outside, inspect it and very carefully open it. It was outfits for the baby from one of my dad's cousins that i think I might have met once in my life.

Oh well, Ella is dozing back off after morning bottle, so i am going to put her down and take a little nap myself. I will try and scam her xmas card later and post of photobucket. Have a good day.

[sugabeanzs]

Today our girls are four months old! Hard to believe! (Well, they are technically 2 months!). I can not believe how far my little ones have come! They are both smiling and Mackenzie is talking now and Brooke is more of a squealer but trying to talk. Brooke stands up and bounces up and down and they both are becoming quite the sitters! It is just amazing! It took so much to get them here and now I can not imagine my life without them.

Next week they have their 4 month appt. Are there any shots? Anyone know? Hopefully not. I was looking at their two year old shots I believe (could be wrong) and there are SO many. I am going to get those spread out for sure! We are having a long chat with the pedi about getting Brooke on a different formula. I think she is having a hard time digesting it and it is giving her BAD gas that she has a hard time passing and tummy aches. So I want her off it. Hopefully they let me this time (preemie formula).

[cincinnatidreams]

Geck-as you probably already know..I just completed my second week of work. I coudn't imagine paying that much for daycare. I guess the cost of living in KY is so much less than on the west coast. I pay $500 per month for a home sitter. She has 2 other children that she keeps part-time but Aubrey is her only full-time baby. Daycare here is $600 per month...so that is still a third of what you are paying. I'm sure home prices and other things are also about a third. Our salaries are probably about a third also though. I think the last statistics showed that the average income in this area is about 35-40K per year.


I would love to have another baby but my IVF was all out of pocket. We worked 2 jobs to keep from going in debt for most of it. Out of the 10K that we spent, I think I still owe about 2K in credit cards due to my IVF and I should probably pay that off before I think about another one. The doctor and nurses kept asking me what kind of birth control that I wanted and I told them none, that if I got preggo again it would save me 10K and they just look at me funny and then go...oh yeah..you had IVF with the last one.

[CT_Michele]

suga- I do think there are shots at the 4 months appt. According to my chart it is 2, 4, 6 months then 12. We were pretty concerned about shots ourselves, since my husband actually works in the autistic community. We don't necessarily believe it is caused by vaccines, but rather a combination of things. I think we are over cautious since due to his work and my exposure through being a teacher and a psych major, we have had way too much exposure to it. We voiced our concerns at a prenatal about to meet our pediatrician and he made us feel a lot better. Four month appt is also when you should be introducing solid foods...that should be fun...I hear it is messy and the poops start doing weird things!

Well ladies, I got that job. It really pays $45/hr! I can't believe it. It is only for an hour a day, minimum of 3 days per week, but I get to pick my days and I will most likely pick up a second hour per day sometime during the year. Even if I only do 3 hrs a week, that's $135 and a very small time away from Ella. I miss her so much when I have to leave. The job is about a 20 min. drive with no traffic, but what's cool is that it is at my old school, so I know all of the faculty and students already. that makes it much easier. I am contacting parents this weekend so I can try and start next week.

Oh well, gotta run and do some housework since I did schoolwork all day today...talk to you all soon!