Nov/Dec 2009 Babies

[dys24]

Hi Ladies!!!

So I finally have time to join you girls here! I'm trying to catch up


kutekellie99-Sorry to hear about Crohns it must be so hard especially with your hubby not helping, you must be exhausted!. My DH has been a life saver, he's so good with the baby he stays with her whenever i want to go out and does everything from changing diapers to feeding to washing her. My baby girl is gassy too! she's gassy and she doesnt want to poop by herself. I have to help her by lifting her legs up and then she goes. I've given her gas medicine mylicon i believe its called and it helps but not 100%. My Ped says she will eventually learn to poop but I'm starting to worry.

Tara2009- my baby does the same thing she will sleep in my arms but as soon as i go put her down she grunts and cries, so i try to get her into a deeper sleep and then put her in her bassinet. Cymplicity is right colic is when you cant stop it.

cymplicity27- how is everything? thanks on the advice on the swaddling. I'll tell you a funny story i tried it i put her in it and it was like instant magic she fell asleep no grunting or anything i thought to myslef thank god for cymplicity!! 2 minutes later she started screaming so loud i had to rip it off LOL! so no swaddling for her!
sorry to hear about your little girl throwing up, I hope she'll get over it soon, it must be so hard.

aims- how are your babies doing? How is it being back at work? I'm going back soon and I'm so scared!! I dont know if i'll have enough power to last all day and night!


Anyone know a good solution to soften stool? Sorry TMI its not like they are hard but they'r not soft so we changed fromulas 3 times already and nothing seems to soften them. She goes and first one will be somewhat hard and then everything else is soft. We have to help her poop by lifting her legs up, I dont know what to do, I dont want to help her forever Ped recommended to switch to the similac allimentum or whatever its called not only is it twice as expensive it doesnt seem to work she pooped once by herself and thats it we'r back where we started. He thinks she holds it in for too long thats why the first one gets hard and the rest is soft he also thinks thats why she grunts so much. We have to figure out i guess what will make her go...

Anyway, how are all of your babies sleeping? Today my girl was up for like 3 hrs! She wasnt crying or anything just staring around, she smiles when i talk to her too! soo cute She sleeps good at night but daytime she only sleeps maybe 2hrs straight and is up for 1-2 hrs.

ok time to go, take care ladies!

ojh one last thing, i tried the playtex bottles and they leak for me when i warm them up in the warmer! do you guys have the same issues? I tried feeding with them and they seem to be good with not giving air to the baby compared to browns but i cant seem to get them to work with my bottle warmer.

[kutekellie99]

dys24 - Your Playtex bottles leak? Wow, I'm surprised. I have to admit, I used a bottle warmer for the first two weeks, then I stopped. Just too much trouble to add the water and wait for it to heat. I'm bad and use the microwave. I heat her bottles for about 30 secods if they are cold and about 20 seconds if they are room temp. and just shake them well. My bottle warmer takes like two minutes to heat the bottle and when Gabbi is screaming for milk, I just can't wait. But, even when I did use the warmer the bottles never leaked.

Yeah, I use Mylacon (or however it's spelled) too for gas. It seems to help a lot. She still has some gas, which is expected, but at least she's not in pain from it. For a while, she was just grabbing at her belly and screaming all the time, I could even hear her little belly making groning noises. So I just give her a dose at each feeding, she is even pooping better now. Like you, for a while, she just wasn't pooping on her own.l We had to stick a thermometer in her butt to get her to go. Now she goes on her own really well.

[cymplicity27]

We quit using our bottle warmer too. It would either take too long to get the milk warm, then we'd leave it in too long and it would be too hot. Now we just use look warm water and the powder formula so we don't warm the bottles at all except for when we use the liquid formula from the fridge which is rare. At night we take their bottles, the can of powdered formula and bottled water up to the nursery so we don't even have to come down to the kitchen at night. When we do have to warm up a bottle I put a little water in a coffee mug and warm it in the microwave for 1 min and sit the bottle in it for a couple minutes.

The peditrician FINALLY pescribed Zantac for Jos. I'm actually over the vomitting now since recently she's been crying through feedings and can't even finish her bottles from being so uncomfortable and/or in pain. We gave her her first dose tonight and she got through a bottle! I was so happy. She threw up half of it but she didn't cry or grimace. She just drank the rest. It's at least an improvement! She's now happily swaying away in her swing.

Kellie, sorry to hear about your Crohn's disease! That sucks that you have to deal with that AND the demands of a new baby. DH has no choice but to help me! I couldn't imagine handling the 2 without him. We do things 50/50 and he's so good with Jos that a lot of times I pass her off because he can calm her quicker than I can! I hope your hubby steps up soon. A lot of men are just afraid to step in when they are so small and fragile. He'll come around

dys, which Playtex bottles did you try? Was it the Ventaire? Mine don't leak at all. If we didn't dry it well there may be a little water left in the vent at the bottom that drips but that's about it.

[Tara2009]

I agree about the swaddle. It works great!

Faith is also very gassy! Sorry for the TMI, but when she passes gas, I hear the BRRRR and then it smells so bad. I am so embarrassed when she passes gas when friends and relatives visit!!

Tara

[cymplicity27]

Chaz is also gassy! We call him Gassy Chazzy . We usually just have a good chuckle when guest are over. I hate when it smells so bad you swear they have a poopie diaper, then you check and nothing.

Oh and I can't tell you how many times I've gone to smell his little butt to see if he's pooped and he farts in my face What a hoot.

[kutekellie99]

hahahaha I guess we all have gassy babies!! When I took Gabbi to the Ped's doctor the other day she was super gassy that day. And of course, she was passing gas really loud when the doctor was in the room. I couldn't help but giggle (I know, I'm immature) and say "I swear that is the baby doing that!" The doctor opened up her diaper and said "I could have sworn there would be a poopie in there!". I just laughed, I couldn't help it. Gabbi seems to always fart when she shouldn't and embarass me. LOL

You guys are lucky your hubby helps!! My hubby thinks his only job is to go to work and make money (or at least that's his excuse). Don't get me wrong, he works 12 hr. (or longer)shifts as a physician in the ER and I know he's tired when he gets home. But even at that you would think he'd be eager to hold her and play with her when he gets home instead of working out and watching tv.
He's a wondeful hubby and loves Gabbi more than anything, but is really old fashioned. He thinks cleaning, cooking, and taking care of babies is a woman's job. I wish I knew how to get him to help me without him thinking I am nagging him.

Has anyone's baby started sleeping through the night yet? Last night Gabbi slept from 11pm to 6 am without waking up. I was so happy, I got some sleep!! That's not all night, but getting closer! My neighbor told me that around 12 lbs. is when they start to sleep all night. So, I'm hoping she is right because Gabbi is now 11 lbs.

Also, does anyone know when to start using the "fast" flow nipples? Gabbi just takes so long to eat a bottle (usually around 30-45 minutes) and the faster she can get it down the happier I'll be. LOL
I just bought the 9 oz. Playtex Ventaire bottles for her since she's already about outgrown the 6 oz. Playtex...the 9 oz. have the fast nipples and I guess I need to change them to slow?? Anyone using a fast nipple yet?

[Tara2009]

Kellie,

The longest sleep Faith had was so far 5 hours. She sleeps that long when I give her a warm bath before putting her to bed.

Regarding the nipples, I bought some disposable nipples and in the instruction it said fast flow is for infants 6 months and older.

Tara

[aims327]

dys - The babies are doing great. They are gassy too but the gas drops seem to help. Going back to work was really hard. The first week was the hardest. I'd cry when I had to go to bed at night because when I got up I'd have to go to work and leave them. It's getting better now but I can't wait to leave work and come home. I miss them so much. My hubby is watching them when I go to work so that has helped. I know they are in good hands.

Cynthia - I'm glad your ped finally prescribed zantac. It's wonderful. Ren takes it too.

AFM - Things are going good. My hubby is getting better at watching them while I'm at work and go to school 2 nights a week. I'm still trying to nurse the twins. Ren is still 100% bm and Piper gets some but mostly on formula. I've started to take fenugreek to increase my supply so hopefully Piper can start getting more soon. Ren went to the cardiologist this week. He still has the hole but the doctor seems to think it will close on its own. They also found some fluid around his heart but didn't seem too concerned. They want to see him in a month to check the fluid. If it gets worse or not any better, they will give him medicine. Worst case they will drain it.

I'm glad to hear everyone is doing great. Sorry I didn't do more personals but I need to finish pumping, eat supper, do calculus homework, and feed the babies. lol.

[Trying for another Angel]

Hi Ladies, Are any of you having trouble with using powder formula? Connor has been super fussy and gassy whenever I use any kind of powder mix, but if I use the premade liquid formula he does awesome. It's like night and day difference. I think the powder mix just has too many air bubbles in it from shaking it up. We even tried the similac sensitive powder but that didn't help either. We use the bottled water and also the bottle warmer to heat it up. I would love to just use the premade liquid, but it's so expensive. So just wondering if I'm doing anything wrong with the powder or if there are any tricks that may help lessen the air bubbles? We also switched to the Playtex Ventaire bottles and we love those.
As for sleeping thru the night we bought a "Swaddle Me" blanket and it works wonders! We just use it at night and he sleeps for a good 5-6 hours. It's been nice to start getting some bigger chunks of sleep finally!

[cymplicity27]

Kelly, we must be immature too because we crack up at the twins farts, lol! Sometimes they are so loud you can't help but laugh. As far as sleeping, Jos has slept for 7 hours once but usually she goes 5 - 6 hours. Chaz is STILL waking up every 3 hours! He's approaching 12 lbs (if he isn't already there) and drinking 4 to 5 oz. Sometimes we can stretch it out to 4 hours but I don't see him sleeping through the night any time soon . I don't know if it has anything to do with weight like your neighbor said. I think every baby is just different. As far as the nipples, I thought I read 3 months for the fast flow, but it might have been 6 months like Tara said. I've also read that your baby will let you know. If they start to get frustrated with the slow, try switching. We tried it with Chaz just to see the difference and it was way too fast! I hate that Playtex doesn't have a medium flow like some other bottles. I think that would be perfect for the twins right now.

Amy, how much of the Zantac do you give Ren? Our pedi told us to start out with .5ml twice a day and we could go up to 1ml twice a day if it seemed she needed it. Tonight she started crying again during a feeding...like she was hungry but just swallowing seemed to hurt. I think I'll bump it up to 1ml tomorrow. I hope Ren's troubles with his little heart gets better . Poor little thing. I don't see how you're doing it all girl! Working, going to school and caring for twins!? You're super-woman! lol Simply caring for the twins is wearing me out!

Trying, it is much easier using the ready to use liquid, but it is expensive! I've found that Enfamil Gentlease and Nestle Good Start Gentle has hardly any bubbles! I've been using the Similac Sensitive because they sent me some coupons in the mail and it does have more bubbles. I was kind of glad to finally use it all up so I could switch to something else. I used the Good Start last night for the first time and I like it.

AFM, we took a tour of the twins day care yesterday. I really like it and their teachers! Maybe I won't freak out so bad leaving them next week. I can't believe I return to work next week. I've been out for over 6 months!! Anyone else putting their baby in day care? It sucks...I wish I didn't have to.

[aims327]

Cynthia - They started Ren out on .1ml twice a day but I can now go up to .3ml. I've only been giving him .2ml though. The max dose seemed like it was too much for him.

I'll write more later. I must head to work.

[Trying for another Angel]

Cynthia, Thank you...I will try the Enfamil you suggested and see if that works.

[kutekellie99]

Trying - Even though my baby is still gassy, here is what I do. I make up bottles every night. I mix up the powder formula in a measuring cup and whisk it with a whisk to get it mixed up well. Then I pour it into the bottles. I put them in the fridge and when she gets hungry I get out a bottle, microwave it for 20 seconds or so, and then turn the bottle up side down then right side up a couple of times and it makes no bubbles that way. It's not shaken that way. I tried the Enfamil Gentease and I didn't like it because it digest soooo fast that I was feeding Gabbi every two hours. It digests fast like breast milk. So I now use Similac with the blue lid, I can't remember what it's exactly called. But it seems to do well..I feed her every four to five hours and really, she was no less gassy drinking the enfamil gentease.

Cynthia - I know you don't want to take the twins to daycare, but at least you will get a break from diapers and feedings LOL
I work for my parents company in the office, which is in their house. So I take the baby and my two dogs to work with me everyday. But you know what? There are days when I wish I did take her to daycare because I just need a break...plus it's hard to get my work done with her always needing something. I'm trying my hardest to keep her out of daycare, mainly because of cost, it's so expensive! Let us all know how the daycare works for you.

[cymplicity27]

Kelly, tell me about day care cost! The only way I'm able to afford it is because it's offered at my job at a fraction of the cost. I was placed on a waitlist and didn't think I'd get in. We'd decided that DH would quit his job and stay home with the babies if they didn't get in at work. We couldn't afford it anywhere else!

I couldn't imagine having to work and take care of a baby (and 2 dogs, lol). I would get NOTHING done!

I'm at home today with just Chaz. Jos is with her Grandmother until tomorrow. It's the closest thing to a break I've had in 2 months!

[Tara2009]

Hello Ladies,

Faith is on a smiling spree. She smiles and coos at whoever is talking to her. And she makes new sounds. It is so cute to watch her.

She still strains really hard to poop though. She keeps grunting and pushing several minutes before she poops. I feel so sorry for her.

Tara