Winter Cycle Friends 2009/2010 - Everyone Welcome!

[angelaezra]

Franca - Yes, I did ... it is because your hormones are trying to get back to normal so you might sweat for awhile at night.

Angela

[angelaezra]

Natasha – Congrats on the new house! It was so much fun for my DH and I when we built our home 9 years ago. I loved decorating it and the feeling that it was ours!

Yes, you will be sore for a while especially because the incision is sometimes irritated by your underwear and pants. But, it will get better. I am so glad that you decided to take the summer off as you will be able to really enjoy your time with your daughter. Gabriella will officially start daycare next Tuesday … I am becoming sad but I know it will be alright.

PA_FA – I hope Addison’s first pediatrician appointment went well. I am so happy that both of you are doing well. Your delivery experience was a bit of a rollercoaster wasn’t it? But, it sounds like they took very good care of you and Addison. How is motherhood so far? A routine does take a little while to get used to … just hang in there.

Lou - I can't wait to hear about your u/s!

Tammy - Good luck tomorrow. I believe it is your beta.

Ronda - I hope that you are doing well. Have you been enjoying this warm weather lately? It was 60 degrees here today ... hopefully you experienced it too!

Babyluv - How are the twins doing?

Franca – How are you feeling? Hopefully, the night sweats are too horrible for you. It does take a little time but you will be back to normal soon. How is she sleeping?

Stephanie – I hope your Valentine’s Day getaway went well. I saw on FB how tired you are and I feel the same way. It seems as though there is a lot of pressure and responsibility put on us doesn’t it? Hopefully, you can get some rest here and there! How is your friend who is staying with you? I believe you said she was pregnant. How far along is she?

Katie – I hope Ryan’s cradle cap has gotten better. As I told you in my message on FB, since I have been putting the olive oil cream hair products in her hair nightly, she hasn’t had a sign of cradle cap since she was about 3 weeks.

Gi – I hope that you are doing well. How is Kayla? Hopefully, her reflux is getting better. Another mom who has a son with acid reflux reminded me to ask my pediatrician about increasing Gabriella’s Zantac dose for her reflux as she grows because the dose is based on weight. So the dose that they prescribed her earlier might be too low because she is continuing to grow and gain weight!

Sara – I hope your transition back to work has been good for you and the babies.

AFM – Gabriella is growing like a weed. She looks like she weighs more than she really does because she is short. According to her pediatrician, she is only in the 10th percentile … lol. Well, my maternity leave is winding down. I only have two days left. Gabriella will go to her new daycare for a couple of hours on Friday while I get my nails done. The nail shop is right in front of the center … that way it might be an easier transition than just leaving her and going to work. I will leave for Vegas on Monday and while it will be nice to see some people at work, I will miss my DH and Gabriella. But, I think it might be a good thing that I am leaving for a short period of time because I think my DH depends on me too much when it comes to caring for Gabriella. This way he will be forced to do everything for her instead of depending on me to do it. I think that will be better when I am back to work permanently. I know that he will be just fine caring for her and my parents live 5 minutes away and so does my sister, so I am not worried about that.

Her sleep habits are wonderful right now. One night this week, she slept 7 ½ hours and then went back to bed for three additional hours. On most nights, she sleeps 5 to 6 hours at a time, which is much better than the 1 to 2 hours that she was initially sleeping! I am having trouble weaning her off of the formula that they prescribed when she was born because it is the high calorie formula because she was so small. I am trying to get her to drink the regular formula now but I think she misses the extra calories, so I have been mixes the high calorie formula with the regular formula until I can wean her off completely. Well, have a good night everyone.

Angela

[gi]

Hi ladies,

Everyone incl the dogs are all in bed so i am enjoying a large glass of red wine while i catch up again jason has been so busy in work that i just dont get a chance to use his computer so apologies!!

Katie ha ha thats sooooo funny...hmm think that could have been me that wrote that lol had the worst AF in years last wk.... happy period yeah right must have been a man that came up with that!!!!!

Angela thanks for asking i too had to increase Kaylas dose for her reflux so she gets a dose in her bottles from about 12pm to 8pm (about 4 dozes) but otherwise it works well. Ahhh i feel for you going back to work, it will be tough but hopefully you will get used to it quickly, do you work long hours???? I too think jason depends on me too much now i am not complaining (yet!!!!) as he works really long hours but when i go back to work in May there is no way i can keep doing everything but we will see!!! Its great to hear Gabrielle is growing so big and sleeping well, you really do need a good nights sleep to function dont you??

Franca OMG the night sweats and here it was thinking its just me???? Kayla is 12 wks old and i still wake up most nights drowned in sweat i am fed up changing sheets

Natasha i couldnt wear jeans comfortable till about 8 wks as all mine are low cut (hipster) and were sitting on incision but its great to be back in them. Congrats on the new house.

PA sounds like a perfect section!!! I too only got to see Kayla for a sec and she was whisked away while i was in recovery for 2 hrs, it was 6 hrs after she was born till i was allowed to hold her and by then the morphine had really kicked in and i was feeling unwell and throwing up!! Hope you are recovering well and one advice keep on top of those pain killers!!!

AFM jeeny i am so tired the last few days, Kayla is still napping well but i think my new gym workout is killing me!!! Ah well i will get used to it, i seriously dont think i have worked out this hard in years and my body knows it!! Kayla still not sleeping fully thro. the night but what is the definition of sleeing thro the night?? She goes down around 10ish and gets a bottle around 5/6am (so about 7 - 8 hrs) then back to sleep for another hr or 2 depending on her mood, am i expecting too much??? And OMG she is packing on the ozs!!!! She weighs 15lbs but what do you expect when she feeds every 2.5 to 3hrs during the day!!! Oh and does any of your babies move or rumage a lot in their sleep, like seriously i think i lose a couple of hours sleep every night cause she moves so much and when i check her she is fast asleep ( and so is jason!!!) last weekend when he was on night feeds i went into the spare room just so my sleep wouldnt be interupted. Ah the little fecker i can see her waking up on the monitor, i better go get her as jason is up at 4 am!!

chat later

gi xx

[gi]

me again!!! nope she was just mooching in her sleep but i hear jasons damn mobile receiving messages in the bedroom i swear i will kill him if she wakes up forgot to mention have done it again despite saying never again...... we are going back in the national papers about our ivf journey!!!! The Evening Herald rang me and are doing a write up about ivf in Ireland and read about our 7 attempts so asked if i would feature on it, i gave a 20 min over the phone interview today and emailed them an up to date pic.....ahhhh Kayla is gonna kill me when she is older ha ha though seriously i think we have helped a few couples, i have received some lovely emails and letters about other couples struggle and how we gave them hope and i met up with one lady for coffee 2 wks ago as she is going on her 4th attempt and has now transfered to my clinic. If it helps i dont mind sharing though i will be honest to ye and i dont mention that its a male factor problem as well as me as i know jason could get a lot of "abuse" from the local lads and he would just die!! So we blame it all on me ha ha but in fairness anyone who reads these articles and knows about ivf will know its a male factor when they hear we did ICSI. Right i prob. should go to bed, meeting my boss in the morning to talk about what hours i want to do when my maternity leave is up, fingers crossed i get partime!!!!

gi xxx p.s hmmmm this glass of wine is just delicious esp. when everyone else is sound asleep.

[babyluv3]

Gi - my girls are sleeping about the same. They go to bed at 8:30 and will usually sleep 7-8 hours, then go back to sleep for another 3-4. So basically they get up once between 8:30-7:30. They are smaller than Kayla, around 10.5 pounds, so I'm really torn on what to do. I pretty much decided today that if they drink a good bottle at night then I will just let them cry if they wake up anytime before 3am (6 1/2 hours). I let Juliette cry one night when she woke up at 12:30 and she went back to sleep, so we'll see. I've tried it before and haven't let them go longer than 30 min crying, but I may give it a go. They usually wake up between 3:30-4:30, but this 2:30 crap has got to go! I don't think they are big enough to go all night yet, but will probably let them cry it out once they hit 12-13 pounds.

[Franca]

Its so hard for me to sleep, Elizabeth still sleeps more in the day and at night shes awake. Is that nomal? Shes only 18 days old. swhe sleeps for 2 3 hours then needs feed...i breast feed xx

[angelaezra]

Franca - Yes, it is very normal. She still has her days and nights mixed up. It will take a few more weeks for her to change things around. I think Gabriella started sleeping longer at night around 5 to 8 weeks and by that time I was exhausted. So make sure you sleep when she does even during the day, so that you can get some sleep.

The theory is that most babies come out on their own schedule developed in the womb. Most babies sleep while you move around because the walking around motion rocks them to sleep. And, if you think about it, you were up and moving around mostly during the day and slept at night, so she came out sleeping during the day as she did in your womb and awake at night.

Don’t worry it won’t last always. Try to hang in there.

Angela

[babyluv3]

Franca - Does she fall asleep right after eating? It's VEEEERY common for babies to do that. Try with all of your might (sooo hard to do when they are that young) to keep her awake for awhile after she eats. Then let her nap. Once I started following the eat/wake/sleep schedule, my girls started doing much better. Less fussy and slept more at night. Good luck, it's tough. And yes, eating that often is normal, especially for breast fed babies.

[babyluv3]

Hi ladies! It's so crazy with the little ones, isn't it?! Time seems to fly out the window. We are doing well over here. Like I was telling Gi, the girls are sleeping pretty well at night, generally 8:30-7:30 with one feeding in the middle. Last night they went 8 1/2 hours before waking up, and 7-8 hours has become typical. Amelia was 10.2lbs at her last hematology appt 1 1/2 weeks ago, so we'll see what she is on Tuesday. Juliette is smaller so I'm betting she's right at 10lbs now and Amelia is closer to 10 1/2 or 11. The dr was happy with her progress as far as the hemangioma goes (still huge but not as bad as before) so we are starting to wean her off the prednisone. She'll most likely have to go on it from time to time over the first year, but the dr doesn't want to keep her on steroids for months at a time if she doesn't need it (I agree).

The girls are so happy and smile so much, especially when they get up in the morning. Those smiles just make me melt! The older they get, the less alike they look. Naps in their cribs are becoming more common and things in general are just getting easier. They are pretty laid back. Alex and Scarlett still absolutely love to show them off, pick out their clothes, entertain them...makes like a lot of fun

In MY news...I got an IUD put in on Wednesday and I think I'm going to love it! I was on CD3 and my period stopped that day (normally would last a week). I had a little spotting today but that's it. Yay! The crappy thing that's going on is my skin. I did accutane right before getting pregnant and my skin looked awesome for a year. About 2 months after giving birth I started breaking out and now my skin is almost back to how it was. UGH!!! I'm REAAAAALY hoping it's just the hormones leaving my body and that I will have nice skin again soon.

[PA_FA]

I'm glad everyone is doing well. I really want to update more. I miss you all. It's been nonstop company since I got home. Even the first night home we had guests until 11pm..

How am I doing...oh ugh...I was in the ER last night with chest pains and bad head pain. They ran a bunch of tests and were able to rule out the big things. I was not having a heart attack or stroke and I did not have a pulminary embolism. They THINK I have a postpartem heart problem where my heart is just tired from the surgery and having a baby. So I need to rest and they think and hope it will resolve within 6-8 weeks. I guess you could say I feel like crap. I feel better today but it's all a bit scary. My pulse was super low, in the 40s, all night. I am feeling better now a bit. I think it had to do with all the meds I was on. Who knows....it's just scary.

DH has been a great Daddy. He wakes up at 8 or 9am and takes Addison so I can sleep more. That's after we wake up every 3 hrs during the night to feed her. I don't know what I will do when he has to go back to work.

I'm off to bed. I will try to update again soon. xoxo

[gi]

Hi girlies,

Babyluv sounds like you have your little ones on a great schedule! I will admit i never let Kayla cry for a bottle and try to give it to her before she cries the main reason is because jason works such long hours and gets up soooo early i hate his sleep been interrupted. I reckon though because she is growing so big so fast she just needs a botte during the night as she is literally Starving even if her last bottle is 10pm by 6 am she cant get it into her quick enough, i would say she will settle better when on solids but thats not for another 3 mths! I agree dont you just love those 1st smiles in the morning, i do watch Kayla on the monitor and her face lights up when she hears my voice.

PA ah i hope you are feeling better you must have got a fright! If you can try get as much rest as possible esp. with DH there as its all go go go when you are on your own!

AFM we brought Kayla swimming for the 1st time today, i didnt get in as we were only letting her in for 15 min (in case she got cold) and she Loved it!!! Ah bless she looked just utterly adoreable in her yellow and pink peppa pig swim suit, she was kicking and splashing and didnt mind any water on her face, the lifeguard said it was a perfect age to start. I was chatting to another girl whos 16mth old was in pool for 1st time as well and her little girl was not a happy camper she was terrified and very whingy her mum thinks she left it bit late to bring her so i am glad we started early. Oh and swimming knocks Kayla unconcious afterwards the little mite was exhausted and enjoyed her nap afterwards.

Hope everyone else is doing well
gi xx

[angelaezra]

Gi – I love how you relax and enjoy by sitting back and sipping wine! It sounds like the way I like to spend a relaxing evening for sure!

Yes, going back to work and doing everything to care for her is exactly what I am worried about. My job is very flexible though. I spend hours out in the field and a lot of time at home of the computer, so she will not be in daycare a very long time each day, which makes me happy. She will not go on Mondays either because my DH is off of work every Monday, so really it will be Tues through Friday and Fridays will not be all day.

I think I read where you did another phone interview! I can’t wait to hear how it turns out but I know you will be awesome!

Swimming sounds just wonderful! I think Gabriella will like swimming too as she loves her nightly baths! But, as a child I loved to swim too. I would stay in the pool all morning and night until my parents made me come back in.

Babyluv – it is great to hear from you! Your babies are sleeping about the same as Gabriella is and I have to say that I love it! To get 7 to 8 hours of sleep is like heaven! I am glad that Amelia’s hemangioma is getting better. I hope your new IUD works out well for you; you will have to give us an update on what you think about it. I have never used one as I have been trying to get pregnant and have a baby my entire married life! We seemed to accomplish the getting pregnant on our own thing ... it was staying pregnant that was the problem!

PA_FA – you and DH might have to just tell people that you need some time to yourselves. Your friends will understand. My DH had to do the same thing for us. We were warned by other parents that all of the visitors might become overwhelming and we might have to limit the visits. I know that they mean well but it is tiring to try and entertain so many people!

You poor lady ... having to be admitted back in the hospital after such a recent visit for your delivery! I am so worried about you now. Please promise us that you will take it easy and let DH do the majority of the work! Remember when we got pregnant that our bodies had a large increase with blood volume and it does take a little toll on your heart because it has to work overtime because of the extra volume. Please let us know how you are doing ok?

AFM – Well ladies, it is finally time for me to say good-bye to my family and hop on a plane to Vegas in the morning! I suddenly have so much anxiety! I just don’t want to leave her. I know it is only for 4 days but I keep thinking to myself what if she knows that I am gone and misses me. Or what if she forgets me and has a hard time adjusting when I return. I know that I am being ridiculous but what do you expect, I am a new mom! So I will spend the rest of the night packing so I will be ready for tomorrow and I am sure the tears will start to fly. I will check in with you ladies as much as possible while I am gone.

Oh, I forgot to tell you ladies that Gabriella went to daycare for the first time last Friday. She only went for a couple of hours to adjust to going to the center and I could feel comfortable too. I was only right in front of the center at the nail shop but she did really well. When I arrived she was sleep and when I picked her up she was sleep … lol. So I guess it was harder on me than her!

Angela

[jamila20]

Hi ladies i hope you all and your babies are doing well.

I have a question regarding the flu shot during pregnancy, because this year i have had my flu shot yet and since Friday night i have been sneezing and a runny nose, i am wondering if you guys had the flu shot during your pregnancies. I called my OB this morning but the office is close for the holiday, now i am worry about the baby well being since it has been 4 days now. please help.

Take care ladies.

[rayofsunshine]

Hi all!! I just get a few quick minutes to post, so here goes:

Gi: The swimming sounds fun-Kayla will be a little fish I would love to take the babies but I'm going to have to figure out when I can do it with DH so both babies can go. I am so proud of you for all of the interviews you are doing. I remember when we first started all of this and how alone I felt in the whole process. It really takes us talking to help others that feel that way.

Babyluv: The girls sound like they are on a great routine. I only get 5 hours before Jake is awake demanding food. I usually try to let him have time to settle back down, but no luck right now. I hope that will settle soon...I could use a few more hours of uninterrupted sleep. I'm glad Juliette is getting weened off prednisone and doing better-I'm sure that is a relief for you. I hope the IUD works out for you...the only BC I've been on is for IVF. Ironic!

Angela-It's Monday so you are already off on your work trip. I know it's not much comfort, but I'm sure Gabriella is being very well taken care of and I promise it will be much harder on you than her. It is so hard to leave your baby, but luckily you will get into a routine and it will become a little less traumatic (still stinks though). You are a great mom and you give her all the quality time and love she needs. And don't worry...have a good cry, all moms are entitled to one now and again!

AFM-I am lucky enough to have today off work because of President's Day. WOOHOO!! I am just loving every extra minute I have at home with my kids and I have a count down until our spring break in March. I know I am lucky to get so much time off as a teacher. The babies are good. Laney is trying to roll over but is so funny because she wails when she is laid on her belly. I think that fight in her will make her the first to roll. Jake doesn't mind laying on his tummy and usually just sucks on his hand and lays there happy. The babies sleep from 9 to 8:30 BUT they want to get up every 4-5 hours still for food. WTH?!? I am thinking I will start cereal to curb this a bit. We'll see if it helps.

Love to you all!
Sara

[rayofsunshine]

PA-I heard a crying baby mid-post and lost my mind. How are you feeling? You sound so busy right now with all the guests and not feeling well. The BP is scary...I hope it is figured out and you are mending. Take care and keep us posted. I love the pics on FB-Addison is so stinkin' cute!

Sara