Beautiful Babies Born in 2011/2012

[mellow4]

Hey ladies. Nice to see our group growing.

Marlo is 11 weeks old now! She is having trouble with anemia, and had to have another transfusion yesterday. She's getting so big, and now weighs 4lbs 7.5oz. She is taking most of her feeds by bottle now, just not able to finish the whole thing quite yet. Still having bradycardias and desats. I keep wondering when she will outgrow these. I hope soon.

My hubby is still in Australia, and will be coming home on August 10th. He is hoping to stay for a couple weeks at least and we are hopeful that Marlo will be able to come home soon after he arrives. Her official due date is August 8...so we are very, very hopeful, but are being told not to expect her to come home before the end of August. I hope they are wrong. I just want her well, and home. Then we can all move and be together in Australia...ugh the thought of a move.

How are things going for all of the new mama's?

[Happy Bunny]

Hi all! I'm glad to see the group growing.

Things at Camp Brooke are going well. We are no longer breastfeeding as I was not able to overcome the supply issue. I tried Reglan and Fenugreek along with pumping while also breastfeeding. After 3 weeks, I decided to hang it up as the whole process was not only exhausting but ineffective.

We are starting to have (mostly) full nights sleep which is absolutely WONDERFUL!

Brooke is starting to come into her own... Her facial appearance is more distinct and her expressions are clearer. I love being her mom and probably spend too much time just watching her.

Stephanie: I'm stay-at-home.

[klinger13]

Hi ladies! Maribel will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and we're loving every minute with her (even those zombie-like minutes in the middle of the night since I know they won't last forever.) I'm primarily breastfeeding but since Maribel is not gaining weight as fast as they'd like we also had to start offering formula after each feeding. Seems I'm making enough milk (plenty of dirty diapers and pumping amounts are great) but they're thinking my breastmilk just may not have enough calories in it to keep her satisfied and help her gain weight. Right now Maribel will sleep anywhere from 2-5 hours at a clip at night, though I generally try to wake her after 3-4 hours to eat, not only to keep my supply up but especially now that we also have to work on her gaining weight. Her next weigh-in is Thursday morning so fingers crossed, she'll have packed on some ounces.

With the supplementing for extra calories, it took us a few different formulas/bottles to find one she'd like (if she drinks too much or too fast she regurgitates her entire meal out her nose/mouth...not fun for her!) Similac and Gerber Good Start (ones the ped gave us to try) weren't good options it seems, but we bought some Gerber Good Start Gentle & so far that has been good (only 1 regurge.) And switching to the Playtex VentAire bottles has cut down the gassiness she gets from drinking from the bottle. I'm hopeful we'll eventually be able to go back to just breastfeeding but if not, hopefully this new combo we found continues to work for her.

Lastly, now that her umbilical cord fell off, we've moved Maribel into her cloth diapers. LOVE THEM!! We're using one-size pocket dipes (Bum Genius 4.0, Sunbaby, and Oh Katy) and they're so easy. They just snap right on as quickly as putting on a disposable. And since she's routinely going through 12-14 dipes a day I love NOT going through that many sposies in a day.

Stephanie - I'm staying home with Maribel. I quit my job in early June and man, that felt good LOL! I don't know how long I'll be able to stay home (much depends on what missions DH gets with the Army) but at this point it looks like (fingers crossed) his mission here in NJ is getting renewed for another year so that would give me at least another year and a half of staying at home. I'll take every day I can get since I didn't get to be a SAHM with my two older children.

Gina - We love the Halo Sleep Sack Swaddles! Maribel wore them in the NICU and the hospital sent us home with 2 of them so she wears one every night to bed. Since she's still in our room in the bassinet part of her pack-n-play it's nice to be able to have the a/c on in our room and know that she's still snuggy warm in her sleep sack.

Mellow - I'm so glad to hear that Marlo is gaining so nicely! I love checking in on your blog and I really hope Marlo will be ready to go home when your DH returns from Australia. Boy, what a busy year you will have had with Marlo's arrival, NICU stay, and then a move to Australia, phew!!

Barbara - I know what you mean, I sometimes feel like I've spent hours just staring at our little girl. Glad to hear Brooke's doing well and you're getting mostly full nights sleep. Very nice!!

[Happy Bunny]

Amanda: Watch out for Similac Sensitive For Fussiness and Gas - it actually CAUSED fussiness and gas in Brooke. The formula was even foamy in the bottle. We're getting some Mylicon Drops at the store tonight to attempt to combat baby gas; I'll let you know if it works.

[klinger13]

Amanda: Watch out for Similac Sensitive For Fussiness and Gas - it actually CAUSED fussiness and gas in Brooke. The formula was even foamy in the bottle. We're getting some Mylicon Drops at the store tonight to attempt to combat baby gas; I'll let you know if it works.

Barbara - Thank you for the warning! I think we actually got a sample of that formula in the mail but hadn't tried it yet (and now I'm glad we didn't.) Of course I jinxed us earlier in regards to the Gerber Good Start Gentle - we'd only had 1 regurge with that when I posted and now the feeding we just did a little while ago came right back up. UGH!! Fingers crossed that this supplementing is a temporary solution because bottles and my little one just aren't a good match. And definitely let me know how the Mylicon drops work. I was planning on asking the doc on Thursday about using those for her gassiness so I'd love to know what you think of them before then.

[baby_blu73]

I'm exceptionally envious of you SAHMs. Though, I must admit, it'll be nice to get out of the house and have "other people" contact on a regular basis... At least that's what I tell myself so I'm not too sad about returning to work in the middle of next month. Having been off since March, I'm starting to go a little stir crazy... but saying I'm going to miss my boys and being with them all the time is a major understatement. But... we do what we gotta do... (((SIGH)))

I started weening myself off of pumping officially Friday. I'm in a lot of pain trying to stretch from 4 to 5 hours between sessions. The lactation consultant was floored by the amount of milk I produce, she said it was a lot even for twins. No wonder I feel like my boobs are going to explode! It actually makes me sad to see that I only get after 5 hours what I was able to get after 4. But I'm trying to keep in mind all the positives of finishing up with the breast milk.

Glad to see this board moving a little faster, I know before long it'll be next to impossible to keep up with!

[gina55]

The Similac that you mentioned is for babies with lactose intolerance. My boys were spitting up and projectile vomiting and we were finally switched to Similac Sensitive for Spit Up (lime green label, not the orange one) and it has helped a lot. Enfamil makes a version of it as well, Enfamil A.R. Both formulas have rice starch in them and are milk based. I would highly recommend the liquid or concentrate as the powder clogs the nipples on every type of bottle.
Also, you may want to try a different bottle such as Dr.Browns or the Tommee Tippee anti colic.
Hope all of you and your babies are doing well!

[Reenie100]

Gina-Have your twins been examined for reflux? My son was diagnosed with it early on as he was spitting up a lot and showing great discomfort after feeding. Our doc put him on Nutramigen formula (I had to supplement my nursing with formula), Prevacid, and we've been using Dr. Brown's bottles with him exclusively. He's doing much better. We're not sure what is working as we changed so many things at once. My daughter hasn't shown any signs of any problems so she can use any bottle.

One other thing that might help (if you aren’t doing it already) is taking short breaks during the feeding to let the formula settle in his stomach.

We tried Mylicon drops too, but found that Little Tummies sometimes worked better. Not sure why, as they are almost the same thing.

AFM-the twins are about 4.5 months old. They can sleep for about 6 hours without waking, which has helped us greatly compared to the early weeks when they didn’t seem to know the difference between night and day! I had to give up nursing after 3 months as I just didn't have the time to pump enough. I tried Fenugreek, but that didn't work either. Oh well, I figure some breastmilk is better than none!

[Happy Bunny]

Amanda: The Mylicon drops seem to work well. So far, we've noticed a reduction in what seems like belly ache and she isn't passing gas a lot of gas at night (her bassinet is near my side of the bed so I hear every fart, lol).

There is a coupon on the internet for Mylicon drops... The following links to a pdf of the coupon: http://makingsenseofbaby.com/sites/defa ... coupon.pdf

Stephanie: As a SAHM I do miss the outside world quite a bit. We're military so this is not my home town... I haven't made a lot of friends here and my family is far away so it does get tough. I also miss the money that my income provided.

[HopeIsAllIHave]

Just crashing the thread to put my 2 cents in. I can't wait to join you beautiful mommas on this side of the forum!

If your baby has colic, I'd strongly recommend giving them gripe water. Both my niece and nephew suffered from horrible gas pains. The only thing that worked for them was gripe water. My sister swears by it and says it's heaven-sent.

http://www.amazon.com/Mommys-Bliss-Liqu ... 536&sr=8-1

[baby_blu73]

Ashley - I'm taking your post as a sign... I think I may have eaten something that isn't agreeing with my boys' tummies because they're both farting up storms! And that makes for grumpy fuss pants (and no sleep for Mama!) so I'm going to look into gripe water. I've never heard of it. So, THANKS!

[klinger13]

Thanks for the suggestions ladies! Maribel went for her weigh-in this morning and gained 10.5 ounces in the last 8 days, yippee! And as an added yippee, doc said we could go back to exclusively breastfeeding. She said that sometimes babies just need that nudge to get the weight gain going and then do just fine afterwards. Her next appointment is 8/11 so we'll double check that she's gaining well then but I'm thrilled to be stopping the bottle feeding. Maribel's regurgitation and gassiness really started when we had to start the formula/bottle feeding so I'm hoping that stopping the supplementing will really eliminate or cut down on those issues. (But I did grab some gas drops just in case that little symptom persists.)

[Happy Bunny]

A picture of me, Brooke and my husband (in that order).

[gina55]

Hello everyone! It's becoming so difficult to post!
The boys are growing like crazy, they're already 11 pounds!
We are taking them to a specialist next Tuesday as the both have hemangiomas. Wyatt has more than will but anything over 6 is cause for concern. While most of them are tiny Wyatt has one really large one on his backand a total of at least 20 already. The biggest worry is internal hemangiomas which grow mostly on the intestines, liver, and stomach. I'm glad I didn't listen to our pediatrician who said not to worry about them and they'll just go away. I did my own research and Wyatt's case is not looking good at all. When I called the pediatric dermotologist for
an appointment they said early November was their first available. After explaining the amount of hemangiomas she gave me next Tuesday and said
if they had an earlier cancellation she would call us. He's going to have to be sedated for an MRI and ultrasounds. We are just going to hope and pray for the best. One of the treatments if there are internal issues is Chemotherapy because they are considered tumors.
I hope you are all getting some sleep, kiss and hug all of your beautiful babies!!

[Happy Bunny]

Hello everyone! It's becoming so difficult to post!
The boys are growing like crazy, they're already 11 pounds!
We are taking them to a specialist next Tuesday as the both have hemangiomas. Wyatt has more than will but anything over 6 is cause for concern. While most of them are tiny Wyatt has one really large one on his backand a total of at least 20 already. The biggest worry is internal hemangiomas which grow mostly on the intestines, liver, and stomach. I'm glad I didn't listen to our pediatrician who said not to worry about them and they'll just go away. I did my own research and Wyatt's case is not looking good at all. When I called the pediatric dermotologist for
an appointment they said early November was their first available. After explaining the amount of hemangiomas she gave me next Tuesday and said
if they had an earlier cancellation she would call us. He's going to have to be sedated for an MRI and ultrasounds. We are just going to hope and pray for the best. One of the treatments if there are internal issues is Chemotherapy because they are considered tumors.
I hope you are all getting some sleep, kiss and hug all of your beautiful babies!!

Wow, Gina... I'm so sorry that this is happening. What are they exactly? And how did you know that they were there? Are these common?