Beautiful Babies Born in 2011/2012

[MamaBoo]

Blissful: no, the worry does not end! lol! However, I read that it lessens after a year. It is even more common among IVFers.
My older son slept a lot at first, as long as he was being held. However, he woke up as soon as you put him down! We had a hard time getting any sleep for a few month! It is normal for them to sleep most of the time. They wake up more little by little. By 3 mos, they have decent spells of wakefulness. If it makes you feel any better, my son had a habit of letting his eyes fall open while asleep. His eyeballs would roll in the back of his head & move all around & he would blink rapidly. I thought he was having seizures or something. His pediatrician said that he was fine and it was some variation on normal. He grew out of it eventually, but it freaked me out at the time! I would sit around watching him and worrying. He is absolutely fine and his pedi was right! I'm more easy going about that with my second, however, I worry about new things with him. lol.

[rypell1985]

Alisa...my twins slept ALWAYS! My girl was seriously never awake and my boy had a MPA, so be would wake screaming, but never be fully aware. My sister has a son 4 weeks older so I can remember comparing them and freaking out because her son was awake under a play mat staring at things and mine were staring at the backs of their eyelids! One things I had to remember, and you do as well, was that typically, our babies would be inside til 40 weeks. My pedi explained that the outside world is a lot even for a term baby, so I needed to give the twins at least 6 weeks to get to their due date before I could even hope for awake time. I would say around 2 months we started to have real times of wakefulness and they fell into a great sleep schedule. I know 37 weeks isn't considered preemie, but in my opinion, I would wait until 40 weeks and then take it from there! She is absolutely beautiful by the way

[BlissfulCS]

Thank you ladies!

Mamaboo- I can believe we IVFers are even more insane than the average overbearing new parent. In fact when I was hospitalized the doctors were always commenting on it, they were very sensitive to my level of anxiety. I think I would have been worried too with the eyes rolling back in the head! Oh my gosh! One thing I am learning very quickly is that when it comes to babies A LOT of variations are normal. It seems like there really is no normal...which certainly makes things interesting.

Ryann- I feel so much better. 37 weeks is as close to preemie as it gets without actually being preemie for sure! I have been thinking that is probably a big part of it and in my heart I know its okay, but gosh it sure is reassuring to hear similar fears and experiences from those of you who have been there and navigated successfully through it. I keep reminding myself that she is healthy and that everything will be just fine. I am starting to get a little more confident...slowly but surely. My sis in law has a baby who is nearly three months, so I am with you on the bad comparisons. He was born at 41 weeks too and only had about 4 days of sleepy newborn state. I will count it as a blessing.

So another question for the pros...when did you introduce a bottle? My lactation consultant said I should be okay as early as 2 weeks but that feels too soon to me. I am eager to make sure I am ready to pump and go back to work but I have 10 1/12 more weeks to get there. I have to confess though, I am looking forward to DH being able to help with the feedings and also maybe having a glass of wine.

Dallas- how big is your girl? I have some preemie stuff that Evie has already grown out of plus one outfit that is brand new that never fit. I would love to send to you if you need it. However you did such a good job baking those twins it wouldn't surprise me if you didn't need it! I don't recall having seen the weight posted.

[MamaBoo]

Bliss: when I had my first son, they said to wait 4 weeks to introduce a bottle! As he wanted to eat every 1 1/2 to 2 hrs at first, I got almost no sleep for 4 weeks! However, this time my husband did research, and it said there is no such thing as nipple confusion and we could start a bottle any time. I went ahead and introduced a bottle at less than a week. My son takes both indiscriminately. He will also take a pacifier. He has been on two different bottle styles (he had trouble getting any out of one), and the paci has a different nipple than either of the bottles. He is fine going back and forth. As a matter of fact, my husband had been giving him a bottle this morning, and I got up needing to nurse him. We switched mid-feeding and didn't have any problems. If milk based formula gives him gas, you can try soy based. We have used it with both. My older son switched back to milk based at about 9 mos or so. They can have some trouble digesting milk based really early on. Also, there are bottles specifically designed to help reduce gas.

[BlissfulCS]

Thanks Mamaboo- she is such a good little nurser that I am not incredibly worried about nipple confusion even if it did exist...I just hate to do anything to put nursing at risk...I could really use some help from DH though.

AFM- our little overachiever is 5 oz over her birthweight already after only 10 days. Yay! Here is our latest pic...

[mellow4]

Hi all! It's been forever it seems since I've been on here.

Need to pick your Mama brains...

I am about to lose my mind!!! Marlo has all the sudden stopped sleeping through the night, and won't eat in the mornings or afternoon, until around 3-4. She will eat just small amounts here and there, but like 3 maybe 4 oz at a time. Cries when I try to give her cereal, and won't take naps...

HELP! She has been on Nutramigen formula. Could it be bothering her now? I am at a loss for what to do.

Hope you are all well. Loved seeing the pictures of your babies!

Marlo Dress.jpg

[Happy Bunny]

Mellow: OMG! Marlo is beautiful!!! I don't know the answer to your problems. Not eating as usual is probably something that I'd take her into the doctor for.

[to_have_fun08]

Blissful - Congrats on your little girl. She is adorable. As for the sleeping, Jake still has his days were it seems like he sleeps all day. he will wake to eat, stay awake for 30 min to an hour and then go back to sleep for another 3 hours. Other days he wants to stay up all day. Guess its all has to do with growing spurts. As far as giving a bottle. I tried to BF but it didn't work so well, probably would have worked better if i kept with it. He didn't latch on without a nipple shield and so to bring my milk in i had to pump. I kind of got used to pumping and found it easier then trying to mess with feeding him by breast. i started giving him a bottle on day 2. I had a hateful nurse that said if he didn't start feeding in 30 min then i would have to give him formula. so he didn't latch on so i gave him a bottle. he sucked it down so i guess he was hungry. anyway, on and off, i would still put him to the breast and he never complained if it was the boob or the bottle. I guess every child is different. I think Jacob will take anything as long as he gets food.


AFM - Went for Jacob's 2 mo appt last week. he got his first set of shots and we both cried. oh i can't stand to hear him in pain. I made DH go with us to help but it was still hard. Jacob weighed 15lbs1oz and is 24inches. think it was 90% for height and 95% for weight. He is doing so good, and is so adorable. I am going to hate going back to work. I finally got my boobs back to myself. Finished weaning last week. weaning was no fun at all. I am kind of sad that we are done with the breastmilk feedings. I had to quit so we can TTC our 2nd. feels kind of selfish but don't know what else to do. i am getting too old to put the 2nd one off.

[MamaBoo]

Mellow: My first son's sleep patterns changed when he started teething. It can also cause some stomach disturbances. However, I still recommend talking to your pedi since she isn't eating as much. It's probably fine so try not to stress too much until you get to speak with your doctor.

[rypell1985]

Oh Mellow...all I can say is that I feel your pain! Dylan and Isabella sleep like Sh*t!!!!!! I'm absolutely dying. We are up many times each night. They like to eat over night more than during the day. My pedi had very little to offer me in terms of advice, so I'm sorry I can't help! Sometimes I'm up from 2am til I have to start getting ready for work at 6!!!! Oh, and Marlo is a beauty! She makes my heart smile

[lou71]

Nice to see this board getting more activity!

Chloé was at the pediatrician yesterday and weighs 13 lb 4 oz and is 16 weeks old. At 9 weeks, she was 11 lb 4 oz. We took her because for some reason about a week ago she has stopped eating like she used to and has a bit of a dry skin eczema on her face and back. I don't know what to make of her eating. She's not on solids or cereal yet. She was taking 23-25 oz per day and growing fine on that. Now I can't get more than 14-15 oz in her in a day. She just won't do it! It's been a week and we've tried changing her formula to no avail (from Similac Advance to Gerber Good Start). She doesn't seem uncomfortable. Not gassy, not throwing up, normal BM's. I just don't get it. Otherwise, she's totally happy! She just could care less if we ever gave her food. Frustrating to say the least. She's never been highly motivated by food and has slept through the night without fail since she was 5 1/2 weeks old. The doc prescribed a cream for her eczema and told us to "clean her out" by giving her karo syrup in warm water. We did that, but she hasn't had her blow out diaper yet. We tried to repeat it, but she wouldn't take it. She goes back in two weeks. But for now, I am stumped! Any ideas ladies? If this goes on through the weekend, I think I'll try a soy based formula to see if she takes it better.

[BlissfulCS]

Lou- wish I could help but I am still the novice here. Evie cut her food intake in half and the lactation consultant thought it might just be a new pattern given that we are still establishing our routines. However 24 hours later she was pretty much back to normal so I think it was just tummy trouble. Hope it works out okay!

Mellow and Ryann- sorry you are struggling with sleep! As you know my problem has been the opposite, I have been worried sick because Evie sleeps so much! We are still on for feedings every three hours like clockwork. I can't imagine what that will be like in 9 more weeks when I return to work. Yikes!

AFM- my sister contacted me today about possibly being a nanny. She had posted for a great job and it was taken by someone from the night shift and so the company offered her the night shift. She can't do it because she has a little girl and is a single Mom. So it got her thinking about being our nanny. It would be almost twice as expensive as the daycare we had planned, but we are seriously considering it. It would allow my sis to be with my niece, the girls to grow up together, and most importantly it would allow my sis to go back to school. We just have to figure out health insurance options. Intrigued... I just love the idea of avoiding daycare if possible.

[DALLAS]

Bliss - I have a good sleeper too. Avery sleeps pretty peacefully and wakes for feedings. She doesnt even really wake for wet diapers! But she does wake up every 3 1/2 hrs - 4 hrs for her feedings. She has periods where she will be awake in the afternoon for up to 2 hrs at a time. She is perfectly content awake looking around trying to focus. She doesnt have to be entertained all of the time. Ethan... on the other hand is a sleeps in irregular patterns. He sleeps very well after 7am in the morning til 5pm. He wakes for his feedings when Avery does and wakes with every wet diaper. Nighttime seems to be his nemesis. We found that if we swaddle his arms in that it does help him sleep better at night. He is obsessed with his hands! He has to have them on his face all of the time! He gets very angry when you swaddle them in at first.

They had their 2 wk check up yesterday and they both had gained 7 oz each. Avery was 6lb 1oz at birth and is now 6lb 8oz!
Ethan was 5lb 15oz, and is now 6lb 9oz! The ped was very pleased. What can I say... They love to eat!!! They are eating about 3 1/2 oz per feeding. Sometimes Ethan likes a 1 oz snack in between. I think he would eat constantly!!!

AFM - I am still battling the effects of the PE. My BP is still elevated. I am on 300mg of BP med a day. And now Im back dealing with the over active thyroid that plagued me in the early months of pregnancy. Hopefully I will be back to my old self before too long. My OB said it could take a couple of months for my body to regulate, esp since my delivery was so "traumatic". But I will take all of it, as long as my little ones are the healthy ones and keep doing as well as they are. ITs all worth it!!!!!!

[DALLAS]

I will post some pics whenever I can figure out how to resize the photos. It says they are too big to attach.

[mellow4]

Took Marlo to the pediatrician today, and their only thought is it could be her reflux acting up since she started eating food about a month ago. They said it can mess with the acid levels. We will see. I am hoping my happy little girl will return to me and will begin sleeping again....

This could be a pipe dream.