oct/nov babies

Tracii · Post by **Tracii** » Sun May 13, 2007 2:08 pm

Hi All - and Happy Mothers Day!! Sorry I have been MIA..I was in hospital for 5 days with the vericose vein surgery and then my mom was here so I did not get much time on the computer. How is everyone enjoying their day?? Unfortunately DH had to fly to Istanbul today so not much celebration here. But I did get a very nice box of chocolates...like my fat butt really need them!

I still can't believe Isabella will be 6 months on Thursday..time really does fly by. Everyday she is getting more and more stronger and independent. She is really starting to crawl and now chasing the dogs and pulling their hair. One dog drew up his lip and was going to snap at her so I really need to keep an eye on all three of them. We have not started the sippy cup. We bought one and I gave it to her to play with and then she really knocked herself in the head with it so I have hidden it for a while. We are also on 3 meals per day...she loves to eat. I can't believe about 1 month ago I was so worried she wouldn't eat...now I can't feed her fast enough. I will post new piccies later.

Big hugs, Traci

sue e · Post by **sue e** » Mon May 14, 2007 2:03 am

Hi all,

sorry i haven't posted for a while but been having a really tough time, i won't even go into that though!!!!! It's so good reading up on all your childrens achievements, because even though i don't get around to posting, i always check up on how everyone is doing.

Sorry to read a couple of you have problems with your thyroid, really hoping things are sorted soon.

Jessica is doing well and now weighs about 15lbs, she is a very happy little girl and very sociable, loves meeting new people.

thinking of you all

lots of love

sue e xx

Tracii · Post by **Tracii** » Wed May 16, 2007 1:48 pm

Sue e - I hope you are doing ok! We missed you!

We had a major milestone today....Isabella sat up by herself! I put her down on her stomache turned around for 5 seconds and she was sitting up. I thought well maybe I put her sitting down..which I would never do and turn away. So a little while later I did it again and again she was sitting up! They never cease to amaze you do they?

On the badside..well she has been screaming when I put her into bed at night. Sometimes she falls asleep right away and then about 45 minutes later wakes up and screams. As soon I as go in there - she stops and smiles at me. So I dare not pick her up..I calm her down and we start all over again...last night it lasted for a good 40 minutes.

Needless to say I had a glass of wine to calm the nerves

kristiA · Post by **kristiA** » Wed May 16, 2007 9:21 pm

Isabella, you go girl!! ha ha. Congrats, Tracii, I think she's a smart little girl...sitting up like that already! As far as the screaming in her crib...remember my boys started that at 6 months also. They still aren't completely over it, but are better.

Sue, I'll keep you in my thoughts. I'm sorry you are having a tough time. Hang in there and keep smiling.

Nothing new here with my boys....

EYCI · Post by **EYCI** » Thu May 17, 2007 12:56 pm

Hi ladies

Sue - hope you are doing better. Sending cyber hugs your way!

The news on my thyroid is that it is "broken." It is an auto-immune disease so for some reason my body is attacking it. There is no way to know what brought this on, but one theory the dr. had is that it happened because of the blood transfusions I got during delivery. Oh well. I'll be on medication for the rest of my life, but I should hopefully be feeling better within the next few weeks.

Seems like we are all facing sleep challenges. Our latest is that H is wanting to get up everyday at 4:30am. He'll lay in his crib talking to himself for about an hour, but then by 5:30 he is letting us know to come get him. This started right when he got his teeth. They are probably unrelated, but who knows. We hung a blanket over his window last night so that his room would stay extra dark in the morning. Today he slept til 6, so we are hoping that we may have found the answer.

We are going on a trip in 2 weeks, for 5 days... without Hendricks

I feel ok with it right now and am hoping that I will be able to enjoy it. He'll be staying with his Grandparents. I'm sure it will be much harder on us than on him

Good to hear from all of you! The pics are JUST BEAUTIFUL on photobucket. I keep meaning to put up a recent one, but need to find the time to download from the camera first.

--Julie

kristiA · Post by **kristiA** » Thu May 17, 2007 3:25 pm

Julie, we are going on our first vacation in 2 weeks also without the boys. DH and I can definately use the well needed time together. We are going to Las Vegas. Grandparents will have our boys too. Sorry to hear about your thyroid and needing to take medication indefinately for it. Also, sorry to hear that Hendricks has decided to wake up at the wee hours. Mine are still doing crazy things at night. I still can't believe that 2 months ago they were sleeping 10 hours straight...and now I'm getting up a couple times a night with them again.

Tracii · Post by **Tracii** » Fri May 18, 2007 8:15 am

KristiA - I love the photos of you and the boys! You have given inspiration to get professional photos of Isabella when we are in the US (here it would cost a small fortune). Last night Isabella didn't wake up...but she was exhausted...I am hoping that the waking up and cyring is also just a phase.

EYCI - My DH also has a thyroid issue - mostly occurs in woman something called Hiroshima-somthing-or-other but he needs to take tablets everyday..but he was always feeling tired and not 100% now that they have found the issue and started taking the meds he feels much better. MMM...4:30 is way too early for me...it could definitely be related to the teeth coming in. We have Isabella's room as dark as possible for night time sleeping and just normal for naps.

I would love to go away with DH for a couple of days...but I don't see it happening in the near future. Our summer is basically booked. We can't even get to dinner by ourselves..our in-laws live 10 minutes away but they won't even hold Isabella so there is no way I can ask them to take care of her. I am thinking about having the girl who helps me around the house in Vienna watch Isabella one night.

No new news here..just trying to get the house secure....Isabella has found electric cords and sockets

It is great having an active child but to be honest I am really exhausted at night..I have no motivation to do anything except to sit and have a glass of wine (or two)

I wish you all a great weekend!

Cla · Post by **Cla** » Mon May 21, 2007 2:06 pm

I can't believe how many of us are suddenly having sleep issues!!!!
Charlie has decided that he no longer wants to sleep on his back (not a problem in itself) but he's finding it really hard to find a comfortable position. He goes down fine at 7.30 bedtime (I put him on his back and he rolls onto his side or front). BUT he then wakes at 4ish for a feed (as usual!) but whereas before he would eat and go back down he WILL NOT settle. He eventually falls asleep but then wakes again about 15 mins later screaming. finally settles but again for only about 15 mins. This lasts until about 6 when I'm so exhausted (even though most of the time we don't get up there's no way you can sleep as you can hear him screaming) that we cheat and bring him in with us. He still wakes every 15 mins or so but doesn't scream.
I'm just SO tired - even working just 3 days in the office I'm finding it tough to find the motivation after no sleep. Any suggestions?
I just find it strange that we all seem to be having niggles in this department?!

RE: weaning - are your little ones on finger foods? If I offer Charlie food to hold he puts it to his lips and gags! I wasn't sure when finger foods were meant to be introduced and I don't want to push him but also don't want to miss the boat so to speak either?! I'm also pretified of him choking? Any thoughts anyone?

Anyway - I'm at work so I'd better go and do some work before I drop down with exhaustion!!!

Love to all!

Cla
xx

kristiA · Post by **kristiA** » Mon May 21, 2007 2:16 pm

Cla, I got online to post the same topic to you all this morning!!! SLEEP!!! What is happening?? My boys are up a zillion times in the night....I give up and let them sleep with me....but they still wake up several times....and two months ago they were sleeping 10 hours straight. How did this happen?

Last night I attempted the controversial Ferber method. They woke up at 12:30am and I let them cry...going in and rubbing their bellies and telling them it's ok every 10 minutes....and I did this for 2.5 hours. They screamed at the top of their lungs the whole time! They finally gave up the battle and fell asleep. So did it work? Or am I creating emotional issues of abandonment? I read the Ferber method takes 3-5 nights to work. I guess I'm going to keep trying it. The doctor told me to do it.

As far as finger foods...I have been giving them crackers, bread, and a few other things when I'm eating. The Gerber Puffs are really good and they love those also. I just give them very small pieces and they aren't choking on any of it.

kristiA · Post by **kristiA** » Mon May 21, 2007 2:49 pm

PS....Part 2 of the Ferber Method....I just put them in their cribs to take a nap (I usually rock them to sleep and let them nap in their swings). One of them fell right to sleep. The other cried and I had to go up once and pat his tummy...and 10 minutes later he put himself to sleep.

Hmm...maybe this is working??? Or they are just exhausted from the 2.5 hours of screaming in the night. Who knows... I'll keep you posted. I'm on a mission to give this method a try...as difficult as it is.

Of course even if I'm successful with this method it will all change when they finally cut their first tooth. It's always something, huh?

DeniseM · Post by **DeniseM** » Mon May 21, 2007 6:10 pm

Kristi, sorry to but in. Just wanted to give you a thumbs up. The Ferber method works, you just have to do it at the pace that works for you. I lay my girls down for naps the same time each day awake, and they quickly fall asleep. Mind you, they were playing peek a boo and giggling at eachother for about half an hour last week before finally going to sleep...lol. Its tough, but pays off in that your boys will be able to self soothe, and you won't have two two year olds in your bed later in life. Good luck!

Tracii · Post by **Tracii** » Mon May 21, 2007 6:14 pm

KristiA - I read that after 4 months it is ok to let them cry...it is so hard and tempting not to pick them up. I let Isabella cry..I do check on her to make sure she is ok - and I rub her back and hold her hand..sometimes she just continues to scream. Last night she woke at 9pm - screaming..I put he binky back in told her I loved her and everthing is ok ...she calmed down and went back to sleep. The thing that bothers me is...why is she screaming?

Cla - I have tried the Gerbers finger foods..my mom brought them over from the US. She picks them up and puts them in her mouth but has no interest in eating them. I have also given her zwieback - one time she choked a little so I stopped. I might try again in a couple of weeks.

Isabella does love to eat! I fed her and I thought she was full so I made my lunch - just some pasta. She stared at me and opened her mouth wide open waiting for me to give her the pasta. After she realized I was not giving her any..she screamed and cried. So now I try to have her eat with us...Sunday we had family dinner together..ok my dinner gets cold but it is important that she understands having a meal together.

I hope we all get a solid night of sleep tonight

EYCI · Post by **EYCI** » Mon May 21, 2007 9:43 pm

Hi everyone -

Aaaaahhhh, sleep issues

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we've solved the 4:30am issue. Since making sure that his room stays dark, we are now back to a normal 6:30-7am wake up call. We are lucky that when he does wake up during the night, he resettles himself most of the time. On the nights when he wakes up crying and won't resettle by himself (1-2 times per week) we have found that it is because he needs something (bottle, diaper change, etc). I say this in a completely non-judgemental way...I have such a hard time with the concept of the Ferber method. I trust that my baby is crying for a reason and that if I can find out the reason, I can make it better. I know that it is what works for some families, so I don't think it is a bad thing to try. I just don't know if I could do it. Kristi, I hope it works for you. I'm sure that the nights are exhausting. Cla, we went through the same thing awhile back. After about a week, he just went back to his "normal" sleep pattern. I don't think we ever figured out why he kept waking up. I have noticed that each time we get close to outgrowing the current diaper size that we go through sleep issues. So, then we bump up to the next size (at least for night time) and that seems to help.

Well, DH and I got away for one night this weekend for our anniversary. It was wonderful. This was our first date since having the baby. I know... I can't believe we waited this long either! I don't think we realized how badly we needed it, or how great it would be. I am really looking forward to our 5 day trip coming up.

Finger foods... haven't tried them yet. Dr. said to wait til he got his pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) before giving him any. I've been worried about choking so I wasn't too anxious to start. I was thinking of trying soft wet foods like small bits of banana or avocado.

I hope everyone is doing well.

--Julie

kristiA · Post by **kristiA** » Tue May 22, 2007 1:40 am

I just thought I should make sure you all knew that I wasn't doing the Ferber thing in an attempt to get a full nights sleep for myself. I actually like doing one or even two feedings in the night and rocking/holding my boys. My problem is that they wake up a few hours after going to bed and will not go back in their crib the rest of the night! They will only sleep if I hold them in the chair or hold them in my arms in bed. It's strange because I have no problem putting them in their cribs at the beginning of the night. That's the habit I need to try to break so they and I can get more than a couple hours of sleep. My mom is taking care of them next week while we take our mini-vacation and I thought I needed to try to break the habit of sleeping in my arms before my mom has to care for them for 4 nights...otherwise she will have a very, very difficult time.

I'll see how tonight goes....

Hey Denise...good to hear from you!! Are you having a riot with your twins? Are they doing well?

Tracii · Post by **Tracii** » Tue May 22, 2007 11:01 am

KristiA - Everyone needs a good nights sleep! You are so lucky your boys will cuddle with you. Isabella will sit in my arms for a total of about 30 seconds! I would love to bring her into bed with me...but there is no way.

Long day today..good night last night but she is really grouchy today. Nothing is making her happy..not even the dogs! So I put her down for her nap earlier then usual..will make for a long afternoon but Isabella is really, really whiny. Could it be teeth?

oct/nov babies

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