November 2009 babies?

[nancy1]

Hi Ladies,

where is everyone? LOL

ASPOTOFTEA: I'm so glad your twins are doing so great! Your pregnancy was not easy, so you fully deserve a break now!
Your question about the nap: well, I just let him take it whenever he feels like it. At times it's just for 15-20 minutes, other times it can go on for an hour or 1.5 hours. So it varies.

Took him to the peds today. He will need phys therapy for his neck and a helmet. I am relieved now that something will be done about it. I read extensively about the flat head issue and this is the right course of action. Now we pray that the insurance will cover it....

He will start solids now! I am exceited as this means, hopefully longer sleep. He was doing really well before but htis past week was not so good (getting up every 3 hours, as opposed to 5 or 6 before, even 7 and 8 at times!)
Hope everyone is doing well. Can't wait to hear from you all!
Nancy

[charr]

Hi, ladies. Nancy, how did they decide to do physical therapy and a helmet? Does he have a hard time turning his neck? Our peds keeps saying the flat spot will work itself out but I've been worried about it. He doesn't have tight neck muscles and can turn his head fine though.

Sleeping has been improving. Saturday night he slept 10:00 pm - 5:45 am, Sunday 9:00 pm - 7:30 am! and last night 9:30 pm - 1:00 am and then a bottle and back to sleep until 7:30 am.

[Wondercat]

Poll question for those of you planning on having another: How long were you thinking to wait before trying again? My husband and I would like to try again soon and "get it over with," but aren't getting a lot of family support on that decision. I know that in my case I am not that old, but I can't help but feel that since it still took 4 years to get the first one, who knows how long it will take the next time around. And does anybody know how long you should wait physically after having a c-section before having another baby? It's not like I want to try NOW, but I was thinking to start the process when he is a year old. By then I will have to have blood testing done, get HMO approvals again, etc. - I was thinking to aim for 2 years apart. My mom tells me I don't want two in diapers, but I am also not a fan of waiting until one is out of diapers and then starting all over again with them!!

I would love to hear other opinions.

[Wondercat]

Woops, I forgot to give the updates from Sean's last pediatrician appointment in my other post! At his 4 month check-up he was 13 lbs. 5 oz. and 26 inches long. I think. I wasn't actually there, so I am taking my husband's word on this. They have deemed him a "banana baby" - long and lean. Not too lean, though, with those chubby cheeks and adorable rolls on his wrists and thighs. (Babies are so lucky - rolls of fat on their thighs are "cute"!) After much fumbling around I have successfully added a picture illustrating Sean's general frame of mind when he's not napping or focusing very, very hard on his hands. Yay, mommyhood hasn't totally fried my braincells yet!!

You can probably see from this little guy why I might want another one...

[nancy1]

Hi Ladies,

sorryI haven't been posting for a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng while. Had to take my baby to many many appointments!

CHARR: my baby always favored his right side which means he has torticolis (tightening of the neck muscle). He needs PT to resolve is and because of the asymmetry of his head, needs helmet to correct it. We are taking him to cracnial technologies (you can visit their website to get a lot of good info). If you have any concerns about it, you can take him to one of their facilities (i think you had said you live in the La Crescenta area;luckiliy they have 2 in CA one of which is in pasadena). The initial visit is free. They were refered both by his ped and neurosurgery ped.
Also, if he has to have any therapy, it is best to start before 6 months for best results.

WONDERCUT: your peanut looks soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute! It was great to hear how well he is doing.
I started my baby on solids last week. He seemed to like it although I haven't yet noticed much of a difference on his sleep yet. Friday night he slept for 6 hours and it was great then only 3 hours on Sunday!

Anyhow, otherwise he is very healthy and on track for all the developmental landmarks.

Let's all try to keep in touch when we have a chance. Can't wait to hear from everyone!
NAncy

[charr]

Hello, everyone.

Wondercat - Sean is a cutie and looks very happy!

Nancy - Thanks for the info. We went to a different pediatrician for a second opinion and she didn't recommend needing a helmet either. She is referring us to a physical therapist for their opinion as well though and so they can give us some ideas on different exercises for his neck. Sleeping is still off and on. We had one week where he slept through the night every night but then went back to being up every 3 hrs. Now the last few nights he's slept 6-7 hours straight. I'm not a mother that wants to use the "cry it out" method. I go to him when I hear him getting restless and whining. Sometimes he's able to get himself back to sleep but other times not.

Has anyone's baby rolled over yet? Our little guy is close but not quite there yet. He's really making lots of new sounds and has been doing the "mm" sound now. He is now 14 lbs. 9 oz. He's come a long ways from 5 lbs. 10 oz. when he was born.

Anxious to hear how everyone is doing. Take care!

[Wondercat]

charr - I'm finding it's kind of a dirty secret to "confess" to, but I did the crying out thing. My lactation consultant/nurse practitioner was an advocate of crying it out up to 20 minutes if the baby sounds more bored or impatient than distressed. She feels that it's good for babies to get frustrated every so often both mentally so they start to develop patience and physically because the kicking and squirming exercises their muscles. It's not that I don't believe in cuddling and comforting my baby, but I also think it's really important for him to learn good sleep patterns so he gets lots of sound sleep. The funny thing was I only had to do it a handful of times when Sean was still under a month old. Since then I put him down, and 95% of the time he stays down. A "bad" night for him is anything less than 8 hours; he usually sleeps for about 10-12 hours a night with one sleep-feeding about 3-4 hours in.

Sean has been efficiently and deliberately rolling over for exactly 2 weeks now. This has effectively put an end to tummy time - since he loathes being on his tummy he just instantly rolls over as soon as he gets put down. So I just flip him back a few times so he gets some exercise and we call it a day. I just love all the little sounds he makes! Aren't they just so adorable? I sing him to sleep at night and before he gets too sleepy he snuggles in my arms and smiles up at me and hums and gurgles along. His favorite is the "best beau" part of "My Best Girl". Most definitely the best part of my day after 9 hours in the office.

We're going to spend Easter at my aunt's house - I'm looking forward to Sean getting to spend the day cheering up his great-grandmother. My grandfather (who had Sean's middle name) would have been 90 today, I know she will be missing him this holiday.

[charr]

Hi, everyone. It's been awhile since anyone has written so thought I'd give an update. We are doing great and loving every moment with our little guy. He's such a happy, smiley little boy. He seems to have gotten into a comfort zone with sleeping. Some nights he sleeps 10 hours straight without waking up and other nights 8 hours straight and then a bottle and he goes right back to sleep. We put him in his crib on his back but he rolls right over and sleeps on his tummy now. He's gone from hating tummy time to now seeming to prefer his tummy for sleep and play.

Nancy - We have been taking him for physical therapy to help with the stiff neck muscles. His flat spot is improving now that he spends more time on his tummy. How has your little guy done with the physical therapy and helmet? And how is he sleeping? I read a book that I found very interesting and helpful. It's "Helping Baby Sleep: The Science and Practice of Gentle Bedtime Parenting."

Wondercat - I know lots of health professionals recommend crying it out, and even our pediatrician mentioned it but she said not to do it before 4-6 months old. I just knew from the start it was something I wasn't comfortable with and that if he needs me during the night, I'm going to be there for him. Then I read the book I mentioned above and it confirmed my feelings around not doing it. I guess ultimately we all just have to follow our heart and instincts as parents. How was Easter at your Aunt's house?

Hope to hear from everyone soon!
Cher

[Wondercat]

Agreed - doing great and loving every minute!! That's funny he loves his tummy better now. Sean still isn't a fan of being on his tummy. We're also getting him to work on sitting up on his own, but he still expects that if he tips over somebody will be there to catch him. When he does fall over he just thinks it's hilarious and lies there at this bizarre angle on his head howling with laughter. Babies are so funny! General consensus is that he is will be a lefty like my husband as he definitely favors doing stuff with his left hand. Like the other day he was desperately trying to grab the knot in the pine wood of our dining room table - he couldn't understand why he couldn't get a hold of it!

Yes, it's all a matter of doing what we feel right doing as parents in terms of crying it out or anything else. And I'm sure it depends on what works for each individual baby. I'm certainly not going to assume that what has worked out for Sean will work for our (hoped for) second child. He hasn't cried when I put him down in over 4 months so it's not an issue any more, thank goodness!

Easter was great - we had a nice meal and Sean charmed the heck out of everyone. My aunt loved seeing him too, he's kind of like her honorary grandchild. Time goes by too fast. It's hard to believe that at Easter he was still breastfeeding. Now he's totally weaned and eating more solid foods than formula. The cereal we have is basically thickened formula, but he is so bored of the bottle and into eating with the spoon he'll only drink about 3.5-4 oz. at a time. Sweet potatoes are a big hit, as are pears. Of course it takes like 40 minutes to eat a meal now but he's so cute who could grudge him the time? What is everybody else doing for feeding now?

We just had our 6 month checkup which went well. He's super healthy and developing normally. At 27.5 inches long but only 15 lbs. 9 oz. Sean is definitely a stringbean of a baby. Every growth chart varies a little bit, but that's roughly 80th percentile length and 16th percentile weight! He needs 9 month sleepers for the length but since the body of the sleeper is way too wide I have to roll up the sleeves. Which is weird because my husband and I are both wicked short. Maybe we caught him right after a growth spurt.

How is everyone else doing? We're looking forward to our first day at the beach!

[charr]

Wondercat - Cute photo! We have the very same highchair. I bet he'll love the beach. Noah loves to be outdoors. At his 6-month checkup, he was 25 1/2" long and 14 lbs. 9 1/2 oz. He also loves baby food. Carrots, squash and banana are favorites. He also likes oatmeal. We're working on sitting up as well. He's really getting close. It'll be fun to see when he starts to crawl as he really seems to want to be on the move!

Hope everyone else is doing great.

[nancy1]

Hi guys,

it's so great hearing from you both! Life has been really hectic nad stressful so I didn't even think of checking up on the board lately.

My son has been really doing well in all aspects. We started helmet treatment on April 15 and the results are already amazing. He also started PT and is doing great. His range of motion has greatly improved and so has his motor coordination. HE is now rolling over and reaching out for objects while he's on his tummy with no problem and he is also close to sitting.
Major part of stress has been dealing with the insurance companies. Our HMO 1st referred us to a PT who told me to come back 2 months later to take a look at him. Definitely not the stardard of care. Fought to have a 2nd opinion at a facility that specializes in peds; 1st it was denied, then I filed a grievance then it got upheld. The 2nd PT was AWESOME. Spent an hour with him and actually knew what she was doing! So I requested to continue his care there. Denied again. Filed grievance again and so I'm waiting for the results now.
Sleep. Some days 4-5 hours, other he still gets up every 2-3 hours. I am really exhausted by that but I'l check your book, CHARR.
Other than that, I feel blessed every day to have him. He is so interactive! He loves his solids (oatmeal, sweet potatoe, carrots, peas mixed with potatoe. Apples and pears are great winners and I mixed these with his oatmeal.

WONDERCAT: your son is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute! And as far as clothes go, mine is now wearing 12/18 months. He is almost 19lbs and 27.5 inches.

When do you guys give him his last solids of the day relative to his bedtime? And how much milk do they take in? I am now cutting down my pumping and feeding hiim half formula and half breastmilk. And what type of formula are you using?

HAVE A GREAT FIRST MOTHER"S DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Hope to hear from you guys soon and I'm so glad your babies are doing so well. Just pray for mine to sleep through the night too!
Nancy

[charr]

Hi, Nancy. Sorry to hear you're going through the stress of dealing with insurance. As for sleep, just trust that one day he'll fall into a rhythm and start sleeping longer periods. The book may not help with new ideas but I just found it very interesting and for me it was helpful to get insight into what babies may be feeling and why they wake at night. Glad to hear the helmet treatment and therapy is helping. How often do you take him to physical therapy? We go once a week. We give the last solids of the day at dinnertime, usually around 6:00pm and he has his last bottle of formula right before bed and that's usually 4 oz. He's never been able to drink lots of ounces at once so I've always just given him bottles more often instead of larger quantities. I've always felt that as he got older when he did wake at night, most times it wasn't because he was hungry. I don't know what all of a sudden changed that he's now sleeping so well, but I think it got better when he started rolling could sleep on his tummy. Hang in there!

[Wondercat]

Nancy - I can't believe our boys are the same length but yours is 3.5 pounds heavier! Even if he is in 12/18 month clothes he must look more normally proportioned than my little stringcheese! Your troubles with the insurance company sounds more like something that would have happened to me. Just keep after it and eventually these things can be beat. My mother recently kept getting rejected for payment for a second mammogram that was ordered based on findings from her first one (she's fine) and about 6 increasingly insistent bills and 10 phone calls later turned out the girl doing the billing had used the wrong code. Oops! One click later, all set. I agree that the sleep thing will come with time. It's probably just like any other milestone for babies, they all develop at their own pace and do things their own way.

Same as Charr I give Sean his last solids around 6-6:30 for dinner. He goes down shortly after that but I still do a "sleep feed" right before I go to bed around 10-11 pm. Of course, I should go to be earlier since I'm up at 5:30 am! Just like a little alarm clock between 5:15 and 5:45 I can hear him in there babbling away over the monitor. Do any of your babies do this thing where they wake up, cry out like 4-5 times, then just fall back into a profound sleep? So funny! Charr, does that book cover those episodes? Usually the only reason Sean will wake up and stay up these days is if he poops. His poop is pretty firm now, and he does not like having it in there! In fact his preference is to wait until he is being changed and count on whoever is changing him to be spry enough to catch it. Hopefully this will translate to easier potty training. Yeah right, but fingers crossed, anyway!

Charr - I love that high chair! My only complaint is that the fabric - while easy to clean - is so not breathable that after Sean has been in there for the 30-40 minutes it can take to feed him his big meal he comes out all sweaty. I'm thinking of making some covers for the seat out of hand towels, I think the terry material will work better.

[nancy1]

Hi guys,

thanks for the words of encouragement!
It seems like my peanut responded to my e-mail; he slept 5 hours on Wednesday and 5.5 yesterday night straight. Hadn't had one of those in a long while.... Who know, maybe 8 on mother's day?

His neurologist that his seing to monitor the flat head said that I should just go in, pat him on the shoulder and leave the room if he wakes up and cries so that he learns to fall back to sleep on his own. I'm going to wait and see what his peds says.

CHARR: the PT is once a week and the helmet adjusments are too. Unbelievably looks better, both the neck AND the head.
And I'll definitely check that book out.

WONDERCAT: Sean looks really cute and happy. That's so funny you call him your stringbean! LOL As far as the poop, it doesn't go unnoticed for too long due to the aroma!
Have a great Mother's day you both.
Nancy

[Wondercat]

Nancy - I agree with your neurologist. I discovered that when I hear Sean wake up 90% of the time if I give him 5 minutes of minor wah's he will fall asleep again on his own. The other 8% when it progresses to slightly more insistent wah's I can go in, stroke his cheek and give him his pacifier back, then quickly leave the room and he will also fall asleep on his own. That leaves only a scant 2% of the time when he really needs snuggling, singing, and maybe a diaper change and/or some bottle to go back to sleep. It's all about the different nuances of cry. Result is - well, you've seen the picture. That's what he's always like, no exaggeration. And I would gladly suffer a million moments of late-night guilt pangs if it keeps him that happy during the day. Anyway, I hope you got your nice, long Mother's Day sleep!

I hear you on the poop - I don't know if it's the fruit or what, but my GOD it smells bizarre right now! And I am also trying to work my way through a package of lavender-scented baby wipes my in-laws bought me, and the combination of that and the weird poop is so nauseating!!