AUGUST 2008 ~ BUMP BUDDIES

[tinaO]

Hi all! How is everyone?? Well, we took a big move and put Noah into his own room in his own crib - yippee!!!! Long story, but he started rolling over on his stomach fully swaddled and it freaked us out!! We bought this AWESOME monitor by Graco called Angelcare that monitors their breathing and if they stop breathing for more than 20 seconds, it sounds an alarm. It is the best investment we have ever made. It got outstanding reviews. Noah refuses to sleep on his back now, so we took him out of his swaddles and now he sleeps in sleep sacks. But he immediately rolls over on his stomach. Thank God for the monitor because we just freak out worrying about SIDS. Anyway, he has been in his own room for 2 nights now and is back to sleeping 9 hours!!! Yeah!!!

Things are going well here. Noah is 15 pounds now and just such a sweetheart. Our holidays were wonderful. How were yours?? I miss hearing from you all. Let me know how everyone is doing.

We are starting spoon feeding rice cereal tonight. Wish us luck!!! Anyway, check out that monitor if you also have the crazy fears we do. It is amazing.

Take care. Let me know how the August babies are doing!!!

Tina

[tryw8]

Hi all!

I've been MIA but with good cause. Cody's been keeping me busy. He's been sleeping in his own room since day one. Lately, I've been having difficulty getting him to sleep at night. He takes a breast only to fall asleep. When he goes into a deep sleep, my DH or I will move him into his own room. It's been like this for the past two weeks. I hope it gets better.

I've been overwhelmed with going back to work and everything. I don't know how other working moms do it but I ain't there yet with the juggling everything around Cody.

Currently he's now 17lbs. and 27-inches long. We're looking into upgrading our carseat. He still can comfortably fit into the infant carrier but at the rate he is growing, it won't be much longer. I also noticed that he's not drinking as much these days. He used to drink about 26-27 oz/day now he's at 22-25 oz/day. His pediatrician said that we won't introduce solid foods until his six month check up which is next month unless his appetite his voracious enough to consume 30+ oz. in a 24 hour period.

His personality is showing. He isn't rolling from side to side yet. It's only because according to his pediatrician ... "my son is fat." Gee, thanks, doc. I'm doing the best that I know how. What do you expect from a first time mom?!? I know that I've got a "chunker".

Have a Happy New Year!
-Karen

[seltzer]

Karen, Cody is SO CUTE! OMG I could not help but laugh when I read that the pedi said your son is fat. Take it with a grain of salt! He's not eating huge amounts or anything. Keira is 16 lbs., 4 oz. and is 26.5 inches. She has started solids, too, since the formula just wasn't satisfying her. I think she was waking up all throughout the night because she wasn't getting enough nutrition (meaning the bottles weren't enough). She drinks about 30 oz of formula per day. She's had rice cereal, barley cereal, oatmeal, and also carrots and butternut squash. She loves the veges bigtime. She's eating twice/day, about 4 tbsp at each meal. She is still sleeping in my room. We took the cosleeper down, though, since she's sleeping better and actually moved her crib right into our room. The crib is so much safer so I want her in that but I'm not ready for her to be in her own room. she's still waking up around 4-5 a.m. every morning, which is driving me nuts. She's not hungry...I don't know why she's waking up.

Tina - thanks for the advice on the monitor. I am always & forever checking on Keira out of fear. DP makes fun of me and if I ask her to check on the baby will come back & say: "Yes, she's fine...I took her temperature, pulse, and blood pressure." HA. Isn't she a card. Keira is rolling over both ways constantly, and when she's sleeping she sometimes rolls onto her side which of course makes me nervous.

Shari - I think you are right about the relaxin. Every freakin' morning I wake up with a new pain or new ache. My body is a total wreck. My right hip is killing me, the back is killing me, my legs hurt, and my feet ache. I feel 100 yrs old. I am hoping this subsides when I start exercising (yeah right like that'll ever happen at this rate). What is going on over there in Israel where you are? How far are you from Gaza? Please take care of yourself and little Eliya.

Not to be Debbie Downer or anything, but please be careful about the infant products you all are using. Read this article about a Massachusetts 2-yr-old who strangled in mesh netting last week:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28421169/

gotta run. more later

[sharishu]

Karen- Cody is adorable. He looks wonderfully healthy and delicious! I am sure his weight is just fine.

Seltzer- Thank you for your concern. I am pretty far from Gaza (a few hours away). Of course, the mood in the whole country is pretty somber. Security is beefed up everywhere, and security is always pretty tight. But as far as rockets and sirens, you wouldn't know anything is going on just a few hundred kilometers away from here. We are all praying that it passes as quickly as possible and that we all remain safe.

Tina- Noah sounds like a dream! Eliya is wonderful and adorable, but he's not a great sleeper! I can't blame him. The poor little guy already had 2 separate incidents of fever, plus he's battling a cold at the moment- nasal congestion and a nasty cough. Glad you are enjoying mommyhood .

Gotta go try to sleep. Be well all.
Shari

[tinaO]

Hi! So good to hear from everyone!!! Life is so damn good now that I am sleeping again!!! Noah loves his room and sleeping on his stomach. He goes to sleep around 8:45 p.m. and does not wake up until around 7:30 a.m. I AM SO HAPPY!!! He is even happy putting himself to sleep without all the rocking, walking, singing, etc. Thank God! I love rocking my baby, but it was turning into such a PRODUCTION! Noah appears to want to just hop into his crib now at night, roll around, and then plop onto his stomach and go to sleep. It is amazing. I know we lucked out with this boy. If we have more, it will never be this easy.

Karen - Cody is SO cute! Don't worry about his eating. Noah got weird for a couple of weeks and would not eat as much and then went back to normal. The pediatrician said it is totally normal at this age. He isn't fat!! My friend's baby weighed 20.5 pounds when he was Cody's age...now, that is FAT! He is now 8 mos old and weighs 26 POUNDS!! Again, that is FAT!!!

Seltzer - Good to hear Keira is doing well! Noah is chowing on some rice cereal now. He picked up the spoon thing pretty easily which was cool. He downs about 30+ ounces a day of formula as well. My little pig. Please check out that monitor. It has been so wonderful for us. Noah is just so happy now sleeping on his stomach. In fact, the little devil just rolls onto his stomach constantly now so we really have to watch him. He hasn't quite figured out how to roll back onto his back, but Lord is he trying! Have you put Keira in one of those jumeroo swings? Noah loves his! Last night I wanted to go check on Noah in his room before bed and my husband told me not to go all the way in the room because he swears Noah smells me. I have no idea why I think you will appreciate the humor in this, but I do....I walk in the room and just know my husband is watching me on the monitor to see if I am going to go all the way in the room, so I lean in and proceed to flip off the monitor as I lean right over and check on Noah while he is sleeping. I laughed all the way back to our room. My husband was cracking up when I walked back in the room.

Shari - Glad to hear you are safe. Sorry Eliya is not a great sleeper. It seems most of my friends said their babies weren't either. Is he in his own room yet? It just seemed to make a difference with Noah. We have been blessed to not have Noah get sick yet...not sure how...just luck I think. I am scared of him having a fever. What did you do - give him tylenol or anything?

Ok, better run. Balancing work and motherhood is the PITS.

One more thing: Do all of you have a very consistent bedtime routine? That seems to have really helped Noah as well. It is bottle, bath, jammies, sleep sack, quick book....then a walk to his room and his crib.

[sharishu]

Tina,
I am so happy for you that Noah sleeps through the night now! Bottle, bath, jammies, book... got it. Don't think I'm not trying your little night time routiney! Actually, last night was a little better. He woke up once for his passy. I don't even count that as 'waking up', since he went right back to sleep and so did I.

Gotta go put Eliya down for a morning nap.

Have a great weekend all!
xo,
Shari

[tinaO]

Shari - Well, if it makes you feel any better - Noah is a terrible napper! We only get 45 min out of him MAX each time. That is one thing I don't know how to correct. He hates naps.

[tinaO]

Hi all! Just checking to see how everyone is doing. Noah is dealing with his first cold...not as bad as I thought it would be...but I hate listening to him cough!!! And he HATES having his nose suctioned. GOD - HE HATES IT!!! The little champ has now started sleeping 11 hours a night. I know, I know...I am so flipping lucky. He started sleeping in until 8 a.m. lately. I thought for sure when he got sick it would all go to hell, but he just keeps sleeping. But geez - he is such a poor napper! But hell - I am not complaining. I am so happy to have my sleep!

So, I have GOT to get the rest of this weight off. I am SO sick of carrying it around. I need motivation!!! Can't we have a contest or something? Help!

By the way, where is Rebecca???

Ok, better go. Hope all is well!

[seltzer]

Tina, OMG I am SOOOOOOOO jealous of Noah's sleeping!! You are so damn lucky. Congrats, it makes all the difference, as I am sure you know. Keira is a decent sleeper. I am not complaining (well a little bit I guess). She is a so-so napper too. She goes to bed around 7-ish, then wakes up around 1-3 times in the first hour (giant pain the butt running up and down the stairs). I give her a "dream feed" at 10 p.m. From then she sleeps till about anywhere from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m., usually 5:30-ish. She isn't crying for a bottle necessarily but just wakes up & is still tired. She'll eventually go back to sleep till about 7 or 8. Tina, I did appreciate your story about giving your DH the bird, LOL. And I can relate, for some reason! DP and I are doing better & getting along. Joking a lot more helps us, not taking things so seriously. Keira's had two colds thus far (caught from her brother who caught them from the dreaded daycare), and it sucked b/c she couldn't sleep. This kid snorts SO LOUD at night I swear she has a deviated septum (even when she doesn't have a cold). And she still has MAJOR gas problems...she emits the loudest farts I've ever heard from a child in my life. They are as loud, if not louder, than adult male farts. LOL. I bought this product that suctions the nose electronically, it's GREAT. Check it out here:

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/pro ... tId=516781

Shari - I am so glad you are not close to Gaza. God what a mess over there. I hope it ends soon. It's very scary.

Gotta run...I will write more later...baby is chewing on my arm ...

Oh yes and I am still a total lardass too, Tina. I am so sick of myself. And I still have a minor pooch going on. WTF?!

[tinaO]

Seltzer - Oh hell, I am sitting at my desk LMAO at your post. You crack me up. Well, Noah decided last night to wake up at 1 a.m. and then we finally said screw it and fed him and didn't get him back down until 3:30 a.m. Then he was back up at 4 a.m. Back down and then up at 7:30 a.m. WTF??? The kid is weird. Most nights he sleeps 10-11 hours and then about once every 10-14 days, he freaks out. So strange. I think it might be because he is so congested. Poor thing. As soon as he sees me coming with those saline drops, he starts screaming. It is so sad. I am going to check out the electric suctioner. Thank you.

Thank God Noah is not such a "farter". Keira needs to learn to act more like a lady. We used to crack up when we heard Noah doing it in his sleep. No shame!! I think my husband misses it as he can't pass his off on Noah anymore.

Ok, I have to get back to work. Thanks for cracking my ass up.

I complain abouT being fat and then eat a big lunch. WTF? ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!

[tinaO]

Hello all! How is everyone? We are doing great - the weather is so nice here right now! We will hit 80 degrees today! Amazing, huh? It is the least this state can do considering how miserable hot I was last summer waiting on little Noah to make his arrival.

We made our first road trip with Noah...to Houston, which is only 3 hours away. He did great! Well, except for the sleeping!!! Oh God - it was AWFUL! He slept in this pack-n-play and we were in this little room at my friend's house and the air conditioning unit was facing right at him (yes, it was that hot as we were sleeping in this separate pool house they have) and Noah was up like every 2 hours. It was the longest night!!! I was so thankful to get home and have him go to his own crib and sleep the whole night. Noah is so odd. Most nights he sleeps all night, but then this morning he was up at 5 a.m! Uggghhhh. I am tired.

Amazing how time flies, huh? I can't believe Noah is now 5 mos. He is changing so quickly. He finally figured out how to roll from his stomach to back, so now he can roll both ways. He is so funny. He loves to roll.

Are your kiddos eating veggies or fruits yet?

Ok everyone, let me know how you all are and hope you are doing great! Anyone thinking of another baby?

Still have not lost anymore weight. Oink. Oink.

[tinaO]

Hello ladies! Where is everyone??

We are doing great down here...enjoying some really warm weather! Unfortunately, I have to fly to Hartford on Monday for my first trip away from Noah...and it is too flippin cold up there for me! It is going to be weird to be gone for 2 nights. Uggghhhh.

Noah stopped sleeping through the night again. He has been waking up around 2 or 3 a.m. Oh well! Hopefully it is just a phase!

My husband got a job! It is great news, but sure is going to change things around here.

Hope you are all doing well!

Tina

[tryw8]

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Mark, Cody and I are just going to stay home. He's cooking steaks on the grill. I'll be roasting red potatoes and making a salad. We went out one year for Vday while we were dating. It was crazy, crowded and service sucked big time!

Cody's now rolling from side to side and sometimes he surprises himself from rolling from his back to on his stomach or vice versa. He's surprised because he probably wonders how the heck he did that.

Karen

[sharishu]

Hi!
I was actually JUST reading through our birth stories on Friday, so it was a pleasant surprise to see someone wrote in today.

Karen- Cody is tooo cute! He looks like he's got a lot of personality too!

Tina- Eliya also has his ups and downs as far as sleeping. BTW- great news about your hubby finding work. My husband is out of a job now, so it's inspiring to hear that finding a job is, in fact, possible.

Well, I am sick once again. My fever was up to almost 104 yesterday, but broke sometime in the middle of the night. I feel yucky. Otherwise, we are all doing well!

Shari

[seltzer]

Hey all, it has been way too long since we've all written. Tina - glad I could give you a chuckle last time I wrote. Big news: my pooch is still there! WTF?! I give up, I really do. DP assures me it takes a long time to go away, but I am not sure I'm buying it. Keira will probably entering puberty and I'll still be wondering when it's going to go away. DP says she wasn't pleased w/her stomach till 18 mos. Like I said, we'll see. And I still have about 10 lbs. that refuses to leave. This might have something to do with the fact that I'll stick to a "diet" for several days, feel better/thinner, and then start eating whatever I want again. It's a vicious cycle.

Keira is sleeping pretty well, except for the past four night she's had a cold so DP and I have taken turns with her. DP has slept in a recliner with her for two nights since she cannot breathe well through her nose. It's been hell for all involved. I now have the baby in her crib in my bedroom, so whichever one of us (DP or I) has the night off goes up to the baby's actual room and sleeps on a mattress in there. We call it the sleeping chamber, since it's the only place you can get any rest. Ordinarily, though, Keira sleeps from about 7:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., at which time she has a bottle and goes back to bed till about 7 a.m. Not bad! I am still tired, though, cuz these kids are running me ragged. I really feel like a mother...one of those slobby, fat, no make-up mothers I swore I'd never be. Hopefully things will improve.

The baby had her 6-month checkup yesterday...she is doing great. She is, get this: 96th percentile for weight (19 lbs., 9 ounces) and 95th percentile for height (27.5 inches). Her head circumference is 75th percentile. HUGE!!! I think my shoulder, hip, and back are going to give out before this kid starts walking. Once again I'll say I have no idea how I gave birth to such a giantress, and I get it now why I felt I was being suffocated during pregnancy. Keira is eating three meals/day now, and just about sitting up and of course rolling like crazy all over the place (her fav thing to do). Yesterday she starting doing raspberries, and today she is babbling, saying "ba ba ba ba." TOO CUTE! Never thought I'd enjoy motherhood this much (minus the bad body image and the pooch).

Karen - Cody is SO CUTE!! OMG, he is such a cutie, he really is.

Here are some pics of the kidlets. Hope all are well. Write soon! Shari - hope Eliya is sleeping better SOON and you are feeling much better soon.