Infant Check-in (2/3)

[doglover31]

Age: 5 months tomorrow!

Milestones: trying to sit up, just a little wobbly. Can keep his balance for a few seconds then falls over.

Challenges: sleep, sleep, sleep. He is back in his room at least.

Funny/cute stories: last night he was super cranky while I was giving him his bath. He cried the whole time when he normally loves it. When I was about to get him out of the tub he started grinning, and then started peeing. The smile on his face was hilarious. Once he was done peeing he went back to screaming.

How are you? I'm doing great. I have my bed back at least. He is still waking a lot but he stays in his room. I'm loving life as a mom.

QOTW: I live in Florida so it doesn't get that cold here for us.

[MoreThanSparrows]

Age: 1 week today


Milestones: he is already up past his birth weight - 7 lbs 11 Oz today, 7 lbs 3 Oz at birth.


Challenges: sleep. I usually get a couple 2 or 3 hour stretches per night, so that's good, but DH has been keeping me up the last several nights, so I'm missing that first long sleep session...


Funny/cute stories: I just love all his little noises and faces. I always wondered what Itty bitty babies dream about that they make such odd faces and cute sounds...


How are you? I'm good. Very tired, but overall pretty good. TMI alert: I didn't have any issues in the two or three days after birth with BMs, but these last few days I feel very constipated. I was taking a stool softener but it didn't seem to help - only made me crampier, so I quit taking it just to see if it would help... only time will tell...


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow?

[ksyknelvr73]

Age: 8 months


Milestones: I feel like he is taunting us with his "about to crawl" phase he's in. I seriously think it will be any minute. He is FINALLY doing better with solid food and not gagging or barfing as much. Daycare started giving him "lunch" with the rest of the babies yesterday.


Challenges: He just stopped amoxicillin for his ear infection and he is already a leaky faucet of snot again. I'm annoyed.


Funny/cute stories: This boy is SO happy in the mornings. Normally DH gets to wake him up on work days to get him ready, but I have the last two days and every time he gives me a HUGE smile. The best.


How are you? I'm in a TERRIBLE mood today and I need to snap out of it. It's not even that anything's wrong, just one of those started off on the wrong foot type of things and it's killed my vibe for the entire day apparently.


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow? I don't care what he sees as long as the weather isn't terrible.

[ClassyMrsA]

Age: 3 months, 1 week


Milestones: Grabbing her feet. She can ALMOST roll over from back to front. ETA: she did it this afternoon all by herself!! Laughing for real (not just the "heggy heggy" old man attempt). Holding onto things more. She can carry her toys around while we carry her. Scooting backwards and in circles on her mat during tummy time.


Challenges: Still sleep. We had one decent night on Sunday. Otherwise, she's still spending most of the night with us. I moved her pnp next to the bed, but it's has only helped a marginal amount. Nursing calms her down and we tried to swap in pacis, but she just spits them out. I wouldn't mind so much except I am a stomach sleeper and it's uncomfortable for me to be on my side so much. We did try to make a spot for her in the middle, but she wants to be right up next to me. I know it could be worse since she will at least sleep that way. I just really want my bed back for at least the majority of the night. I'm also waiting for her to poop. She's getting close to having gone 3 days without one where before she has been a once a day girl. Lots of gas and I can feel her pushing now and then, but no poop. I know it can be normal for bf babies to go as long as a week between. It's just unusual for her.


Funny/cute stories: On Sunday, my dad was holding her while his gf made silly faces and noises at her. She was smiling super big and then started to laugh! We'd heard her trying to laugh, but this was the first time she really has laughed like that. So cute.


How are you? Exhausted, but she's so adorable it's hard to be upset about it. She really is amazing. I'm also starting to worry about going back to work. They usually start posting the next year's openings in April and I need to decide what direction to go. Do I stick with what I know and go back to elementary school knowing that it's at best 60 hours a week? Or do I try to move into secondary (middle or high school) so I can focus on one subject and work more like 50 hours a week? I really don't want to end up only seeing Lillian for 2 hours in the evening before her bed time and possibly have to work one day or another on the weekends. It's really stressing me out. I have to decide if I want to add any content areas to move up to secondary in the next week or two.


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow? Don't really care. If it stays cooler for longer, great. Central Texas never gets too cold for more than a couple of days at a time and the longer we put off summer the better. Do not like all the 100 degree days and humidity.

[ClassyMrsA]

doglover31 How did you get him back in his bed? Lillian used to sleep so well alone and now she will only make it maybe 2-3 hours before she has to be with us.

MoreThanSparrows I always wonder what she is thinking about or dreaming of. She sometimes looks so pensive.

ksyknelvr73 I love the morning smiles. I hope you LO feels better soon.

[doglover31]

ClassyMrsA- Isaac was sleeping in his crib around 8 weeks. Then right before Christmas he would freak out anytime he was put there to sleep. So I just let him sleep in bed with me. I took this past Friday and yesterday off work to dedicate several days to getting him back in his room. He woke up so many times Friday and Saturday nights. Whenever he would start crying I would go back in his room, pat his tummy, give him his pacifier back etc. If he was really freaking out I would pick him up to calm him down then once he was calm lay him back down. It was tough but I stuck with it. I think he started realizing he couldn't just cry to get into our room. We also started swaddling him again. And we have a white noise machine. He has this little giraffe that plays music and lights up so I lay that next to him too. He really likes it and it helps him fall asleep. We have a video monitor so I can keep an eye on him with it. He ended up doing the best in his swing (which I'm not happy about but he is in his room at least). He is still up every 2-3 hours though. He has always been that way. He hardly ever gives long stretches. I figure once he is comfortable being in his room again we will work on the crib.


Sorry that was such a novel. we are trying to get him in a good sleep routine. But I also know he is only 5 months old so it can take some time.

[eliz77]

Age: 8 weeks, 3 days


Milestones: LO is getting much more vocal and using his hands more. He's not reaching or grabbing onto things for real, but he will grab my face or boob, or the bottle. I love when I pick him up and he hooks his arm around my shoulder. He's also getting very strong with holding head up of short periods of time which has me paranoid he's going to face plant hard.


Challenges: Sleeping on own...as I say every week...BF is really challenging but I'm dedicated to doing whatever he wants so it's easier to keep him on me to sleep-nurse-sleep, etc and he probably gets just enough to make it worthwhile doing so. BUT as a result, he is not sleeping on his own and seems to catnap more and more during the day (when put down). He loves the swing and will nap a bit longer in that, but if I hold him, he will sleep 4-5 hour stretches over night, and up 2 hour stretches during the day. I go back to work Thurs, so a bit worried how this is going to work out.


Funny/cute stories: We have "conversations"! He loves when imitate him and will smile and kind of laugh, then answer back. He's getting much more vocal and expressive.


How are you? Tired and cranky this week! I know it's because I'm about to go back to work. I'm only going back PT Thurs-Sun, and I really miss my job. Feeling so torn and anxious at the same time. Plus, childcare isn't a definite. I have backup, and backups to backup, but it's still stressing me out. At least H is home with him Sat/Sun.


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow? I hate winter! Looking forward to spring and being able to take LO on walks and just be outside.

[docamy]

Age: 10+ months


Milestones: I think I'm hearing him try to say more. I've heard what I think is "hi" and "huh?" Otherwise he just grunts and babbles mostly. He can say Mama and Dada but seldom does.


Challenges: Separation anxiety and diaper changes. the sep anxiety has gotten terrible if he doesn't know the people. I hate it for him but know it's a phase. Diaper changes are bad for me and DH but not a problem for the gma's!! We try playing with him, singing, and making fools of ourselves but it rarely works to keep him from crying!


Funny/cute stories: I tried to get him to give me some of his sloppy kisses and he just pushed my face away. Another funny was when I dropped him off in church nursery I had a ziplock bag in my hand feeding him some snacks when one of the nursery workers sat down to take over and let me go to service I handed the bag to her. He didn't take but a minute to take it away from her and hand it back to me! LOL, little stinker!


How are you? Tired and cranky! I worked the past three nights. Dh is getting on my nerves, I swear I love him! lol


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow? I don't really care just glad they didn't try to hold this one. I hated last years groundhog died!!

[meagpt22]

b]Age:
3 months 1 week


Milestones:
Just laughing at everything.
Last night on her playmat she started to pay attention to two of the hanging toys at once and hitting them together. It's like she's starting to see the relationship between two things.

Challenges:
Nap time still. During the day she sleeps for less than an hour totally. Then takes a nap around 6. She still gets 12 hours at night and is happy in the evenings so I can't complain too much.


Funny/cute stories:
Not a story but I can't get over how go with the flow and happy she is all the time. She is the complete opposite of her parents. Saturday we had a miscommunication and locked out keys in the running car. This resulted in Emma being out past her bedtime. She never once cried or got fussy. She just was like "oh well." It amazes me. During my pregnancy I felt calmer and I just wonder if it was her personality rubbing off on me. Haha.


How are you?
Overall good. Just tired from being back at work and feeling like I'm spread so thin in the evenings.


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow?
I want warm weather!!!!

[meagpt22]

ClassyMrsA it sucks only seeing Emma for 2 hours in the evenings so if you have the option to take a position with less hours id go for her. DH is looking to do this even if it means less job growth.
Congrats on Lilly's rolling!

[mmheartspb]

Age: 3 1/2 weeks


Milestones: Hates tummy time on the floor but loves it on my chest. She will talk to me and hold her head up and turn to look around for at least a minute She also looks abs focuses on me and my hubby now.


Challenges: breastfeeding. Everything wad going so well and now my nipples are killing me. I don't have an infection and wet go to the lc tomorrow so hopefully we figure this out.


Funny/cute stories: She smiled in her sleep today and did a belly chuckle lol.


How are you? Dear lord my nipples are raw and burning. I really hope this gets better soon bc I'm so ready to give up if it doesn't soon.


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow? I need warm weather so I can get out and go for a walk with Olivia.

[mommaashley12]

Age:
Almost 8 months....she's growing too fast!

Milestones:
Acting like she is going to crawl soon. Picking up food really well, just having trouble making it into her mouth. Starting to wave hello and bye-bye.

Challenges: Getting her to nap in the crib. She will do it every now and then but to get a decent nap we have to hold her. Sometimes it's nice to get to snuggle her but sometimes I need to get some chores done.


Funny/cute stories: We went to the zoo today and she was so excited to see all of the "kitty cats". The zoo has a "cat house" with a bob cat, ocelot, etc and she was kicking and really smiling at them. It was feeding time so most of the cats were active.


How are you? I have a runny nose, cough, itchy face. Ugh! Stupid cold. Otherwise doing great. LO has been sleeping from 6:30-5am so I have been getting much better sleep!


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow? Mad! I can't wait for winter to be over. I want to enjoy being outside again!

[ClassyMrsA]

mmheartspb My nipples hurt really bad for a while, too. I wanted to give up after a week. I thought for sure I had thrush after about a month, but I didn't. It slowly got better and I feel like around 6 weeks it didn't hurt anymore. It's really hard to keep going when it hurts, but for me it did get better. Now I'm really happy I kept going because it's so easy to feed her and it's actually a really pleasant time for us.

[veganlady]

Feb 3, 2015 11:13:46 GMT -5 @enchanted said:

Age:


Milestones: he sat up on his own for the first time today! We also saw some army crawling last weekend


Challenges: sleep. Though we did get some quality zzzs last night. Hope that continues.


Funny/cute stories: we have the first signs of stranger anxiety and they manifested on my SIL. Hee hee.


How are you? Doing well. Milestones are bittersweet because we are one and done.


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow?
I want winter to go away.

[rn536]

Age: 10 weeks


Milestones: nothing really. Just lots of smiles and giggles.


Challenges: he refuses to nap during the day. I keep trying the crib so he gets used to it but he refuses to sleep there. Stares at his mobile for an hour then cries. Yesterday he was screaming hysterical and I didn't know what was wrong with him. Finally he fell asleep on my shoulder while I was walking around the house and I realized he was just so tired and that's why he was screaming.


Funny/cute stories: he comes off while nursing to smile at something behind me. A shadow perhaps?? Kind of freaks me out but he looks so cute while doing it.


How are you? Doing ok. Thanks for asking. Just tired as usual.


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow?

Don't really follow it. I hate winter but don't believe in that whole Groundhog Day thing

[rn536]

Feb 3, 2015 12:52:19 GMT -5 MoreThanSparrows said:

Age: 1 week today


Milestones: he is already up past his birth weight - 7 lbs 11 Oz today, 7 lbs 3 Oz at birth.


Challenges: sleep. I usually get a couple 2 or 3 hour stretches per night, so that's good, but DH has been keeping me up the last several nights, so I'm missing that first long sleep session...


Funny/cute stories: I just love all his little noises and faces. I always wondered what Itty bitty babies dream about that they make such odd faces and cute sounds...


How are you? I'm good. Very tired, but overall pretty good. TMI alert: I didn't have any issues in the two or three days after birth with BMs, but these last few days I feel very constipated. I was taking a stool softener but it didn't seem to help - only made me crampier, so I quit taking it just to see if it would help... only time will tell...


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow?

Congrats!! I missed your announcement. Try some miralax for constipation and drink lots of water.

[rn536]

ClassyMrsA how about a probiotic for the constipation? They make them in drops. It's so hard to watch your baby struggle with pooping. I also found if you put a rectal thermometer in her butt as if taking her temp it sometimes stimulates a poop. Good luck and hope she goes soon.

[chknma]

Feb 3, 2015 11:13:46 GMT -5 @enchanted said:

Age: 9 months


Milestones: just getting better at standing, "talking"

Had her 9 month check-up 19 lbs, 10 oz and 27.75 inches. Dd1 was always in the 90+ percentile so it is funny that DD2 is in the 47th for height. Seems weird because she is already outgrowing her 9-12 month footies!

Challenges: we cosleep which I'm okay with because she sill feeds 2-3 times at night but I would love for her to go down in her own crib until her first feeding. But since I'm not doing anything to make a change, I guess I can't complain :-) too much


Funny/cute stories: she's sharing her toys and food. So I make silly sounds and she gets the biggest smiles


How are you? I've been crabby lately. Nothing specific going on, just a little irritable.


QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow?
I can't remember the groundhog ever not seeing his shadow! I'm ready for spring. February and January are like torture! The holidays are over, but the weather still sucks. I need more outside time for my 3 y/o to burn some of her crazy off!!

[kjsbabe]

Can I join ?

Age: 4 weeks tomorrow

Milestones: DS is starting to sleep a little better. He's gone from waking every hour to every 2-3 at night. I'll take it! The swaddle has really helped.

Challenges: Every time I put him down he wails and doesn't stop until I pick him back up. He wants to be held all.the.time. Occasionally I have to put him down to help DD with something or go to the bathroom, and he just screams the whole time. It's especially fun when they both cry at the same time...

Funny/cute stories: More about DD than DS, but I love it when she hugs and kisses him. She loves him so much and it just warms my heart!

How are you? Tired, but hanging in there. It's been almost a month and I feel like I'm still getting the hang of this two kid thing. It's a challenge. DH is going out of town this weekend, so I'm going to be completely on my own for three days... *Sigh*

QOTW: I feel like he always sees his shadow, so I just expect it. Winter doesn't end here until at least April normally.

[kjsbabe]

mmheartspb BFing the first month or two can be really challenging. I feel you on the sore nips! The first week I was in tears every time DS latched because it hurt much. What helped me was after he ate I'd express a little BM and let it dry on my nipple, then slather it with lanolin, and put a nice soft breast pad on. I hope the LC can help, too! Hang in there! It will get better.

[rn536]

Feb 4, 2015 11:00:37 GMT -5 @enchanted said:

rn536 I'm sorry naps are so rough. Do you have a swing or a bouncy chair you could try for naps? Muppet wouldn't nap in his crib much either when he was younger. The swing was a lifesaver.

chknma That little girl is going to take off walking on you one of these days.

He will only nap in the rock and play and I have to sit there rocking it until he falls asleep.

[MrsAdventure]

Age: 12 weeks, 2 days

Milestones: She found her feet yesterday morning. And she's already got it in her head that she wants to try to sit up without support... Unfortunately, her torso has other ideas and she keeps face planting or toppling to the side when she tries (she is always supervised for these attempts). She's grabbing things like crazy, and everything goes into her mouth.

Challenges: She's begun teething... So super fun times... Not. And I had to go back to work yesterday, so that sucks. But I thought that, at least, when I got home, she'd be all happy. Nope, both days she perks up to my voice, then starts bawling and doesn't want me to hold her for the first half hour or so.

Funny/cute stories: My dog has always been interested in Pips, but being so young, she couldn't interact. Now when Jinx gives her kisses, she squeals and smiles and try's to shove her away. She laughs when Jinx goes after her ears and feet.

How are you? Good most days. But sometimes I look at her, especially while she sleeps and it crushes me that I never got to know Zoë this way. Going back to work has been bittersweet, but we are gearing up for Valentine's Day so I'm grateful for the busy atmosphere, it keeps me distracted.

QOTW: Happy or mad at the groundhog for seeing his shadow? I like winter. Here in Oregon not so much, but when I lived in Montana, it was wonderful... But it's just rainy and gray here, so spring is welcome any time now.

[rn536]

Feb 4, 2015 13:33:17 GMT -5 kjsbabe said:

mmheartspb BFing the first month or two can be really challenging. I feel you on the sore nips! The first week I was in tears every time DS latched because it hurt much. What helped me was after he ate I'd express a little BM and let it dry on my nipple, then slather it with lanolin, and put a nice soft breast pad on. I hope the LC can help, too! Hang in there! It will get better.

I second this! It will get easier and will get painless. Right now at 10 weeks LO pops on and off with no help and is done with one boob in 10 minutes or less. I never need nipple cream now either. Hang in there!!!

[dragonfly1809]

Jumping in!

Age: 2 weeks 3 days

Milestones: He's finally really gaining some weight. He dropped a fair bit because my milk was slow to come in, but now is nursing like a champ.
He's keeping his eyes open more in the last few days. He's more alert and seems to try to focus on things.
A big milestone for us was getting past the 11th day. We lost our son Finn during his 10th night, said our goodbyes on his 11th day... getting past that with Oliver and having everything going so well is a wish come true. I've felt a great sense of peace since.

Challenges: Sleepless nights. DH and I are walking zombies.. I really struggle in the late evening - and it seems Oliver is a little more difficult to settle in those hours. By the 3am-ish feeding I do much better.. It's weird.

When I do sleep I've been having nightmares and major sweats.. The subconscious mind can be really cruel.

Funny/cute stories: DH is such a proud new dad. After all the years trying, miscarriages, the loss of Finn...I've never seen him so devoted and doting. It's really sweet. He loves getting out to introduce Oliver, and inviting people over (not overwhelming, just enough) ...he keeps mentioning how it hurts him that so few people got to actually meet Finn. Being able to have our friends meet Oliver is a big deal for him, and I love seeing him so happy - finally.

QOTW: I just can't wait for the weather to get nicer and the sidewalks clear. I want to walk with Oliver in his stroller!! I'm so over snow and cold.