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Aw, I feel so bad for you guys, me your dad. Our kid just turned 6 weeks old, and it's gotten a lot better. We're still fumbling our way through this baby care thing, obviously, but to me it seems like those really early days went by fast. Hopefully as as little more time passes, you'll find it more rewarding. We've entered the smiling and cooing zone, and I am here to tell you that it is absolutely delightful. Relaxing at home should still be able to happen. Movies, shows and games can all be paused to change a diaper or get the baby fed. I've gotten good at holding an XBox controller and the baby at the same time. A Nook is good for one-handed reading while you're rocking the baby. There's still plenty of stuff you can do at home. As far as going out, gently caress a waiting period - I would have gone totally crazy if I'd had to stay in the house this whole time. Even going to doctor's appointments (and there have been plenty) has been almost nice! Hooray, an opportunity to wear clothes! We also did Thanksgiving and two parties, and have had lots of friends and family over. We're planning our first dinner out soon (easy mode - just a pizza place). OK, I wanted to put out a PSA to first time mothers - RESEARCH BREASTFEEDING. It doesn't always come as easily as it's made out to. Read everything you can, take a class, whatever. Videos are very helpful. For some reason that was the one thing I slacked on when it came to preparation, and I've had a hell of a time as a result. I was so focused on preparing for the birth, and thought we'd just flow into breastfeeding, and that hasn't turned out to be the case at all. While you're recovering immediately after having the baby and have the availability of nurses, midwives and lactation consultants, get as much help and information as you can.
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Dec 22, 2011 06:55
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| # ¿ Apr 18, 2024 08:36 |
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Crazy Old Clarice posted:the progression would be: try to strip the membrane (this is the only option that would allow me to go home immediately all others apparently require staying at the hospital), if that doesn't work try cervadil, if that doesn't work then pitocin, and finally C-section. For each of these options there is 24-hour waiting period involved where the midwives are hoping that the induction will take and they can let the body go from there without further intervention. I also had midwives, and we did a "gentle" induction. Cervidil came first, and what that does is ripen and thin the cervix. You don't want to start Pitocin with a firm, completely closed cervix. Sometimes the Cervidil alone can kick-start labor, but that wasn't the case for me. After 24 hours of Cervidil, I was at 3cm and Pitocin was started. For most women, that will induce labor. For me, it didn't. The nurses were all shocked. The Pitocin was started low and the dose was bumped up every 30 minutes. When I got to the max dosage with no progression, we decided to break my water, and that's what got everything moving. Just wanted to give you some info on the Cervidil, and say that they should not be jumping right to c-section after Pitocin. Next time you see your midwife, ask about the possibility of water-breakage if Pitocin doesn't do the trick.
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Jan 5, 2012 19:28
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Aw, what a cute little glowbaby!peanut posted:My period came back right before Bug turned 1 and I've pretty much lost my breastmilk.
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Jan 11, 2012 13:47
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I would look for a secondhand jogging stroller - that's the kind of thing people buy, don't use and then get rid of when it's still in good shape.  That's my plan for when I'm ready to start running again. As for car seats, we got the Graco Snugride 35 and it's been great. (Not that I have much basis for comparison.) When I had to pick out baby stuff, I looked at reviews on Consumer Reports, Babies R Us and Amazon and generally chose what everybody liked.
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Jan 11, 2012 17:30
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Anybody breastfeed and NOT co-sleep? Our little guy sleeps in his crib in his own room. Our bed is too small for co-sleeping - I get crowded out on a nightly basis. I wanted to have him in a cradle next to my side of the bed, but there wasn't enough space (we have a little house with small rooms.) I'm quick to respond when I hear him on the baby monitor and he seems totally fine, but I feel guilty, like he's not getting enough contact with me or something, and might be missing feeding opportunities. He's a happy baby and is gaining weight steadily, though. He wakes up 2 or 3 times in the night, eats and gets a diaper change, and goes back to sleep. At 2 months in, here are some baby items I particularly like and/or use a lot. - Aforementioned Graco Snugride 35 bucket car seat. Snaps into any Graco stroller. - Baby swing. I call it the Magical Coma Swing; it chills him out so well that it almost feels like cheating to put him in it. - Kick & Play Gym, which my sister gave us for Christmas. He LOVES this thing, and it's nice for tummy time. - Sunbaby cloth pocket diapers. Best deal around for this style of diaper, from what I can tell. - Changing table. I really like having a changing station, especially since we do use cloth. We got one secondhand for cheap. - Cloth breast pads. (I like saving money.) - Backpack diaper bag. - Flat cloth diapers, to use for everything (burp cloths, laying down on surfaces to catch baby juice, extra stuffing in pocket diapers, nursing covers, actual diapering). - Double electric breast pump. I had horrible issues with latching initially, ended up with cracked nipples, and had to pump so I could heal. I have a Medela Pump in Style. - Boppy pillow for feeding and for baby to hang out in. - Plenty of nursing tanks. Target has a good variety. - Halo SleepSak Swaddle. He loves being wrapped up in this thing. If you have a baby shower, don't bother registering for clothing, toys, towels, washcloths, bibs, blankets, bath products or burp cloths. People will probably buy the poo poo out of that stuff. And disposable diapers and wipes. We mostly got 0-3 month clothes, and since our guy was big, he fit into most of it right away. We did get WAY too much of it, though; he's already outgrown a lot of things and will never wear them. I'm now having the opposite problem - people are giving us clothes in 2T. "Here ya go - store this in your tiny house for a year!" 
The Young Marge fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Jan 13, 2012 |
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Jan 13, 2012 01:42
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Bring something that can go on your feet after they become unbelievably swollen from all the IV fluids! That poo poo was unreal; no shoes fit for a week or two. A Boppy is a great idea, so are a blanket and pillow from home. Stick an air mattress, sleeping bag and pillow for your husband in the car, to bring in as needed. I liked having my laptop there to watch DVDs during the lengthy induction. Chapstick, hair ties and my own toiletries were awesome. I really wish I'd had nursing tanks and nursing pads with me; those hospital gowns are scratchy and uncomfortable against sore nipples. Wear some sort of comfortable bottom that is conducive to heavy bleeding and frequent pad changes. You barely need anything for the baby; the hospital has diapers, wipes, blankets and pacifiers. Just bring something for him to wear for going home, a car seat and a warm blanket to tuck around him.
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Jan 28, 2012 04:26
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I stole as many of those giant pads and mesh panties from the hospital as I could. Very useful. When I ran out, overnight pads were great. Then just thin pantyliners once it started tapering off. Yeah, I bled for 7 weeks, got a week off and then got my period. What a load of horseshit.
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Jan 31, 2012 01:25
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Bahunter22 posted:Anyone with big knockers have experience with nipple blanching after they nurse? I'm getting baby to open as wide as possible when she nurses and I make sure to break the latch (correctly) if its causing pain right off the bat, but the blanching when we are done is really lovely and it burns. Fortunately I don't get the burn, but my nipples definitely get compressed, in the "new lipstick" shape. Check out this page on Kellymom for info about blanching after nursing. It could still be a shallow latch. For all the insistence in articles that pain is not normal and you can correct it, sometimes there's just not a lot you can do at first since the baby's mouth is so tiny. For me the latch keeps getting better over time as he gets bigger.
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Feb 5, 2012 20:56
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I know the breastfeeding discussion is petering out, but I wanted to weigh in on this since I was in the exact same boat as some of you. I had cracked, bleeding nipples, horrible pain and so much stress that I thought I was losing my mind. I would lie awake scared of hearing him cry for food. I actually started feeling resentful of the baby and the pain he was putting me through. It was just horrible. In addition to the bad latch problems, he wasn't gaining weight well. Turns out that he would get on a boob and suck but not actually eat. I started doing some pumping at about 1 week because we thought my production was low, and soI had a way to make sure he was eating. The pain and bleeding got bad enough that I switched to exclusive pumping. I healed physically but didn't get up the courage to try nursing again for another couple of weeks. And then cracked and bled all over again. At some point I felt better enough to try yet again, and it was better (at least I wasn't dealing with nipple trauma). I continued with night bottles because I was still feeling the stress and fear of breastfeeding and didn't want to deal with that in the middle of the night; it was still not going great and I just wanted to make sure the baby would go back to sleep after night feedings. But as we got more experienced, pumping finally turned into more of a hassle, I gave night nursing a try, and it worked. This was a big confidence-booster. I wasn't exclusively nursing until 2 months. Over that time I read everything I could, saw an LC three times and stuck with pumping 8x per day or so (when I was exclusively pumping). We're at 4.5 months now, and we're totally fine. The pumping saved breastfeeding for me. It was so upsetting at the time, especially at first even to be giving bottles, but I got used to it and it made life so much better. We also used some formula way back when he wasn't gaining weight. I just wanted to share my experience and let people know that it's totally possible to pump and let yourself heal (emotionally and physically) and try nursing again when you're ready. Everyone's different, some women won't respond well to the pump and some babies may have a hard time going back to the boob, so I don't know if I should be officially recommending switching to pumping for a bit. But it worked for us. I SO understand the stress and fear and resentment and pain, and hope my story is encouraging rather than ire-inducing. I remember being like "yeah, gently caress you" to anyone who would say it gets better. And yeah, kellymom is an amazing resource. And formula feeding is nothing to be ashamed of, no matter what anyone says. Keeping the baby fed and keeping yourself sane are the most important things. Good luck to everyone dealing with breastfeeding issues.
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Mar 31, 2012 13:41
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netally posted:Ha, I have never heard of a wipe warmer. They look awesome! When my kid was that age, I would always feed from one side, then change him, then feed him from the other side. I did the same thing if we used a bottle (I had to pump for a while) - just give him half, then do the diaper change, then the other half. Sometimes he would fall asleep on the bottle/boob, other times he'd need some rocking to settle to sleep. I tried to give it enough time to make sure he was in a pretty deep sleep before transitioning him to his crib. These days we just put him in a good nighttime diaper (cloth pocket diaper with wicking fleece next to his skin and extra stuffing) and don't do the middle of the night change. He also doesn't need the rocking after his feed; he just sleep-nurses and settles right back to sleep. It's awesome and doesn't take long at all. We worked on differentiating day from night from the stat, and it was/is awesome. Maybe we got lucky, but he caught on quickly and started going right back to sleep after being tended to from an early age. A nightlight is really handy, that way you can keep the lights really low while you tend to the baby. We just follow a "business only" nighttime plan - no talking or singing or playing with the baby, just tend to his needs efficiently and evacuate the premises.
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Apr 19, 2012 00:34
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CravingSolace posted:I saw my OB today. Thankfully, it wasn't my regular OB, but the female doctor I adore. Is there any way you can ditch your "regular" OB? He sounds like kind of a dick, and I'm irritated on your behalf reading about how he's been treating you. I don't know how your practice works or if you can request to have this female doctor deliver the baby, but it might be worth an ask. Re: breastfeeding a newborn, it was very tough for us. We dealt with low/no weight gain in the beginning, and I wasn't able to tell the difference between nutritive and non-nutritive sucking. Pumping saved me, but that's maybe a bit controversial (nipple confusion and all that). Please see an LC; they really help. The Young Marge fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Sep 4, 2012 |
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Sep 4, 2012 21:44
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I use All Free and Clear for cloth diapers, too. It seems that people are starting to discover that cloth diapers aren't as fragile as they're made out to be, and that mainstream detergents get them a lot cleaner than some of the detergents specifically meant for cloth diapers. A lot of people swear by plain old Tide these days.
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Sep 17, 2012 20:39
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Once the baby is a little older and you have a bedtime established, you should be able to do a lot more of the stuff you did pre-baby. Video games, taking turns going out with friends, etc. (And IMO, anyone who complains about having to wait until 8pm to play video games needs to seriously think about their priorities!) It was pretty magical when we got to the point when our little guy was sleeping through the night!
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Dec 4, 2012 22:25
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| # ¿ Apr 18, 2024 08:36 |
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^^^ That was my experience as well. The shots themselves were upsetting since it hurts to see your baby in pain, but he got over it quickly. The fussy aftereffects the next day were the lovely part! I've never heard of nursing during the shots, but probably still would not have done it even if I'd known. It's over so fast, and you're holding the baby the whole time. I bet you could totally nurse immediately afterward to comfort him, though.
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Dec 7, 2012 02:43
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