Late summer and fall bundles of joy

maddy, mason will nap about 3 cat naps during the day, he wakes up at 7am then will go back to sleep till 9 or 10, i put him down at 1pm and he'll sleep till about 3pm, then he takes another catnap at 6pm and bed at 8pm, everyday is a bit differant though. but ya he goes to bed at 8pm and sleeps till 7am, its so nice, your little once also sleeps real well at night. He has been eating a ton lately, then my milk came in to support it and he stopped, grrr. I also cant wait till summer, i get sick of bundling up when we go outside for walks.

Em – See I gained 23 lbs total but already being a bigger girl did and didn’t help too much. I’m hoping that as well with the holidays passed and a new mind set this weight can go bye bye bye!! That will be fun to go on a girl’s trip and I’d probably feel self conscious myself about bathing suits… they are never my favorite shopping trips! I know what you mean! A girl I went all through school with is on my FB page and she’s had 3 boys and you wouldn’t even have a clue she’s had babies!! Grrr! ;) Don’t feel guilty at all our LO’s take a lot of time at times so I wouldn’t think that staying at home you have any more chances to get stuff done then we would! : ) I hope Marley’s naps get longer too!! I hope the Kindermusik classes work out great and maybe she’ll come home and nap. I haven’t read any books yet just been winging it! Maggie is really SUCH a great baby… we always look at each other and say how good she is to us! Course we’ve not really hit anything big like teething much yet so we’ll see how her disposition changes then.
 
As far as the CIO we haven’t had to do that yet or just haven’t I guess. In the evenings, we have a pretty good routine where between 7:45-8 we give Maggie her bath so she knows it’s night time and she’ll eat and for the most part falls asleep between 8:30-9:30. Last night she was up till almost 11 but I think she may have had a late nap and was just wanting to be UP! LOL I’ve set her in her pack n play a few times while she’s still been awake when fighting sleep and she’s fallen asleep on her own.
 
If your on FB add me too! Shannon Tiller Wilson I am on Mary’s page as well! :o)
 
Mary – I can’t believe it’s already been 6 weeks! Time is flying by! I don’t recall it going this fast when pregnant! LOL Love all his pics on FB too! I’ve moved the straps twice on Maggie’s and we’ve already ordered her new car seat! It goes up to 100 lbs and I know she can’t wait for the extra room!! She’s about to outgrow her carrier length wise and if I am not singing or something to her while putting her in there she arches her back and acts like she doesn’t want in there. Love that we’re all loving our LO’s!!
 
Maddy – Yes they are SO not fun as I’ve had my fair share since I’m not (or wasn’t) a big water drinker! Luckily everything looked great Friday at her f/u apt and her culture results came back clear yesterday so she’s back to 100%! :o) That’s what I thought too about her drooling and fist in the mouth. We’ve gotten her several teethers and I think it’s a matter of time before she’ll start to hold on to them. OUCH about Rylan getting your nipple! I bet that hurt! I haven’t started solids yet since she was sick. I asked her Dr about adding the rice to the bottle again (did it when she was younger thinking it would help the reflux but stopped before 2 months) and she said not till she shows me she’s not getting enough with the formula which my Mom seems to think she is so I’ve been trying to make her night bottle mixed with rice but I barely add a tsp and sometimes it’s too thick for her stage 2 nipple (Dr. Brown’s) which I don’t get! I watch my DH’s cousin just dump odd various amounts in his 10 months old bottle and she consumes it (she was born 2 ½ months early). I may try her on cereal this weekend to see how she takes it.
 
Yay for a healthy baby boy! I bet you guys are all excited and how great that they will be close in age! Yes I love getting her and seeing her smile! I used to whisper in her ear to remember that I’m the Mommy when dropping her off at the sitters! ;) I wish I would’ve been able to keep bf as I would’ve hoped it would’ve helped with any weight loss but the rest is on me. I’m hoping now that our LO’s are getting older as Maggie sits in her activity center and plays that I can get on my gazelle and get some exercise in. I can’t wait for Spring to get out and start walking with her and our furbabies. Have you gotten any cute pics of Rylan eating her cereal all messy? Loves these times where they are learning and figuring out something new! Maggie is standing up well too and I’ve actually gotten pictures of her standing up in her side rocker and then I caught her trying to climb out (crawling wise)!! She making me have gray hairs already!! LOL Awe I bet she’s cute in her Jenny jump! We got the Baby Einstein jumper and I can’t wait for Maggie to tear it up!
 
AFM - Took Maggie to the Dr on Friday for her f/u apt and she is 26 1/2 inches long and weighs 16.4 lbs! She is going to be an amazon woman like her Momma! LOL She's all better now thank goodness and I hope that she stays that way. We go for our 4 month shots in Feb (even though she'll be 5 months at that time) and I'm off work that day. Hope she does as well as she did with her 2 month shots.

EM, i dont know why i have such great sleepers, i started putting mason to bed at 8 after a bath and he gets certain pj's and swaddled, if he wakes up after i put him to bed i give him his binky and dont pick him up. i used to put him to bed sleeping, then half sleeping, now i can lay him down wide awake, nap time is like you, he dosnt nap for long periods of times, cat napper only, i am just barely starting to do a nap schedule to get both boys on the same so my mom will have them napping together while she babysits. i keep mason up and try not to let him sleep at all until 1pm, its worked for only two days so far, but i am trying to keep it up. we dont have a feeding schedule, its on demand, but i'm happy with that. look me up on facebook as well. tara higley mcmillan

Maddy, Marley has fussy nursing days too. She'll not want to eat and pull away and cry. I guess that it's common for that to happen to babies.  One thing I would say about not feeding at all at night, is watch to make sure your supply does drop, especially since you are pumping during the day. 
I just aim to keep going until 6 months. Anything after that will be a bonus!  I think we'll try rice cereal at 4 months if the doctor says it's okay.
 
~Em~

Hi ladies, i have been so busy with the holidays, i've tried to change my profile pic but it wont let me ever. I wish you guys had facebook, i have so many pics on there of the boys. 

EM, here is the facebook group TTC And BFPS Babymed Gals, you should just be able to search it in groups, ask to join, and then debra will accept, it'll be fun to see you there. 

mason is already 16 pounds, full of smiles and giggles, he has alot to say, will not take a bottle, and he sleeps for 11 hours at night, he's a pretty great baby. Its hard to deal with the two boys, but we are finally getting life on track and scheduled better, both boys go down for a nap at 1pm and sleep for two hours, that took awhile to get mason to nap when i wanted him too.

Hi all!  Sorry I've been MIA, it ouldn't send me a replacement password.  Jace is 6 weeks old tomorrow...CRAZY!  He's so precious and I love having to boys.  Brody absolutley adores having a baby brother.  He is just groing so fast.  No more newborn diapers or clothes :(  And it's time to move the straps on his car seat.  I love every minute of it though! :)

Shannon, I'm 11 pounds off my pre-pregnancy weight, which is not bad, considering I gained 48 pounds!  But I think I'm going to have to work that 11 pounds off as it doesn't seem to be going on its own.  I didn't gain anything over the holidays, though, so I'm hoping that now that I'm eating more sensibly again, it will start to go down.  My best friends from childhood and I are doing a girl's trip in April and I am feeling very self-consious about wearing a bathing suit.  I didn't like wearing one before I got PG and now with the stretch marks and such...UGH!  I envy those women who can wear a bikini after they have given birth.  With the wrinkles of skin and flab, NO WAY.  Hopefully I can find some bathing suit that doesn't make me want to crawl into a hole.
 
I'm sure it's hard to keep up with your house while you're working.  I think I feel even guiltier about the state of my house since I am home all day.  I feel like it should be perfect and I should have dinner on the table when DH gets home.  That is certainly not happening!!
 
I don't know why Marley is such a short napper, but it seems pretty typical for babies her age to not be into napping long yet, from what I've read.  I'm hoping it will stretch out in the next few months.  At least she is pretty predictable with her naps and such. 
 
I've signed Marley up to go to Kindermusik.  I'm excited to take her, but a little worried since it falls during her morning nap time.  I may have to switch to another class if she is sleeping or tired or grouchy during classes.  I also signed her up for a free Gymboree class, but decided to do the Kindermusik instead.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm making good mom friends at my MOPs group too.  I certainly manage to keep busy.  I feel like the days are all the same, but it's still fun.
 
I'm on POP for BCP.  I think they are giving me headaches, but I don't want to stop taking them.  I'll be glad when I'm not BFing and I can take my regular pills again.  But I will keep BFing as long as I can!  I have to keep telling myself that!
 
So what are some of your favorite books you've read about babies and parenting?  I love Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  That is my favorite one so far.  It's great!  Are you all letting your babies "cry it out" at all?
 
~Em~

Shannon, I’m glad that you are liking your sitter. I’m sure it’s hard to have Maggie not with you, but good to know that you have someone you can trust. I’m sorry it’s been so hard going back to work and balance cleaning and keeping the house. It’s so hard to get everything sorted out. I can’t imagine how hard it is with working too. I can hardly keep everything straight and organized even with staying home. I think you should take the time to get your house cleaned on MLK day. You will feel better if you do.I’m remembering when we found out I was pregnant with Marley too. That was on January 11th, though. Such a change in a year!

Caroline, I’m glad to hear that Rachel is sleeping through the night. Marley will sleep about 4-6 hours at a stretch at night. She is still waking up to eat, though. I will let her do that for a while yet as she is still so little. She is cooing and laughing and trying to sit up. It’s great! Although she no sense about trying to sit up yet, so she falls flat on her face if you aren’t watching too closely. She likes to be propped up and then she does this crunch movement where she tries to sit up. I would like to have another one for sure, but I want to wait to start trying until Marley is about 18 months old. That’s my hope anyway. I’m sorry you are wanting one so badly and DH is not on board.

Maddy, are things still going well with your uncle keeping Rylan? I hope it’s still going well. I’m glad you are able to be so laid back about the housekeeping. I think I am too hard on myself sometimes. I’m sure your family is getting excited for your twin to have her LO in March! So fun! I’ll bet Rylan’s little teeth are so cute! I’m glad to hear you are still BFing. I know you were having some problems with that. Marley is still BFing too. She is mostly doing well, but has been fussy about it today. I just keep telling myself that I am over halfway to my goal of BFing her to 6 months. Of course, I will keep going at 6 months most likely, but I decided to set that as a goal for myself.

Staying home is good, but harder than I thought. I find that being home gives me too much time to worry about little details too much. I worry too much! I’m getting somewhat better, but when Marley has a time when she doesn’t want to eat or something, I tend to just focus on that. That’s the hardest part of staying home I think. That and feeling like I don’t have anything productive to contribute to conversations that doesn’t involve feeding or pooping. It also doesn’t help that Marley is the world’s shortest napper. She naps for about 30-45 minutes per nap still. I’m hoping that as she gets older, that will stretch out. It’s a bit frustrating and not easy to do something in that amount of time. But she is in her crib at night for about 12 hours (with two feedings in there) so I can’t complain too much.

I’m so glad you ladies are back!!!

~Em~

shannon .. it is a tough decision on weather to leave her with the sitter
or not when u are not working ,, but u do need some alone time weather its to clean
the house and not stop 500 times to feed or change maggie  or to do
nothing mayne give yourself every second xtra day off for yourself ???
tell dh he cant leave maggie on her own that would be cruel ,,
but iknow things are more expensive over there to have a baby ,,,
i love your new yr pics of maggie she is getting really big ,,it goes so fast it scares me
as you really do forget how small they are ,,,,,
we will be bringing rachel over to london when she is 1 so im hoping we will
decide what we are going to do about another one or not ,,,, as ill have to do the ivf again ,, i have to start the bcp on my nxt period and i hate having to take it :( but
we have to be sensible on not getting caught !!!!!!!
 
 

hi ladies ,,, im sorry ihavnt been on here at all ,
have been more on fb,,,

hi em im glad you had a lovely xmass ,how are things
going are you settling into a routine ,,

hi shannnon ,,,,that was a pity u had to go back so soon ,but as u said you have a sitter which is really
good ,, ya this xmass the babies are a bit boring but
nxt xmass will be great

afm ,,, well things are a bit busy with 3 kiddies but i love
it ,, rachel is sleeping through the nightand she is really
smiling her brothers are delighted with her ,,,

can ii ask are any of you broody for another one ??
i am and i dont want to be , dh has said she is the last
and im screaming inside saying oh no shes not ,,
but i dont think i can affoard the ivf again ,,,

hi to everyone else hope your first xmass with the babies went great

Shannon, I'm good.  Our Christmas was good.  Of course Marley didn't really know what was going on, but it was still fun to have her around for her 1st Christmas.  How was yours?  How is it going back to work?  When did you end up going back? 
 
I love the pic of you and Maggie!
 
~Em~

Hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas!!
Em - miss BM too! I'm on FB a lot more but I've been back to work since Nov so I can now start getting on more frequently! Hope Marley is doing well!!

Congratulations, Mary!  Glad to hear that Jace arrived safely.  Sorry that you are in so much pain from the C-Section.  I'm sure that you just want to hold and carry Jace all the time.  Hopefully you will be healed soon so that you can do that.  I hope that his jaundice gets better soon.  Marley was very sleepy when she was first born too.  Getting her to wake up to eat was so horrible.  I'm glad she isn't that way now, although it would be nice if she slept more!! LOL 
 
So happy that your little man mad ehis arrival!
 
I guess no one else comes here anymore.  So sad.  :(
 
~Em~

Mary, Jace should be here!  Can't wait to hear how it went and see pictures of your sweet boy!
 
XO
~Em~

Mary – Good luck with the next week! Hopefully it’ll go quickly for you.
 
mgarcia – I wish that you would have joined in! Congratulations on your baby boy! The best of luck to you and your family.
 
Em – Are you happy being a SAHM? I love spending my days with Rylan but I find that I can’t get anything done! I just want to snuggle on the couch with her. That is awesome that Marley’s sleeping through the night! Rylan has twice now, it was pretty awesome but my breasts got really engorged! For the most part, we go to bed at 9-10pm and she wakes up once to nurse some time and then we wake up to nurse again at 6 am before I get up for work. I don’t mind that schedule at all! Being at work has been just fine, I miss her but it’s much easier than I thought it was going to be. I’m still nursing and pumping. We switched to the breastflow bottles and it has helped with her crying fits enormously! We’re now bonding during nursing instead. Do you think you’ll stick with the nipple shield long term?
 
 
How is everyone else??

Hey ladies!  I am still here, but I don't know if you all are!
 
Marley is getting bigger and bigger and is doing so well.  I am still nursing her with the nipple shield, but she does so well that I don't mind.  Her reflux seems to be under control now and she is starting to sleep through the night!  I think she has a little cold right now, so she didn't sleep well last night, but 3 nights this week she slept over seven hours straight!  It was awesome!!  :)
 
Staying home is going well and I am working on a routine for her each day.  How has it been going back to work Maddy and Shannon?  How is everyone else doing?  Miss you girls!!
 
~Em~

Hi Ladies,
None of you guys know me, and I'm not sure that anyone is reading this thread anymore; but I just wanted to tell you guys Thank You!  I have been silently stalking this board for the past 11 months...and unknowingly you guys have given me a lot of strength and courage and tons of advise during that time.  I am just not one to post on community boards, so I never posted anything.  I am a mommy to 2, just had my 2nd boy in September - we had 2 heartbreaks while trying to get pregnant with our 2nd.  I was so terrified during this pregnancy that something was going to go wrong, but with alot of prayers nothing did and I have a healthy baby boy. 
Again - THANK YOU - for helping me stay strong.
mgarcia

em, mason has a bm after everytime he eats, so about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, and he pees alot, with my first baby, we left him in his diaper for awhile and didnt go through alot of diapers, but mason has to be changed at every feeding, his pee soaks the whole diaper all the way to the back, and then will leak through his clothes, making the back wet of the clothes wet, looks like we will be spending more money on diapers this time around :(. so not looking forward to the time change this sunday, em your little one will be going to bed at 7 instead of 8 though :)

Em – What happens when you don’t use the nipple shield?
I’m glad that Marley had her BM! I bet her tummy does feel better.
I guess that I don’t ever try to put Rylan down to sleep unless it’s night time. I just let her do her thing. She wants to be held most of the time, awake or asleep!
 
Tara sue – She doesn’t mind expressed breast milk in a bottle. I think she might be having some nipple preference and thinks that bottles are easier and better. At least I don’t have to cut dairy out of my life!
I really liked having my baby bjorn for chores around the house. I’m sorry there’s some jealousy going on, that must be hard. Are you planning on going back to work?
 
 
 
I hope you’re all great!

Maddy, if you can find a lactation consultant that you trust and like, I would suggest doing that.  If this is something that is happening all the time, you want to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it.  I love my lactation consultant!  I am going to see her on Wednesday to get help with getting off the nipple shield.  She told me today that the way to get off it is just to start being persistant with not using it.  I was able to nurse Marley today without it!!  I will try again at the next feeding too.
 
Tara, Mason is so cute!  Thanks for sharing the pictures!
 
Marley has been awake all afternoon.  Well she took 3 20 minute naps...that hardly counts.  Now of course she is over tired and crying/fussy.  I am playing my FAVORITE game (insert sarcasm here) of put the pacifier in the baby's mouth.   I hate it!  DH is on the phone for business, though, so I have to keep doing it.  It's the worst.  I will be happy once she starts being more consistant with her napping.  Right now she either wants to nap all day or not at all.  I spent the entire afternoon trying to get her to sleep.  It was pretty awful. 
 
She did finally poop though, with some help, but I feel better and so does she.
 
~Em~

Grr..I had just typed a huge reply and I lost it! 
 
~Em~

Mady ~ April's little guy was tongue tied and she had problems with breast fedding I think.  i would ask about that.  I hope it gets better!!                                                                           Em ~ When babies are strickly breatfed they can go several days without a bm (or at least that's what Brody's first doctor told me).  Since most of what they eat gets absorbed there isn't much waste to come out.  That's probably why the office said to wait a week.  I think B's doc said to make sure he had 1 bm a week.                                                                                                                                AFM~ It's Nov & Jace will be here this month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  If only I could get DH motivated to finish up the nursery!  There's only a few things to be done: change 1 outlet & light switch, put in closet doors, install trim under window & above closet door.  It shouldn't take long, he's just so tired of working on it.  Brody had a blast trick or treating!  I don't think he remembers ever going.  Every house we came back from he ran to daddy & said "Daddy, Brody got candy!!"  It was the cutest thing!  After we got home DH asked if he had fun.  He said, "Yeah Daddy, Let's do it again!!"

Em – We use the MAM pacifiers and she just loves them. They’re not going to be very coordinated with any pacifier for a little while though. I read that while they’re sucking away, you give the pacifier a good tug occasionally so they learn what muscles it takes to keep it in. Rylan loves to grab her own pacifier and launch it across the room and then cry because she doesn’t have it in her mouth any more. Rylan usually sleeps from 10-11 pm to 8:30 and wakes up about 3 times to nurse. She’s a snacker and will only nurse for about 5-10 minutes at a time. How is the zantac helping Marley?
 
Tara sue – I completely understand needing your own time!
 
 
How was Halloween for everyone?
Ry looked so amazing in her costume but hated being put in it! We had to wait until she fell asleep in it to get her arms through. We took her my friend’s house for a party and she was a huge hit and then she got overwhelmed and it was time to go to her grandma’s. I had planned on having her stay there overnight but I couldn’t do it and I had to go get my baby a couple of hours later! I am not a party girl at all anymore lol.
 
 
I am getting to my wit’s end with breast feeding. She will just ball her little head off when I try to give her nipple! She shows all signs of being hungry and will latch on and then start to cry again and do this repeatedly. I’m really patient about it and let her cry it out but it can be very wearing on me. She will cry for 5-10 minutes and then throw herself on my nipple and then feed like she’s been starving for days. I have no idea what it is or how to make it better =[
Do you think that I should talk to a lactation consultant about it?
That’s pretty much the only time she cries though, she’s a very smiley and calm baby other than that.
 
 
I hope you’re all great!!!!! Love!!!

I tried putting Marley down without swaddling her last night and that was a no-go.  She was drowsy and falling asleep but kept waking herself up.  As soon as I swaddled her...bam...asleep!  She wasn't really interested in nursing last night and would only nurse for a 6 minutes or so and then fall asleep.  I think that she is trying to tell me to leave her alone and let her sleep!  LOL 
 
Maddy, how long does Rylan sleep at night?  I'm glad she did well with her shots. I'm not looking forward to that with Marley.  What kind of pacifier are you using?  We use the Soothie, but Marley isn't very coordinated at keeping it in, so if I give it to her, I have to keep putting it back in her mouth for her, which is hardly worth it.  I'm not sure if I should try a different brand or not. 
 
Well, I need to get the diaper bag re-packed so we can run errands. 
 
~Em~

Em - that's so great that you bring Marley to visit her daddy during the day! I think it's a really good idea for you to have friends to see during the day too. Adult interaction is something I appreciate from work. Rylan is really good about letting us set a bedtime for her. I bring her in to bed when she's awake and nurse and she usually falls asleep right away. I used to wait for her to fall asleep on her own but it wouldn't be until 2 am! Now it's between 10-11 and it works much better for my work schedule. My DH said she took her shots like a champ. She made a confused face for the first 2 and cried out on the 3rd but was fine after she got her pacifier. The shot locations seemed to of been bothering her a bit last night. It was hard to see her little pained face. She's 10lbs 5ozs, so she's growing just great.
You should try the baby bjorn! I doubt anyone would judge you for a messy house these days. You just had a baby!

How are the rest of you ladies doing??