PGAL/Rainbow babies check in 8/29

gadzooks_3

Congratulations to @Fremdschamen!  

I think we have one more expectant mom left, or are we all to the newborn stage now?

Weeks/Age: 

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to):

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes:

Questions?

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks?

gadzooks_3

Weeks/Age:  1 month 5 days

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to):  at his one month appointment he was up to 13 pounds. 

Rant/Rave/Positives:  Breast feeding is challenging, I am trying to stop supplementing but it is hard to stop.

Questions?

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks?

I have been binge watching "Jane the Virgin " while breast feeding. I feel a little bad, because screen time, but it is my guilty pleasure and it gets so many things about having a newbirn right, it cracks me up and makes me feel understood.

Fremdschamen

Thanks, @liljabee!  I'm so excited to have an outside baby!

Weeks/Age: 3 days

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to):  Midwife came this morning and will visit again on Thursday.  I'm mostly looking forward to my stitches healing up and feeling a little less bruised.

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes:  I'm still so amazed by how awesome my birth experience was and grateful for my luck.  So completely different from the birth of my DD1.  It was so empowering.  I also feel so much more attached to DD2 than I did after the birth of my first.

Questions?

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks?  Lots of snacks, since I figure it fuels milk production!  I have a secret obsession with diaper and baby laundry too, so I'm loving folding all of those little teeny items again, lol.

jacmkelley

Weeks/Age: 5 weeks 

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to): right now I'm absorbing as much baby time as possible no milestones needed. 

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes:

Questions?

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks? Naps I'm loving them. And I will miss them and this peanut when I have to go back to work.

sbelle474

Weeks/Age: 2.5 weeks

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to):  sleep?  Next appointment is one month, just trying to enjoy time with ds

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes:  really wish pp bleeding would stop. Realizing i can't keep up with breast feeding, then formula feeding, then pumping. It is wearing me down. 

Questions?

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks?  Holding LO and enjoying him add much as i can before i go back to work.  

JournoGrl23

Age: 10 days

What's next: pediatrician appointment on Sept. 15 and OB appointment to check c section incision on Sept. 8.

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes: DD gained 7 ounces in two days according to her last appointment! Hopefully she'll be back to her birth weight soon. My rant is the fact that I still haven't slept more than a combined two hours a day since she was born. I'm exhausted. And to make it worse I broke out in a full body rash that itches so bad I can't sleep for the 20 minute naps I get to take anyway. I'm apparently allergic to Dreft so we're now switching to free and clear.
 
Questions? Is anyone able to get DH to help out with LO? Mine went back to work after we got out of the hospital so he says he's too tired to do anything. It's frustrating and I feel like he never spends time with DD.

GTKY: I've been binge watching tv shows as well while breastfeeding. DD cluster feeds once an hour for 40 minutes for a 21 hour stretch each day before she finally falls asleep for three hours. I need something to keep me awake!

Jaspertheyoungturnip

Weeks/Age: 4 weeks 5 days

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to): Pediatrician appt on the 6th. He was up to 8 lbs 3 oz last Tuesday, so hopefully he's still growing well! 

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes: Jasper hasn't pooped in a week and a half. On Monday, I started to cut out dairy from my diet in hopes it would help with his gas/fussiness and poop. Today MIL is coming over to adjust LO, DH, AND I  (she's a chiropractor). FX that this poor baby gets it all out of his system. But maybe not all at once...

Questions? His pediatrician and everything I've read says it's completely normal for breastfed babies to go longer between bowel movements. Does anyone have experience with this?

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks? Being suuuuper lazy. I say that, but I still do all the laundry and cleaning, plus at 60% of directly holding and taking care of baby and pumping. I just do everything possible from the safety of the couch with extra pillows.

ramoseecology

@Jaspertheyoungturnip

DS pooped his 1st day 5 times, a few times on the 8th day and a few times on his 17th day and nothing in between. The doctor said it's fine as long as he's not having hard or weirdly colored poops. He's pooping more regularly now but still not every day.
Enjoy the  break!

ashleybaker712

@JournoGrl23 I've been dealing with that, too. 2 nights ago, I fed LO and put her down. I realized DS's school bag was in DH's car. He needed it for the next day and DH had to be at work at 7. I went downstairs to get the bag and apparently LO woke up crying. DH got up and stood at the bedroom door yelling and whistling for me instead of making her happy. Last night I pointed out how ridiculous DH was by joking about how he's not "off duty" from being a parent. We're both responsible for them - always! He laughed but I think I got my point across. Maybe pointing something out as a joke could help. Or remind him you had surgery, are still recovering, and have restrictions. That worked really well for me in the beginning.

Weeks/Age: 
4 weeks!

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to):
1 month appointment next week

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes:
Still waiting for her to start sleeping more at night. She's killing me!

Questions?

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks?
Snuggling on the couch with LO. I could easily be putting away clothes, doing dishes, or just cleaning but I'd much rather sit on the couch with the baby. Oops! Oh well. 

Bookhousegirl

@JournoGrl23 I definitely think it's important to have a talk with your DH and explain why you need some help. Maybe you can discuss one or two hours that he can be in charge of your LO - even if that means you still do the feedings during that time, but he handles all the comforting and diaper changes, etc. It's important for you to get a little break too!

Weeks/Age: 3w3d

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to): Doctors appt on Friday. I'm just looking forward to sleeping milestones!

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes: being home with 2 kids has been harder than I imagined. It's getting a little better, but I can't wait to find a groove. Also, LO is so gassy, but the pedi doesn't think it has anything to do with my diet, since he has no other symptoms. She said it's just his digestive system and it should get better around 6 weeks... I can't wait until then!

Questions? 

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks? Definitely tv, and some online shopping... I even ordered our groceries to be delivered tomorrow!

Jaspertheyoungturnip

@Bookhousegirl I'm pretty sure I have the gassiest baby alive. DH had colic as a baby (though I'm not sure if that's hereditary), so we're worried this is the beginning of it. He'll scream and cry and nothing will calm him until he burps or farts. And this kid rivals adult farts 

JournoGrl23

@ashleybaker712 and @Bookhousegirl thank you for the advice! I kind of exploded on DH last night and made him feel bad, which I shouldn't have done. But he did apologize and agreed to help more at night. Hopefully I'll be able to get some rest soon.

Fremdschamen

@JournoGrl23 I'm glad you talked to your DH. Mine had a really hard time adjusting to parenthood with DD1.  I ended up doing everything myself, sleeping only 2-3 hours a day for weeks at a time.  It led to awful PPD that lasted over a year (I didn't start getting more than 3-4 hours of sleep until DD1 was 18 months or more).

It can be hard for dads to realize just how much help is needed.  This time around, my midwives basically prescribed six hours of sleep a day (not continuous, but combined total).  I'm trying really hard to enforce that rule, even when it means handing DH a fussy baby and telling him not to come back for an hour or two.  You really have to force putting yourself first when you have a new baby.  This does not come easily to me at all, but it is so much better for the whole family in the long run.  I hope you can find some balance!

allishally13

Weeks/Age: 1 month today!

What's next? (milestones, appointments, something you are looking forward to): 1 month pedi appointment tonight, excited to see his weight gain and how much longer he is than birth.

Rant/Rave/Positive Vibes: So many positive vibes to all of you- these first few weeks have been such a struggle for me as a ftm. Breastfeeding exclusively (and pumping to bottle feed/create a stash) is way harder than I imagined and I'm just giving myself a pat on the back each day I am able to continue. I totally get why anyone would stop, it's a 24/7 job for weeks or months keeping up supply and not having issues. I'll admit, I've flipped on my dh a few times as it has been an even bigger adjustment for him and it's hard for us to get on the same page when I'm sleep deprived. But things get better every day and I hope they do for all of you as well!

Questions?

GTKY:  Any guilty pleasures you are engaging in at the end of pregnancy or during these newborn weeks? Snuggling baby as much as possible, and sometimes forcing snuggle time on dh when he doesn't realize he hasn't snuggled baby yet. Also, 99 cent dunkin donuts iced coffee between 2-6pm probably way too often, and frozen french toast sticks that I can heat up for breakfast (since I had gd during pregnancy, having something sugary and yummy has been awesome). 

JournoGrl23

@Fremdschamen I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm worried about something like happening to me as well. I only get two hours of sleep a day and it's been that way since DD was born. She nurses every hour, which makes it hard for me up get any sleep. She's also really fussy unless she's eating or asleep. And she sleeps about as much as me.

ashleybaker712

@JournoGrl23 hopefully she starts sleeping more soon and you find your groove. The first few weeks (or months) can be incredibly hard.

Maybe once your husband starts helping out, you'll be able to get some rest and your LO may start giving you a break!

Bookhousegirl

Has anyone heard from @lgem4? I'm sure she's just busy with her daughter, but I haven't seen her on at all in the last couple of weeks. 

bananers

@lgem4 I'm so glad she is coming home soon! Best feeling in the world. You'll be amazed at how quickly the NICU feels like it was worlds away. 

Bookhousegirl

So glad to hear that your LO is coming home @lgem4!! 

gadzooks_3

@lgem4. Wonderful to hear you should be able to take LO home soon