PAIF Graduates - New Mommies - August 2018

byrneme

HOW IS IT A NEW MONTH AGAIN??? 

latershrader

HOW IS MY CHILD ALMOST A YEAR OLD?!? The summer is flying by isn't it??

Polythene Pam

I know! Celebrating my daughters 5th birthday this weekend, Graham is 9 months. Slow DOWN time!

we are loading up our last week of summer at home, as we’ll travel to my inlaws mid-August. Get home, start school. I’ll be excited for solo Graham time but he is going to miss big sister SO much. I really wish there was a pause button on life.

mbradfo2

One year ago today was my FET! It seems crazy to me that this little girl squirming in her crib (she's discovered that grabbing her feet is awesome fun) was just a bunch of cells in a catheter last year. If you were to have stopped me one year ago and said, 'Hey, you're going to have a baby next March!" I would have told you that you were crazy. 

Holls214

A year ago we had just had our ER. Crazy! We just got the bill in the mail for the embryos to keep them in the freezer. I’m still in so much pain everyday. I finally got an appt with the physical therapist. They were booking a month out and squeezed me in. Hoping to get some relief soon. I don’t think my husband understands sometimes how hard it is to take care of baby and deal with constant pain. Probably because I don’t complain about the pain much but it’s frustrating. 

mtpbadger

@holls214 I’m so sorry you’re still in so much pain! I can’t even imagine taking care of a baby when not feeling well....it’s one thing with lack of sleep being in pain takes it to a whole new level. Hopefully the PT helps and glad they were able to fit you in!!

MMD1986

Checking in for the month.  Crazy to think on this day one year ago I was 2 weeks post FET and now I have a 5 month old.  Time has flown by.

cashewchicken

A year ago today I got my first ever BFP! I didn’t poas before my beta and that day I even let the nurse’s call go straight to my voicemail. Met up with DH after work and listened to the voicemail together... surprise, surprise! Now my little boy is 4 months old!

I need to sleep train my boy. He’s been sleeping and feeding on demand but with 4 month regression happening (he’s in the middle of the fourth leap) I’m getting 4, 5 hours of sleep total and not in one stretch. I’m so tired at work. I’m also considering feeding him formula at night to see if he sleeps longer. Ladies that mostly breastfeed and also feed formula at night, do you give the baby just formula, or mix it with breast milk?

JWatt5

Parker is just over two weeks away from one year old! I was 38 weeks preggo this time last year!! 

@cashewchicken - you could try formula but it may not work. Even when we made the switch to all formula from breastmilk there was no change. It will be good try a bottle so you know he’s had enough food when you sleep train - or get DH to do a night feed once or twice a week to help you!!! DH used to do Saturday mornings for me so I could sleep - even now we do that haha

mbradfo2

@cashewchicken
lol, you sound like me with my BFP (last August 12th, holy crap). The nurses were shocked that I didn't do a HPT!  I was 200 percent positive that the transfer had failed anyway. I barely listened to the nurse when she called me until she said the word 'positive' and then I said, "are you sure?". You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Holls214

How did you ladies not test?! That’s awesome and some will power l. I tested on day 3. Haha. It was positive (thank goodness) and I kept testing until the beta because I’m crazy. 

cseley321

On my first IVF, the fresh transfer, I never tested and got my BFP which resulted in my oldest daughter. I didn't realize back then that they had cheap pregnancy tests, so that was my main motivation I think, lol.

For my FETs I literally tested every morning

cashewchicken

@JWatt5 Hmmm. So maybe it's not the breast milk digesting too fast but maybe my boy just doesn't want to sleep? I have a friend whose baby was born a week before mine and her baby takes formula at night and sleeps from 10pm until 7am. But my friend's baby is an easy baby (sleeps a lot after feeding) so maybe milk or formula doesn't matter. I think what we need to do is to set up a feeding schedule so that both DH and I aren't up at the same time. I'm a deep sleeper (even with the baby... yeah) and he's not so he jumps out of bed every time he hears a sound coming from the bassinet. And I'm breastfeeding so I can't sleep for a long stretch because I have to pump or nurse. So basically right now neither of us are getting much sleep. 

@Holls214 I didn't test because I was too scared to! I spent three years TTC before the FET and not a single BFP. The PUPO status was way better than BFN. I had a ton of internet cheapie pregnancy tests and the first response tests at home so I was a bit tempted but my fear trumped. I ended up using them after my beta though lol. Turns out my clinic doesn't offer additional betas if the first one was good. I thought the two week wait between the transfer and the first beta was hard, the two week wait between the first (and only) beta and an ultrasound scan was even harder! So I poas every day after the beta until the scan. Sometimes twice a day, because hey, why not and those tests are gonna go bad anyway.

Hopeful_mom

@cashewchicken they never did a second beta that's crazy!!
i will say I was told not to mix formula with BM and u feed them separately.  I also have mixed them in one feeding like 2oz BM and 2oz formula.  One time I gave her formula first and then BM in the same sitting and she threw up all over the place so don't do that . Definitely keep the formula for last!!  I also think the formula is a bit gassy so have some gas drops on hand just in case!!

byrneme

Reading all of these make me tear up!! Such a journey! I didn't test either - I was too nervous it had failed, I felt like it had. When the nurse called, I was like @mbradfo2 , said 'what? really?' and then just stood there in an empty office where I had gone in to take the call, fully prepared to be crying after they called. I walked to my boss' office (who also happens to be a good friend), closed her door and just stared at her in shock and said 'it worked'. Then I burst into tears and went home. To this day I have to laugh because I told her before my hubby. I was in such disbelief.

@Hopeful_mom they do say not to mix but that is because if the baby doesn't finish the bottle then you've wasted BM since you can only save the formula for an hour after they've started drinking it where, if they don't finish a BM bottle you have a lot longer. 

mtpbadger

I’m with you all non-testers! I let the call go to voicemail and DH and I both took a half day so we didn’t have to wait until after work. Although my cell phone transcribes Voicemail’s so when I went it hit play I did see the first word of the message was “congrats!” So I knew just before we listened. I had so many chemicals that the wait between the first and second was even worse though. I let that one go to voicemail too and played it over speaker phone to DH at work together lol. 

Holls214

Only one beta?! That’s crazy! I would have tested like crazy too. I think I had like 5 beta tests before our US. I agree about being scared. I had never seen a positive test in our 4 years as well. I just have no patience.  

mtpbadger

Abigail’s up to 9lbs 4oz (up 19 oz in two weeks!!) and is finally on the growth charts! The lactation consultant thinks the dr will be on board with reducing the amount of bottles/supplement and was really happy with her intake breastfeeding during the appt today which means I can reduce my pumping whooo!!! I’ll slowly start spacing them out and still do it a few times a day to be able to give 1-2 bottles each day and build up my freezer supply for when I go back to work. This is going to take some getting used to and I’m not going to know what to do with all this free time!! 

byrneme

Great news @mtpbadger !! Way to go mama!

persnickity

That's fantastic news @mtpbadger congrats!!

@cashewchicken my daughter was exclusively breast milk (now solids and breast milk) and would sleep 10-12 hours at 3-4 months. Then with leaps and teething and illnesses, she's never consistent. Some weeks it's once a night, others it's 4 times a night. But every baby is different. I actually used to sleep through everything and DH would wake up at every noise. Now he's used to it and sleeps through most of it and I only wake up for her hunger cry. Have you guys tried waiting a bit to see if he will put himself back to sleep? Not saying it needs to be a long time. Mackenzie is across the hall, so it's the time to get up, find my glasses, and go across the hall. Some times longer if I need a bathroom break first. I've read if you respond too quickly, that they may wake up vs putting themselves to sleep again.

mtpbadger

Breastfeeding is hard yall!! From going to knowing exactly how much Abigail was drinking to now having no idea and hoping for the best (and obsessing over if she got enough, has enough wet diapers, etc) is stressful! 

persnickity

@mtpbadger the baby connect app really helped with seeing if she had enough wet diapers, so I could keep an eye on it more easily. We also use our bathroom scale to get a general idea of weekly weight gain. One of us holds her and steps on the scale, then sets her down or hands her to the other person and gets back on the scale. Take the difference and you get a fairly accurate weight. It helped reassure me that she was on the right track.

Holls214

We also got a scale at home and do the same thing just to check weight and progress. It’s helpful. 

Polythene Pam

@mtpbadger way to go!! I went in for weighted checks because I was paranoid, but for me once the rolls formed I knew we were all good. You’re doing a great job!

mtpbadger

Glad it’s not just me! We have a weight check again on the 20th so we’ll see how it’s going and make any adjustments if needed. We are still going to do at least 2 bottles of the fortified breastmilk a day for peace of mind and also so DH can still feed her and have that bond. 

Hopeful_mom

That's awesome @mtpbadger congrats! I still can't understand your schedule pumping so much and BF her.  Lately I'm lucky if I pump 8/10 oz while I feed her the rest of the time.  It's now 9weeks and I'm thrilled I'm still at it.  I thought my boobs wouldn't need be killing as much but not yet!!!

when my boobs feel like they're going to explode and the baby is sleeping I pump and maybe get 3-4ozs it's crazy to me when I feel like I've got 16 in there for sure!!(and that's an hr if pumping I might add)  I know they keep saying the baby gets out more so I'm trying not to stress and so far so good at our last appt.

she has 2 vaccines and so far just seems to be very tired today so I'm just snuggling with her as much as she likes.  When do they start coming back to themselves? 

mtpbadger

@Hopeful_mom I felt like I was pumping all the freaking time. I’m so glad to cut back (but at the same time stressed about this new plan and normal lol). 3-4 oz each time is really good!! As long as your little one is growing that’s all that matters!! 

Abigail was tired for a good 2-3 days after her shots and then was back to normal. Enjoy those baby snuggles!

mbradfo2

@Hopeful_mom
It took Anne about 3 days (sat, sun, mon) to get back to herself 100 percent. She had a mild fever (100.7 was highest) for 24 hr, but it took another day or two for her temp to stay below 100 degrees (it wasn't fever level...but I was giving her tylenol so that could have lowered it).

cashewchicken

Thank you @Hopeful_mom and @byrneme. I won’t mix the formula and BM then. If we ever go with the formula for the night feed, I’ll probably just stick to the formula. 

@persnickity My husband does wait a bit before he responds to our boy. He often yells out from a nightmare? but goes right back to sleep. He usually cries out twice before he is up and he wants to eat. I’d say DH waits a minute or two to see if he stops crying before he picks the baby up from his bassinet. 

Congrats @mtpbadger! Not knowing how much the baby is drinking is hard, but as long as your baby is gaining weight according to her percentile’s growth chart, it’s okay! We supplemented with formula in the first two weeks to regain my son’s birth weight. By two weeks my milk had come in so after that he was EBF. Knowing that my baby will scream to let us know when he is hungry made me more confident about EBF. Figured if he is not getting enough from me, we will know. And the 1-month appointment was a nice confirmation that he was indeed getting enough nutrients from BF. Still EBF and he is growing right on track! You’ll do just fine!

mbradfo2

Ladies, when you started to introduce solids, did you ever have baby cry immediately after eating or shortly before finishing? I can't figure out if she was still hungry, not liking the food or just generally not ready for solids and stressed out. I'm going to ask my doctor, but I really think we should just stick to bottles for now.  She will take the food well initially but then sorta melt down after awhile. 

Aera11

I can't believe it's August...where is summer going?? Does anyone else feel like the days blend together?  We're finally getting into a routine & she's starting to have so much personality come through it's crazy she also rolled from front to back at 7.5 weeks so now I'm strapping her down in everything. When did you guys transition from bassinet to crib? Did you wait till baby slept through the night? She gets up once, maybe twice any time from 10:30pm - 9am, so I feel like sleeping through the night isn't too far away but since she rolled twice I'm wondering if she should be in her crib. I'll ask the pediatrician Tuesday but was curious what you guys did!

Yay @mtpbadger!! It'll be so nice to spend less time pumping.  We gave up on BF & I solely pump now.  I'm wondering if my milk supply will increase as she needs more. 

Awww I can't believe she's 9 weeks @Hopeful_mom!  Aisleigh goes Tuesday for her two month check up & it looks like quite a few vaccines.  

mtpbadger

@aera11 the days totally blend together!!! It’s nice not having such a set pumping schedule but she’s still struggling a little at breastfeeding at times so of course I’m second guessing myself if I should have stayed just exclusively pumping. I guess we will see how it goes over the next few weeks and I can always switch back. Since I’m not totally comfortable breastfeeding yet I’m prob pumping more than I need to still, just in case. 

persnickity

@Aera11 we started her in her crib, so I'm not helpful there, but wanted to chime in and say that Mackenzie slept through the night around 9-10 weeks and now wakes up once or four times a night. Sleeping through the night can change, so I wouldn't wait for that.

mtpbadger

We will probably transition her at the beginning of oct (so around 5 months), only bc her nursery is still the guest room and we have family visiting the end of sept and didn’t want to transition her and then have her back in our room when they visit and have issues putting her back in her crib. She does nap in her crib occasionally just to get used to it. She wakes up 1-3 times a night, depending on when she goes down and last eats before bed. 

MMD1986

@Aera11 We started transitioning Brooks to his crib around 4 months.  I wanted to wait until he could sleep through the night, but I honestly still don't think we are close and he is 5.5 months.  I put him to bed between 6-7 and he sleeps in his crib until around 12:30-1, when he normally wakes up to eat.  He then spends the second half of the night in our room because he gets really restless around 4 am every morning and I don't want to have to keep getting up to walk to his room to give him his pacifier back or to move him back to the center of the crib because he has jammed himself into the corner. 

Holls214

We haven’t started Bryson in his crib yet either. He is in his bassinet in his room though now. I have tried putting him down for naps in his crib since he will be doing that at daycare and he isn’t having it. He still wakes up twice a night or 3 times depending upon the night. Then he is typically awake at 7am ish. Yawn. 

cseley321

I transitioned my oldest from pack n play to crib around 3 months when she was STTN (she would wake up once maybe, but it was close enough for me)

Polythene Pam

Both kids went to their cribs around 13/14 weeks. My daughter was a unicorn sleeper who slept 12 hours straight by then, and we could’ve kept her with us longer, she was a deep sleeper, we just kept waking her early when my husband got ready for work so we felt like it was time. Graham still wakes at night at 9 months but the 4 month regression was BAD - every 45 min he’d want to nurse, so he moved to his room so we could do light sleep training. I missed them like crazy and had a hard time, but at the same time it was nice to get some “me” time back.

mbradfo2

We've been using the crib for awhile now; she just never settled well in the bassinet. She loves to squirm and roll about in her sleep (put her one direction and she'll be in the opposite come morning!) so the bassinet really cramped her style. I cannot however transition her over to the crib for sleep unless she's completely in a deep sleep -- she hates being by herself in the nursery - nor will she fall asleep on her own in the crib. So we usually let her fall asleep in one of the bouncers or the pack n play in the same room as us and then transition her later.

I dunno, I have problems leaving her alone to sleep -- mostly paranoia. So I'm usually camped out on the couch with the monitor on or the recliner in the nursery even if she is in her crib.

Sleep schedules vary alot still -- usually she'll sleep from 10 or 11 until around 8, but sometimes she'll wake up around 2 or 3 and want a bottle and stay up for another hour or so until falling back asleep until 10 or 11 am. I can usually figure out which pattern she'll use based on how much sleep she got during the day -- lots of naps and very snoozy? She'll probably be waking up in the middle of the night.  Few naps and awake more often than not? She'll be sleeping like a log.

Aera11

@mtpbadger I am sure she'll catch on & like you said, you can always switch back if needed.  I think I am mainly just over washing my pumping parts all day every day.  What a pain!  Yeah we have her nap in her crib too just so she's familiar with the space and the room, she just looks so little in it.

@MMD1986 yeah I realized after I said that, that even with longer stretches of sleep now she still may not sleep through the night for a while so I guess I just have to decide when I want to make that transition.  We were kind of doing what you're doing with Brooks for a while...she'd basically take a long night nap in her crib but we stopped that when we both started wanting to be in bed earlier (one of us would stay up til it was time to move her).

@PolythenePam I know!  I think I will miss her being next to me.  Which is so odd because the whole time I was pregnant, I was so adamant about wanting her in her crib/room early so she'd be used to it but now that she's here, I just like having her nearby.  I also know she might be our only baby and I want to selfishly savor everything.

@mbradfo2 I can let her sleep alone while I do stuff around the house but I constantly go look at her to see if she's breathing...so doing things takes twice as long because I'll go stare at her to see haha

mtpbadger

@aera11 I do the same thing with checking on her during the day, even though I can see her on the monitor And honestly I prob don’t even need that since our condo isn’t huge and I’d be able to hear her. 

Yesterday was a hard day. I think it was one of the hardest days emotionally and I lost it pretty bad. Thankfully DH was really supportive and sent me to bed early and took care of Abigail during his online mba class and all night. And she was extra fussy so he is a trooper. I think I was just overwhelmed with breastfeeding, making sure she had enough, it taking forever (!!!) and just being exhausted and not getting out of the house yesterday bc of weather. Today I’ve decided I’m only going to breastfeed every other feeding and give myself some grace.