??? Weekly Check-in ???

Re: ??? Weekly Check-in ???

• expatjen member

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? K is 9 months.  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?  He stood without holding onto anything or anyone for a few seconds today.  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?  Next appointment is his 12 month check up.  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?  Separation anxiety.  I can't go to the bathroom or cook dinner or do anything without him plastered to me.  If I leave the room he screams.  If I put him in his walker while trying to cook, he screams.  It's crazy.  And I'm not getting much done.  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor?  I walked around a lot during the initial stages of labor and used the lamaze breathing as the pain increased.  I also tried to keep busy, reading, talking to DH or skyping with my parents back home to distract me from the pain.   (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles?  We used pacis very rarely.  K would mainly play with them and then spit them out.  He never used one to go to sleep, just didn't like it I guess.  We started bottles around 3 months.  There wasn't any confusion on his part, but he tends to play with the bottle rather than drink the milk, so it's essential for me to put a big bib on him (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them?  I think as soon as he can understand the concept.  Not sure when that's going to be, though.  
  (8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins?  How to start potty-training?  What techniques did you use?  What age did you start?  Did you use a little baby potty or did you put a baby seat on the regular toilet?

  **a girl from Hawaii, living and driving in South India**
  
  

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• SanHawaii08 member

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? 5 months!(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?  hrm...E rolls towards and reaches for his toys to grab them.  and he's mobile!  he's really good at scooting on his back, hah
  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?  6 months(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?  worried about my milk supply since i've gone back to work.  i'm having a hard time pumping as much as he eats during the day, and he drains my boobs a lot faster than he used to.  i don't think he's getting enough to eat, even when he's nursing(5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor?  breathing, darkened room, tons of counter-pressure for my back pain, standing and leaning forward with my arms on the bed, rocking my hips side to side.  eta: also, the tub was *awesome*, and i did a lot of visualization too(6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles?  started using pacis and bottles before we left the hospital (discharged at 2.5 weeks)  minimal confusion.  pacis only for naps and bedtime if he needs it, he doesn't always take it.
  (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them?  same as expatjen - as soon as he can understand the concept, but i haven't researched when that is
  

  

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• redshoegirl member

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? 1 year old in 1 week! Eeeek!
  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? Teething is going to be the death of me. No joke. Will is already cutting his canines (to which I said OMGWTFBBQ since they don't usually come in until about 1.5 years old...daaaamn my kids like to teethe early!) which means Dash won't be far behind. (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up? I should make that 12 month appointment, huh?
  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? The boys squashing their fingers in their toy chest lid. I know that sounds stupid, but it's making me crazy. They know how the lid works, and it has anti-slam hinges. They also know that if they leave their fingers between the lid and the sides of the chest, it will squash them. But for the last week or so, they've been doing it on purpose to themselves and then screaming and crying when it hurts and it's making me INSANE. I mean WTF kids?!? You know it hurts, you know what's causing it, you're doing it ON PURPOSE - just stop!!! I've duct taped a lump of padding (about 2" wide) on the front so that they can't really get their fingers stuck (it props open the lid too much) but now they're sticking their hands on THAT and squishing them. AAAAAACK! *sigh* I know this might make me sound like a totally unsympathetic parent, but I just.don't.get.it.
  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor? The only - ONLY - natural relaxation technique that worked for me was running water (sitting/standing in the shower). Visualization did nothing, and I was so tensely focused on what I was doing that I didn't want Ben or anyone else touching me, so massage etc. was out. But the water really helped, and I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. The nurses asked me a few times if I wanted to get in a bathtub, but I said no...I was so big that I was worried they wouldn't be able to get me out (stupid I know, but there you go lol!). (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles? I believe paci use started at around day 3. I say "I believe" because I was pretty much dead to the world with an epidural headache and Ben was the one that made the decision (which I was fine with). My boys had craaaaazy sucking urges and pacis were the only thing that ultimately helped soothe them.
  
  We started bottles when they were about a week old. Until then, we'd been supplementing with syringes to try to make sure they were nursing on me as much as possible, but at that point they needed more milk than a syringe would hold, so we swapped to bottles.
  
  FWIW, I've read that true nipple confusion is actually relatively rare, and generally only occurs in preemies (whose suck reflex is often not well developed). As I mentioned before, my kids had pacis from day 3, bottle supplements early on, and I can tell you that they absolutely knew the difference between a paci, a bottle teat and a boob lol! Usually the problem becomes nipple preference, since a bottle teat is easier to nurse from than a breast, and a baby can get "lazy" - but actual confusion, not so much.  (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them? Not yet - I've read there isn't much point starting before the child is 1.5-2 years old? That said, I suppose we've done kind of "mini time outs". The boys - especially Dash - used to have serious biting issues. I mean really bad - one time Will nearly broke my skin (actually scraped off the top layer of skin while biting through my shirt). We had to nip that in the bud because I was terrified they'd bite a kid at daycare and get expelled, so we'd sternly tell them, "Ow! No biting! We don't bite! That hurts Mama/Daddy." And then set them down on the ground and walk away for about 15 seconds (still within their range of sight, but the fun playtime that they were previously getting was over). They'd get mad and howl, but it got the job done - we had to do it regularly for about 1.5 weeks, but in the last month or two we've only had a couple biting incidents and a quick reminder that biting = no more playtime keeps them from doing it again.
  

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• inamra member

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?~11mo
  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?Good overall, tired and busy but glad that I'm finally in the last stretch of recovering from this cold. LO's been walking unassisted more and more now, which is fun
  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?1yr
  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor? Taking a shower was the best. I wished I used it more but I ended up trying breathing techniques (with music--I needed the music) which worked well and lasted me until they broke my water.
  (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles?Yup, he first used it day 2-3 in the hospital because the nurses gave it to him. Then I took it away and he didn't use it until maybe around month 1 or so? He had bottles starting from day 3-4 because I didn't have enough milk so we had to supplement. We had no confusion and he eventually EBF around month 2 until month 4 when we re-introduced the bottle before I went back to work but by then, he didn't want to take it because he preferred nursing so we had a hard time getting him used to the bottle again.
  (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them?Sometimes I walk away when he does something I don't like and even after saying no, he still keeps doing it. But I always come back after 10 seconds because usually he's on our bed (the only thing he does that I don't like is when he bites while nursing and we nurse on our bed) and I get scared that he might crawl after me and fall off the bed.
  (8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins?I put some questions down in the other post
  

  Sept 2008 Wedding | May 2010 & Mar 2012 Babies
  

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• stargirl76

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? 24 weeks
  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? Physically, I feel great. Had my monthly OB appt on Tuesday and meh. I'll share below. Also took my glucose screening test, and they said they'd get back to me yesterday (Wednesday) if I needed the 3-hour test, but no call. So crossing my fingers!
  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up? Tomorrow we have another ultrasound at the imaging location. Due to a previous LEEP, they're sending me in for more ultrasounds to periodically check my cervix.
  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? I go to a practice of OBs and I'm going through the rotation of all of them... the last doctor I saw is a... straight shooter, to say the least. As she was looking over my chart she was like "....holy, you've gained weight. Fast. ........yeah, that's going to need to......... slow down. A lot." And then proceeded to tell me to "cut the crap" from my diet! I mean, I know I may have indulged a little in the sweets... but I didn't think it was that bad and the other doctors didn't say anything (I've gained 16lbs, 90% of which is belly and a little in my thighs). So now I'm super self-conscious of my weight and what I'm eating Wah, wah, wah, pity party over!  

  cai(o)&cullen+ahk
  

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• vanilla15

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?  7 months

  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?  All in 2 weeks LO started sitting up on her own, to crawling, to pulling up!!!  I think it has totally messed up her sleep b/c her body & her mind just can't keep up with one another with these new skills.  She will wake herself up trying to stand up or crawl...I honestly don't know what she is trying to do, but between that and teething, the result is very sleepy parents!

  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?  8 month checkup beginning of next month

  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?  see above re milestones

  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor?  Once the contractions really started, I did take a bath and that helped.  DH also put a lot of counter pressure or massage on my back during the contractions.  I didn't do much else...no breathing or music.  When I got to the hospital, they gave me something to take the edge off and for me, that really made the contractions much more tolerable until I got the epi when I was 7 cm.

  (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles?  We did use pacis.  I don't really remember when we started, but it was fairly early on.  The dr had us supplement with a few oz of formula b/c she had a touch of jaundice and she wanted her to poop more so she took a bottle within a week of birth and then again around 1 month, but no confusion with boob, bottle, or paci...or if there was confusion she still figured out what to do with each one.

  (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them?  I am not sure.  I guess I need to read up to know when it could be effective, but what other responses have said make sense about walking away for a few seconds.
  

  

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• MauiBride2008 member

  April 2011

  R was born on 04.02.11

   

   

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?  R is 1w5d

  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?  Still recovering and getting used to no sleep, but loving it

  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?  We go for our 2 week appointment tomorrow

  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?  Still trying to work on getting him used to a sleeping schedule at night time, but it's getting better.  Hopefully in the next few weeks we will have some more progress and hopefully going to bed when we are supposed to

  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor?  An epidural!   I was always scared of the epi, but for me it was a wonderful decision

  (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles?  We have been using paci's already, but LO doesn't really like it that much.  I don't force it on him and he is really selective on when he uses it.  Also, I strictly pump as breastfeeding did not work out for me.  We had latching issues, but I'm getting a good milk supply so I'm happy I can even pump for the time being.

  
  
  
  | Olowalu, Maui ~ August 6, 2008 |
  | Family of 4 ~ April 2, 2011 |
  | Family of 5 - October 24, 2012 |

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• MrsIH

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? Almost 7.5 months.(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? We're getting better after LO had his first cold.  Hubby and I were sick too so it was a bit of a challenge and I was tired as he wasn't sleeping as well.  We're getting back to our normal sleep schedule and feeling back to normal again (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up? Not until he's 9 mos. old (check-up).  Something exciting!  We're off to Honolulu next week (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? Tired Mama.  After a few nights of sleeplessness due to his cold LO went back to getting up once in the middle of the night which was nice.  The last couple of nights he was up twice and last night loud hail (!) woke him up at midnight.  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor?  Breathing helped a ton, that is how i really got in the zone... slow inhale/exhale.  The epidural helped for a bit but I swear it wore off or failed on me as I felt everything when pushing. (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles? LO did not take to a paci at all, kind of thankful for it I guess?  There was no confusion between bottles/BF'ing or anything. (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them? Not sure yet.
  (8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins? Will try and think of some.

  
  I love Hawaii!
  
  Tara & Ian . 4/24/2008 . The Kahala Planning . Married
  
  

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• lelekay member

  April 2011

  
  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? almost 9 months
  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? At the moment I feel like crap!  I just came from the dentist, where I had a root canal and replaced two old fillings.  My jaw just aches!  I can totally feel for Henry, who's cutting his top two teeth at the moment.  Teeth suck!(3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up? Next week for the 9-month visit.
  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? Teething!
  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor? I never actually went into labor, but to help me relax the night before the c-section we watched "Planet Earth" (the baby duckings in "Woodlands" is my favorite!), and the morning of, when I was quite nervous, I did a lot of visualization.(6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles? Yep.  I don't think he's had actual "confusion," but we did need to start bottles at about two weeks old.  I never produced enough milk.  At first we used a supplemental nurser, but after pulling my hair out over it after a week we did bottles.  As far a pacis go, right at the moment we're trying to take them away except for sleeping time.  He doesn't really need them during the day.(7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them? Not yet.  We will at some point, I'm sure!
  

  
  

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• Married2MrWright member

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?

  She's 14 months, 3 weeks old

  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?

  First real boo-boo...she scraped her leg when we were walking earlier this week. No band-aids were needed but she said "owie!" Now, whenever she bumps her head or stumbles and falls she says "owie!"

  She continues to talk up a storm! New words include belly button, knee, elbow, orange, shapes, circle, star, heart, and diamond. She's also started counting and will say "1-2-3"...it's so cute (and rather astonishing at her age...)...she's definitely keeping us on our toes when it comes to her cognitive development. I got her some new books which she's loving...she's a total book worm and has many of her books memorized already, so I know she enjoys new ones. I've been meaning to get us to the library too...

  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?

  15-month check up on May 8

  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?

  Not too many issues...she's STILL cutting her molars but we discovered that she can take Ibuprophen now. We think it's because she's used to eating berries and tart flavors now, whereas before she was on solids and teething we tried it twice and she vomitted immediately. So we've always given her grape flavored acetaminophen instead. But her molars have been REALLY troubling her, so J wanted to bust out the ibupropen instead (since it relieves pain AND inflammation whereas acetaminophen is just an analgesic). It worked! Hooray!

  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor?

  Low lights, deep breathing, visualization, massage, soothing music, pressure points, aromatherapy

  (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles?

  We tried but she never took to them. She still has some random ones in her toy box that she likes to chew on...but she chews the hard plastic "shield" and handle, not the "nipple." Too funny!

  (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them?

  We're using positive parenting and discipline techniques and time outs is not one of them. I was raised with time outs and while it was better than being hit or physically punished, time outs made me feel alone and abandoned. There's actually a lot of recent literature about how punishment such as spankings and time-outs are less effective discipline techniques than modeling positive actions, allowing natural consquences for behavior, setting limits and "time in." Our goal is to guide acceptable behaviour by modeling it ourselves, setting limits and being consistent. We don't want to get into rewards or over praising or being punitive.

  So far, it's working...but at this age discipline is more about distraction and redirection than anything else. We have had some success with using "when...then..." statements. Such as "when you sit in your chair then you can have some food" or "when you finish your bath then we can read a book" (for example, if she wants to read when it's bath time). Even at her age, she gets it. But, ask me again when she's 4 or 5! Seriously, J and I are both committed to raising our children in a respectful home where EVERYONE in the family is treated respectfully (adults and children alike) and there isn't yelling or tension.

  I'd be happy to share some resources for gentle, positive discipline/parenting that I've found online with any one who's interested.
  

  (8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins? TTCers:  Which cycle are you on?  Where in the cycle are you?  What, if anything, are you doing/trying for TTC success? Charting PP AF #4 and adding CBEFM this cycle since BBT is not an option. But I am tracking CM and CP.

  
  TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
  
  
  

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• kinibruin

  April 2011

  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? D is 2 months today!

  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? sadly, no milestones. D is 1 month adjusted, so we have to follow that scale. we're trying to get him to socially smile. oh wait. he grabbed MH's shirt for teh first time last week. hahah

  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up? tomorrow for his 2 month appt! and shots. yikes.

  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? D has a possible inguinal hernia. we're waiting for the specialist to call us back at the children's hospital since our clinic doesn't operate on babies anymore. so that's been rough. we have to continue to monitor it.

  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor?

  i did a lot of singing, praying, listening to music on my itouch. but that was when i was having contractions. even though i didn't labor.

  (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles?

  D was given both the bottle and pacis from day 1. he had a hard time latching and part of the reason he was in nicu was for feeding issues. like lisa mentioned, preemies sometimes have to coordinate the suck, breathe, swallow. plus he had low blood sugar, so they couldn't wait for my colostrum/milk to come in. once it did, they would give him that first.

  also, in the hospital, D would get tired from BFing, so i had to BF only part time.

  he's pretty good at both. but he does prefer the breast though. so sometimes when he's bottle feeding, i have to hide from him, or else he'll spit the bottle out and stare at me. hahaha

  (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them?

  not yet
  

  (8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins?

  D started out as a LUCKY CHARM but ended up being our LOVEBUG
  hawaii 10.2008 plan ;P married bio ???

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• vanilla15

  April 2011

  kinibruin:

  so sometimes when he's bottle feeding, i have to hide from him, or else he'll spit the bottle out and stare at me. hahaha

  this is really funny!  D's a smart little cookie...he knows what he likes & where to get it!!   

  Married2MrWright:

  I'd be happy to share some resources for gentle, positive discipline/parenting that I've found online with any one who's interested.
  

  Lori,  I would love to read up on the positive discipline techiniques.  For awhile I had a wicked stepmother that was more than happy to use lots of very physical punishment so while I do believe kids need discipline/instruction, I want to make sure I don't make my LO ever feel like she made me feel.  Whatever is easiest for you, but you can post it here or FB me.  Thank you!

  

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• jessicafawn

  April 2011

  Post updated due dates or gender reports here. 
  (1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?I think I'm about 6 weeks along, but haven't had my first doc visit because DH and I are in middle of PCSing.  We'll be landing in Honolulu Tuesday evening.  Wednesday morning I'll be heading to Tripler. 
  (2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?I'm feeling tired, but each night I can't sleep very well.  I've been having strange/vivid dreams.  I can't get enough water... My boobs hurt.  
  (3) Next appointment date?  Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?See answer to #1.
  (4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week????
  (5) What relaxing techniques did you use during labor? This is my first, so I can't answer that yet.
  (6) Did/do you use pacis? When did you start them? Was there any confusion? When did you start bottles?Again, this is my first pregnancy and first child...
  (7)  When do you plan to start time outs? If you already did, how old was your LO? How do you "handle" them?Don't know yet.
  (8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins? Can't think of one...
  TTCers:  Which cycle are you on?  Where in the cycle are you?  What, if anything, are you doing/trying for TTC success?Finally conceived after almost a year of trying. 
  

  

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