September Randoms

hejo2016 · September 2016

@jensou it's tolerable, but not awesome. It has George Eads as Jack, I like him as an actor, makes the show a bit better

pdxmamatobe · September 2016

I was thinking of trying this when I start pumping, doesn't look very hard to do: https://julie-and-michael.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-free-breast-pumping-bra.html

Alyeena · September 2016

@rock1cherry That picture is so wonderful

Your daughter looks so precious. I can't wait to introduce our little boy to his great-grandmothers, both of my husband's grandmothers are still alive and pretty healthy so it is very lucky. One unfortunately has dementia but I am hoping she realizes that it is her great-grandson still.

skirtandsandals · September 2016

@pdxmamatobe that looks brilliant! I have tried pumping a few times and hated it (I want my hands back/not to see all of that equipment) so this may help! I will try it asap!!!

RG1 · September 2016

jensou said:

@rock1cherry that picture is too precious!

I guess I can keep up with the randoms thread now that most everyone has moved to FB it's so quiet here now.
has onyone tried one of those pumping bras? Reluctant to go buy one without confidence seeing as how they are so expensive. Tempted to just cut slits in one of my old stretched out sports bras. I like my fancy new pump but can really only manage one side at a time. It felt ridiculous but when double pumping I was adjusting the pump vacuum with my toe.

Yes I was like "am I doing this wrong?! How am I supposed to turn this off??" As I was using my toe

jensou · September 2016

@pdxmamatobe I'm totally trying this out tomorrow!! Thank you for the link

pdxmamatobe · September 2016

@jensou and @skirtandsandals Let me know how it works!

jensou · September 2016

pdxmamatobe said:

@jensou and @skirtandsandals Let me know how it works!

Testing Phase #1 - it works but not comfy. i need to find stretched out elastics.

marikkita12 · September 2016

I have a pumping bra that was gifted to me and while it is nice to have, it is too much of a hassle to set up and adjust whatever bra I'm wearing and the nursing pads and then I'm leaking everywhere. I would suggest one only if you will be pumping on a regular basis like at work or something

jensou · September 2016

@marikkita12 good to know! I was also gifted one but I'm too big for it. Its a very strange medieval looking contraption

rock1cherry · September 2016

Congrats @SuperFudge00 ! Your little guy is so adorable and seeing your two boys together melts my heart!

berh2001 · September 2016

I exclusively pump because my son won't latch. My first son was the same. I don't know what I would do without the pumping bra. It gets extremely boring sitting there holding the flanges to your boobs. The bra allows me to get stuff done. Last night I feed my newborn a bottle, changed his diaper and read my 3 year old a book all while pumping. Not saying a homemade one wouldn't work...just know that my medela one was well worth the money.

rock1cherry · September 2016

@berh2001 did you try to feed with a nipple shield? Just curious as it's worked for me and breastfeeding was super important to me. No matter what, you gotta do what works and is right for you, but it's just an idea to see if it would work!

berh2001 · September 2016

@rock1cherry - yes with my first son I tried nipple shield and it seemed to help but he would get frustrated when the flow of milk was not fast enough. I literally tried to nurse him everyday for the 10 weeks I was on maternity leave and it just didn't happen for us. So this time my newborn seemed more interested in nursing but had blood sugar issues in the hospital so they had us supplement and he too is now spoiled by the faster flow of the bottle. When I pump i get what I need in 20 mins but it's literally drips at a time. I just think I have a slow flow and the boys like to chow down.

jensou · September 2016

Last night LO just would not go to sleep. After I fed her for at least 40 min she just wanted to keep sucking on the mommy flavored pacifier. So I gave her a real one and just rubbed her little noggin for a while. And then I rubbed her belly. For basically forever. But eventually she fell asleep. If I stopped rubbing she would start to wake up. So back to rubbing and patting that cute little tummy. She's like a little buddah LOL

CDE20 · September 2016

Can anyone recommend a brand for newborn size tights? It seems the majority of stores have size 0-6m or 3-12m. My daughter is in newborn clothes (which are slightly big still) so I know the 0-6m size will be gigantic. I saw a few on Amazon that may work but was curious if anyone had any luck with a specific brand first before I buy any.

skirtandsandals · September 2016

However many days it has been, the rubber bands saved my pumping life! I use them each time now, and it is so nice to have my hands back! They are nice and stretched out, but if one (top or bottom) is too tight for an effective hold, I tuck that side a bit in my bra, which holds it in place. I figured that out after a bit of leaking, the worst feeling ever!

jensou · September 2016

@CDE20 how bad do you need these tights? You could get some preemie ones which should stretch to fit a little newborn

@skirtandsandals glad you're having succcess. All my hair ties are too tight. I tried headbands last night and they worked but we're a little loose. My husband walked by and laughed at how ridiculous it looked - neon headbands tied on to my bra LOL. I have a little "milking parlor" set up in our dining room with my laptop and a pile of mail I can never seem to get to.

jensou · September 2016

I know there is an in-law thread but i'm not going to revive anything, esp as today is last day of September.

My MIL is super flaky and my husband doesn't nudge her to commit. I start work on Monday (that's a whole other issue in and of itself!) and she's been saying she's going to come down and help. The other issue is that tomorrow my DH is going overseas for 3 weeks (he's in the Reserves). So I'm mad at him for deciding to take his annual training when baby isn't 2 months old yet, mad at him for not pressing his mom to commit, and mad that MIL won't commit. Ugh!

So what's a girl to do? PLAN! That's what! So I research all these daycare places (which honestly I would have to do eventually anyway) and find two that I feel are a good fit. One wants payment for the month of October in advance. Which is a practical business model and totally understandable. The other lets me drop in. But still they need some courtesy notice. So here it is FRIDAY and I'm asking my DH has he heard from his mom because I go to work MONDAY. Apparently she called late last night after I was asleep and said she'd be driving down (lives 10h away) on Sunday. She is a night owl and usually gets in around midnight or later when they come. PS we offered a bunch of times to buy plane tickets.

So, I am sending the baby to daycare on Monday because how am I supposed to show her everything and go through the routine, cloth diapers, etc in time?

rock1cherry · September 2016

Yikes @jensou that sounds like a mess.

I hate when people don't commit or make solid plans. Especially when it comes to something so important. I am a planner and like having something worked out in advance for almost everything. Glad you'll have help. Even if it's last minute.

I I have a few randoms - one is my mom still hasn't met my LO. She's been sick since I gave birth. It's terrible. I feel bad but she obviously can't be around baby while she's sick. She works in a hospital and I don't want to take any chances. She just finally started over the counter meds to clear it. Ugh! Sucks.

also, when she arrives I need to talk to her about third hand smoke, which kind of freaks me out. I don't want to hurt her feelings or make her feel any worse than she already feels, but it has to be said. We bought her a big robe to wear and will be gentle about it but it does give me anxiety.

second random - LO's stump fell off the other day. Since then it's been a little bloody. We showed the dr and they weren't concerned as long as it wasn't pussy or stinky which it's not. When do you start actual baths? Once it's completely dry and clean? They said we could use rubbing alcohol inside to dry it out but I don't know. If it doesn't heal in the next few days on its own then maybe I will do it. I would rather it heal naturally. But can we bathe her now or should we wait?

molosmiles · September 2016

@CDE20 tights are generally extremely stretchy and come in crazy sizes. When they are older it's like 2-4 years. My bet is the 0-6 mos. will fit. I would buy them and buy a preemie pair just in case, as PP mentioned. You will use the 0-6 mos size at some point in time.

@jensou That sounds incredibly stressful, on top of just having to go back to work, ugh. I'm so sorry you have to go back so early and you have to deal with the extra stress.

@rock1cherry My brother in law is a smoker and while he hasn't held the baby yet, he can't wait to. No one else seems to have an issue with him smoking then holding her and I don't know how to bring it up. I want to say, take a shower, DON'T smoke, hold her, then you can go outside and smoke and not hold her again until after you shower and put on clean clothes. Ha ha. I don't have any advice on the bath though. My oldest daughter is nearly 8 and I just don't remember a lot of this. I know her cord fell off early though. The whole thing freaks me out. How is everyone cleaning the cord?

drabong88 · September 2016

My random is that my little guy slept for almost 4 hours last night! It's the longest stretch he has slept at night he usually is up every hour or two. He's only 6 days old but I was already feeling worn down by the lack of sleep. I feel like a new person this morning!

rock1cherry · September 2016

@drabong88 success! I know how you feel! When mine slept 3-4 hours through the night at one stretch I felt so good the next day. We are on day two of it going well at night. Hoping it continues!

rock1cherry · September 2016

@molosmiles I hear you on being anxious to bring up the smoking thing with the smokers in our families. I don't want it to come across like a judgment, because it's not. I used to smoke and quit like 6 years ago so I know how tough it is. But, it's your child and considering all of the evidence about how dangerous it can be, it's completely justified. I have multiple documents and things from the hospital and pediatrician etc that I could show them. I don't think it will take that. I will just ask that if they smoke, they do it, wash their hands really well then sanitize them and wear this robe I got. Don't kiss the baby, don't put the baby up to your face and don't put the baby directly on your clothing. Only the robe. Unless their clothes are completely clean and don't smell of smoke etc. (my mom doesn't smoke indoors, but I don't know if her clothes will have residual smoke smell even after washing) it's going to be a tough conversation, but it has to happen. I'm waiting to have it in person rather than over the phone etc. I don't want to stress anyone out before they arrive.

molosmiles · September 2016

@rock1cherry Good luck! You'll have to let us know how the conversation goes.

rock1cherry · September 2016

Will do @molosmiles it won't be for another few weeks likely - my mom is sick right now and we were told by the pediatrician not to have her until she's completely better at least one full week.

tiger2010 · September 2016

@jensou sorry you have to deal w/the additional stress of mil. I too have an incredibly flaky mil. In my case, while I aprreciate/welcome the help it is incredibly hard to deal w/last minute stuff and sometimes she'll completely flake out and forget and plans get canceled/need changed.

@rock1cherry good luck and you are much stronger than I am when it comes to talking to family members about the smoking. When my previous LO was a newborn I avoided my sister like the plague bc i didn't want to deal with having that conversation/ "hurt" her feelings/end up feeling like a bad mom IF something would have happened. We live 3 hours apart and arent the closest but I had to face the music once the holidays came around and there was no avoiding it. She showed up & apparently I have easy to read facial expressions bc the first thing she said was "it's fine, I haven't had a cig yet". I still was a wreck about it though. And now I have to go through the same thing once the holidays roll around again.

My random is that my littles took a 2 hour nap today. This LO is about 3 weeks old and my other little is just about 12 months old. Sleep has not been friendly to me lately and my girls have NEVER slept at the same time/for the same amount of time LOL anyway,my mom came down to help and I was telling her how there nap pattern is. I go and hop in the shower first but feel bad for my mom having to corral both girls w/out me, so I rush and find that they are both sleeping. So, you'd think I would go lay down and get some shut eye but I kept thinking that the other little would be waking up any second and I instead did housework but kept checking to see if anyone was awake. Nope. So mad at myself that I could have had 2 uninterrupted hours of sleep and of course my mom is like "they nap so well" grrrrrrr.

skirtandsandals · September 2016

@rock1cherry We too had umbilical cord issues. Olivia's fell off after 2 weeks on a Friday at the doctors' office, and then oozed all weekend. My husband is super worrier, so the put a little silver nitrate on it on Wednesday. The doctor said we could bathe her after 24 hours, but we didn't get to it yesterday (newborns are hard!!!) so it is on the agenda for tonight. Up until now we have been wash cloth bathing her every 4 days.

Re in-laws: My parents have been super awesome, living just 4 miles away. My fil flies in tomorrow from Florida, we are in NY. I am pretty worried. He is a 78 year old fancy British man, so I can't imagine he will want much to do with a 3 week old baby. Plus he and DH have been strained by this Trump nonsense, don't get me started, so I worry how the time will pass.

rock1cherry · September 2016

My DH changed Molly's diaper before I went to feed her right now. I get her all set up to feed and all of a sudden I feel warm liquid dripping down my side. Lmao! Oops! So now I have pee all over my nursing pillow and a little on me (of course I just got out of the shower!)...my nursing pillow says to hand wash it and air dry it, but that will take forever. How do you wash / clean yours if you need to? I could use my Snoogle as the replacement if I absolutely can't wash and dry it, but I don't want to be without it for a long time while it dries...

molosmiles · September 2016

@rock1cherry I would dry on delicate. That's what I did with my stroller. There's no way I could wait for it to air dry, thick fabric and some foam parts. It came out perfect. I'm way too inpatient for air dry.

hejo2016 · September 2016

@jensou I just want to say that it blows you have to go back to work! Ugh!
@rock1cherry I did wipe downs on the baby for the first week, then brought her in the tub with me. Belly button was still a little oozy when I did, but it was fine and is normal now.
@CDE20 have you seen baby legs? Easier diaper change and super cute. I used them a ton for dd1

jensou · September 2016

@rock1cherry what kind of pillow is it? Victoria had a poop blow out on my "My Brest Friend" and I took the cover off, washed on gentle, and air dried. I wiped down the foam but still has some poop orange on it. I should try sunning it next time I have to wash the cover. Speaking of, that was a beast to get it back on ! Which is why I air dried to begin with, I was afraid it wouldn't fit if it shrank at all.

good luck to all the mommy's needing to have the third-hand smoke convo. I feel guilty asking people to wash / sanitize their hands. (Should you really even have to ask??!)

@skirtandsandals I LOL'ed at the fancy British man. You may be surprised. My 70-some y/o FIL is a cranky traditional Chinese man (from Hong Kong so he's a bit of a Brit too!) and he was so smitten with the baby when they were here 6 weeks ago. The day they left, he got ready first and just sat in the arm chair and held the baby for the longest time, until hubby's family was all ready to go. It was surprising to see him being so tender. No diapers of course but lots of holding

rock1cherry · September 2016

It's like a boppy but is jolly jumper brand @jensou it's from Canada. It didn't come with a removable cover and no one sells this one here. It's slightly a different shape than boppy though their covers may fit. So it's the actual pillow which is cotton fabric. I washed it off by hand using dish soap and a nail brush. I opted to throw it in the dryer after all for like 20 minutes and it was fine. Though the places I scrubbed are now a different texture than the rest of the pillow. Oh well! All of the yellow stains from milk and pee are gone. Haha. I use a burp rag on it now under her head. Didn't have one under her butt sadly!

jensou · October 2016

Glad it worked out! I wonder if you could try a boppy cover and return if it doesn't fit. They're all a strange enough shape I don't think making one would be easy. Or stuff it in to a king sized pillow case?

rock1cherry · October 2016

Yeah I could try that I suppose @jensou maybe I will look up the boppy size and compare it.

This is what mine looks like. I think it's close enough, but for some reason they have that straight edge?

jensou · October 2016

Guess they couldn't copy the proprietary boppy shape exactly? I like the pattern!

rock1cherry · October 2016

Thanks! Me too. It matches the decor in my nursery as its all bird and tree themed. But I don't want to completely ruin the thing...haha!

CDE20 · October 2016

I keep getting stuck in a box....

@hejo2016 I've never heard of baby legs. They look awesome! Not sure they will work for what I need as they seem to be majority prints, but I may have to get a pair anyway for another time.

molosmiles Thanks for the preemie suggestion. I didn't consider that they would stretch. I think that may be the route I go.

I am also dealing with the third hand smoke issue. Only a few more weeks until they visit so we shall see how that visit goes. There have already been conversations about not smoking when here.

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