To Fertility.. And Beyond!: May 2012

so I figured I'd hop on board with the favorite baby items posts and share some of my own. :)

First is our Pack and Play. We have this exact one and Abi LOVES laying in it and staring at those stars! We have it set up in our bedroom with a changing pad in it so we don't have to take her to the nursery in the middle of the night for diaper changes.

Next are Huggies natural wipes. We've tried generic and Pampers, these are by far my favorite. Thick and soft, and no irritation!

So after seeing the lactation consultants I've realized the My Breast Friend nursing pillow is essential for me to help Abi get a proper latch. It's more supportive than a Boppy for the cradle and cross cradle holds and helps me not break my wrist while supporting her head.

Here again we've tried generic diapers and Huggies but by far we've loved Pampers Swaddlers. The Huggies leak and so do some of the generic (even when we've fiddled with sizes) and we are also partial to the wetness indicator... yes I'm spoiled!

You know those hospital blankets they swaddle your baby in? Yup, love em. We swiped several when we left the hospital and they are the only blanket Abi allows us to swaddle her in.

The first few weeks home Abi would only sleep on me. During the day, she'd nap in her Rock and play sleeper, but now it's switched and she sleeps a good 4-5 hours at the beginning of the night in it. I love it because Abi doesn't seem to like sleeping flat on her back, and this is a little raised. Plus I can reach it to rock her if she gets fussy after diaper changes and feeds.

Yes, I still love my Boppy, mostly for nighttime feeds in the football hold and to help prop my arms on while holding Abi.

And to end this post a pic of my little family. Ah, love.

So there's this app on my phone (and online) called Baby Bump and I've been a member since I was probably 3 months pregnant. I've decided that I'd like to keep all the questions and things that I've talked about on there, and just in case they decide to close the app I'm going to try to transfer everything onto here. I'm going to start with the stuff I've written since Abi was born and go from there (I've got around 77 posts total, lol) so here goes! *This is mostly for me to remember everything, so if you don't want to read any of it, feel free to skip this one! lol ;)*

3/22/12
we are here at the hospital getting ready to check in.. im soooooo nervous! last night was horrible i had contractions that lasted 1-2 min and sometimes overlapped.. i was in so much pain until about 530a when they slowed and i could finally sleep.. then i got up at 7. i really hope im progressed enough to get an epi sooooon so i can get a little sleep! prayers and good thought are much appreciated please ladies!

3/25/12
ok im still needing to post my birth story but i had to tell you ladies who are still pregnant about laboring down! once you get to 10cm dilated many hospitals want you to start pushing... what my hospital does is "laboring down" or laboring until the baby is in the birth canal past the cervix. i had an epi so im not sure unmedicated births can or would want to do this.. anyway i hit 9cm and was told to let them know when i started feeling pressure in my rectum and or vagina. i did, was checked and she was past my cervix. they let me go a lil longer and while i felt no pain the pressure got intense so i got checked again and she was very close! they let me push a little on my own with each contraction until the dr got there (not too strongly tho) the dr checked and my lo was almost crowning! i had her out in 10 pushes, about 15 min after i started! beats hours of pushing for sure! i would highly recommend asking if you can do this esp with an epi because eventhough labor is prolonged a bit, you dont push forever!

3/26/12
anyone elses newborn really noisy when they sleep? my lo is always making noise and flailing her arms (she doesnt like to have her arms swaddled) plus shes got a lot of mucus still and makes these wet sounds that scare me like she might choke.

3/30/12
Sleeping when lo sleeps? how am i supposed to do that when she only sleeps on me? ill feed her and she falls asleep but when i try to put her down shes out for maybe 2 minutes and starts crying again. i was told by my lc to do skin to skin as often as possible, so the past couple days have been pretty much just that. now at night shes super fussy unless shes being held and dh has to get up for work at 5am so he cant really help much. not to mention that all she wants to do is suckle at night... im ebf'ing so dh really cant help with that... im just at a loss

3/31/12
TMI but...... my vagina hurts! im 8 days pp and my lo wont sleep at night unless im holding her so im sitting upright all day and night and sitting on my butt putting pressure on my vagina is killing me! anyone else having these or similar issues have any idea how to help??

4/3/12
Anyone elses breasts itch when you bf your lo? Its just the breast I'm feeding from at the time.. And it goes away when I'm done.. Its weird and it just started the other day...

4/5/12
So we had to go back to the peds office today since at last weeks appointment my lo had not yet met her birth weight. .. Well, she hasn't gained anything at all this week. No loss, but no gain. Her ped had me feed her while in the office and then weighed her again and it seems she's only getting about 8/10ths of an ounce in almost 25 minutes. That's not enough obviously and it seems that this is why lo has been attached to me 24-7. I'm on Fenugreek, I eat *most* meals and drink my water (more now than when I first got home b/c going pee HURT so bad I was shying away from drinking anything.. bad I know, but I'm much better now) so I have to go see the LC at the hospital to see what else we can do to increase my supply.. When I have the chance to pump I get between .5-1.5oz combined. But that's usually after a feed, not sure if that matters.. I just feel like such a failure for not being able to produce for my little girl.. Her ped has us set up for yet another apt on Monday, she said because she's "scared" for my little girl. That is not reassuring in the least. She's got me supplementing 2oz every 2-3 hours after I try to bf for a while. I did not want to supplement, or formula feed at all for that matter. Breast milk is (imo) the best thing for my baby nutritionally and I was so excited to be able to have the opportunity to ebf. and now...

4/6/12
my 2 week old started dinner at 530ish.. was on boths breasts for a total of about 35-40min, was still rooting so i gave her a oz of pumped breast milk.. still rooting so i gave her an oz of formula.. spit that up then started rooting again so i gave her another oz over about 30 min... Then put her to breast again.....shes still rooting for food! Shes been fine all day with about 2~3 Oz why all of a sudden is she doing this? She's back at the breast again because its time for her next feeding already but she technically hasn't stopped feeding... This after last night where she slept in 2 to 3 hour sessions, and I actually got to lay down to sleep for the first time since giving birth! I was so hoping that since I have to supplement that last night would be our new norm..... it's not looking very good .

4/20/12
up until the past 2 days ive had at least some firmness to my breasts but now they are floppy and soft all the time! i read that this means my milk supply has adjusted to the demand from my dd... but ive had a low supply this whole time and dd has a weak suck so she hasnt been "demanding" as much as she needs (hence my having to suppliment till she gains enough) i always put her to breast first but she just falls asleep... anyway has anyone else had their supply "adjust" to low and been able to increase it? how did you do it? im on fenugreek, i eat oatmeal everyday, drink water... i use breast compression to help empty my breasts too..

4/21/12
My lo is 4 Weeks old and has been having trouble breathing the post day or so. At first it seemed like the normal newborn congestion that they can't clear, but last night was horrible, she hardly slept because her breathing was so bothered. She wasnt fussy, but she had a very fitful sleep that I'm sure wasn't restful. And she only ate once all night! Normally she's eating every 2 to 2 1/2 hours. That makes me think she's too tired to think about eating. I haven't slept much because I worry she'll stop breathing. She sounds so phlemy and I can't get anything with the blue bulb thing from the hospital. I'm at a loss, my poor lil girl.

my dd is 4 weeks old and until today shes been eating pretty much every 2 to 2 1/2 hours... but last night she went 4 hours before waking up and fell asleep at the breast (not unusual as my supply is low) but never fussed for a bottle.. and today shes only fussed in the morning (got breast and 2 1/2 oz pumped milk and formula) and then this evening (3 1/2 oz pumped milk and formula) i put her to breast at 7am, 1030am, 1 and 530pm but she just suckled mostly and fell asleep. shes got a weak suck which doesnt help my low supply.. anyway im worried about her cuz shes mostly slept all night (aside from the breathing issues, she was congested and it kept her from falling into a deep sleep) and shes slept through most of today aside from the two main feedings and some awake time here and there. is this normal or should i worry? is a 4 week old supposed to slow down in eating and up their sleep? she might have been tired from the fitful sleep from last night but still shouldnt she wake up to eat more often? i see her pedi on tuesday for her 1 mo check up and will talk to her about it then, esp if this becomes a trend..

4/26/12
Anyone have good luck breast and formula feeding their lo? I've had to supplement due to lo not gaining at her 2 week check and low supply (catch 22 anyone?) And I just wonder if I can't increase my supply if I can be successful keeping it at least where it is and bf along with formula supplementing. I take fenugreek, drink mothers milk tea, pump, all that... I guess I just want to hear from moms who do both that haven't had it negatively effect their supply.

5/4/12
my lil girl is 6 weeks old and for the past oh maybe week and a halfish shes been grazing most of the day and night except for maybe 2-3 times (after waking for the day and before bed time) she'll play (in her way) or sleep mostly and when shes hungry ill put her to breast and she'll suckle a bit then fall asleep. but when her hungry times hit she'll take 3-4oz then maybe an hour later take another 1oz or so. is this normal and/or ok for her to be doing? i feel like im starving my kid! i keep thinking im supposed to be feeding her every 2-3 hours because im bf-ing or trying to... i have had to suppliment because of a weak suck and shallow latch (that we've tried and tried to fix!) and so my supply is suffering even more because she doesnt actually feed and empty my breast when shes put to it. i pump when i can but lately she wont let me put her down to nap so its hard to get more than 1 pumping session in before dh gets home... sorry this got so long... ive been feeling pretty inadequate and im a sahm right now with no one to talk to.....

5/11/12
Anyone dealt with separation anxiety the first few times you left your kids with a sitter? How do you deal with it? My little girl is only 7 weeks old and I feel awful even leaving her with family... plus I'm going to miss things and that makes me soooooooo sad.... I had to leave her for 4 hours yesterday and had a panic attack as i left...

5/19/12
my 8 week old has a very sporadic eating pattern. at any given feeding we have no idea how much she'll take. I do try to breast feed her just about every time first, BUT there are times when I hardly hear her swallow. then she'll get fussy and I'll make her a bottle.. I try to offer her 2oz every time but I never know if she'll take it all or want more. sometimes she takes 1oz, others she wants more than 2. One night she took 6oz over 3 hours! to top it off, she's been sleeping from about 10:30-11pm to between 5 and 7 am! with maybe one super short feed in between! I don't want her sleeping through the night if shes not getting enough food. plus now she takes 2-4 naps a day anywhere from 30 min to 4 hours! she had been gaining well at her last visit and I was told I could feed on demand if I was comfortable with that. I'm just afraid she's not eating enough. I have no idea what she weighs now, but as a rough estimate we weigh her on our scale. one week she was 11 lbs 4oz the next she was down a lb! freaked me out!!! she has an apt next thurs with her pedi, should I wait till then or call now??? I hope in my trying to bf her that she hasn't just learned to stop eating when she gets a little in her tummy and that when she cries she gets a mostly empty boob so she should just sleep instead! :( plus we got the playtex drop ins with the slow flow nipple to hopefully help with gas and her suck (still has a weak suck and shallow latch) and sometimes she'll take it but others she just screams around it. especially in the evening. I'm so worried that something could be wrong or that I've inadvertently taught her to sleep not eat! :(

5/21/12
Baby wearing... It's my new favorite past time! I just got a Moby wrap and it's sooooooooooo wonderful to be hands free and actually be able to do dishes while dh is at work or to type with both hands! Woohooo! I just hope dd continues to like it as much as I do!