Pregnancy 2011 - April

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

Hi ladies, just checking in. MIL came over yesterday and actually fixed us dinner, made extra for lunch today, and cleaned my kitchen! Woohoo, I guess hubby telling her we need rest really worked. Brooklynn had her first follow up appointment today, I was sadly disappointed. My poor baby is down to 7 lbs 9 oz now and has jaundice, she had to get her poor little foot poked and her blood drawn Hubby had to take her into the lab because I could not handle the idea of them poking my baby :brokenheart:
I had thought that she was eating well though she is a bit lazy and falls asleep on the breast. Not sure what to do about that since I try everything to keep her awake during feedings. The nurse said that the baby should be taking in about 2 oz of breast milk at a feeding, they weigh the baby have you nurse them and weigh them again full. She took in just over an oz so that makes me feel like I am not doing a good enough job in the milk production area.

Going to hog up the board a bit now trying to catch up.

I haven't seen anything from Megan, wonder if Annabelle decided to come out and play!

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

I got in 3 days this week for the exercise challenge.

Tuesday - 25 min walk.

Wednesday - 30 mins light aerobics

Sunday - 2 hours cleaning/nesting

Yes, I'm officially nesting!!! I wore out a path from one end of my house to the other yesterday cleaning, moving stuff around, sorting through things, WHEW! It was a very successful day in terms of getting things accomplished! I have 7 garbage bags of clothes to take to Salvation Army along with 4 boxes of "stuff".

It rained here all day yesterday and the sides of the roads are a sloppy mess, so probably won't be able to do any outdoor walking this week. Hopefully I can stay motivated to be active indoors.

Oh! And Wal Mart has a great deal this week on the little trailors you pull behind a bike, they are $88! I like the thought of this for family bike rides much better than the seat that attaches to the bike. We looked at a few different sites for ones and this is the cheapest we've found. Even used on CL they were like $75. We'll be getting one for sure!

Go to Walmart and walk around there, I think it is great exercise to walk around in stores or malls when the weather outside is not cooperating. :laugh: We have one of those trailors, got it when we only had our first and it is still going so very well worth the investment. Only problem is that baby needs to be able to sit up on their own and you definately do not want a weeble wooble so I usually do not use ours until the kiddos are a year old.

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

I have officially decided I want this baby to stay in! Labor is getting too real. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to know exactly when it is coming. I'll take all the prayers I can get. I broke down in tears this morning with my husband. I just want it over with (labor that is).

Bethe... all of these months and never knew your name, lol. If your little man is anything like Brooklynn you will get a surprise, after all of those days I had figured that she was just never going to come out. The one thing I learned with her birth is not to wait for water breakage or bleeding, contractions is definately enough of a sign. To think I had thought there was no way it was "real labor"

Mamatoabunch

Hi ladies, just checking in. MIL came over yesterday and actually fixed us dinner, made extra for lunch today, and cleaned my kitchen! Woohoo, I guess hubby telling her we need rest really worked. Brooklynn had her first follow up appointment today, I was sadly disappointed. My poor baby is down to 7 lbs 9 oz now and has jaundice, she had to get her poor little foot poked and her blood drawn Hubby had to take her into the lab because I could not handle the idea of them poking my baby :brokenheart:
I had thought that she was eating well though she is a bit lazy and falls asleep on the breast. Not sure what to do about that since I try everything to keep her awake during feedings. The nurse said that the baby should be taking in about 2 oz of breast milk at a feeding, they weigh the baby have you nurse them and weigh them again full. She took in just over an oz so that makes me feel like I am not doing a good enough job in the milk production area.

That is poor advice. A baby 4 days old does not need 2 oz of milk, that is standard for bottle feeding, not breast feeding. Jaundice is entirely normal, keep nursing and add sunning in a window. She probably has breast milk jaundice which is different and not a concern, beyond frequent nursings and sun in window. Also, weigh feed weigh is not an accurate measure of production, your breast aren't bottles holding a certain amount of milk, you make most of what baby consumes at a feeding, longer feeding, more milk consumed. At 4 days that is wonderful, not a poor production.

Mamatoabunch

Also, don't be afraid to get rid of or regift things you find useless. I got a ton of baby washcloths and like 9 hooded towels. I kept a few washcloths and maybe 2 of the hooded towels. I know how to do laundry (and didn't totally bathe him all that much as a baby)! I don't need a million towels! If you feel really guilty since it's something someone gave you and you can't return it - maybe donate it to a women's shelter or something where it will really get used.

Exactly. You don't need 20 newborn, small onesies, etc.

ron2282

Dragonfly – I’m pretty sure I’ll be feeling the same way in a few months. But on the positive side you already know what to expect.

Stef – I’m glad you had a good appointment; hopefully you’ll be able to have a home birth.

911Girl – I love your new picture!!!! And 2 pounds on a cruise doesn’t seem bad at all, glad you had a good time.

Fitflores – welcome!

Kayla – I’m a little nervous about organizing too. I don’t plan on buying too much, but I know our families are going to overwhelm us with stuff (they’re already sending things). I had no idea where I’m going to go with all of it.

Sheri – Obviously I have no first hand knowledge of this, but I heard from a bunch of different places that it can take up to a week for your milk to fully come in. And isn’t it normal for babies to lose some weight in the first few day?

I’m having a hard time sending the message to my brain that I don’t need to shove every bit of food I see into my face. I let myself get way out of control the past few days and it’s harder than I thought to get back on track. On the good side though, I’m finally able to drink water again without it making me sick. I’ve already had 8 glasses so far. It’s a long way off from my normal pre-pregnancy amount of 15 glasses, but it’s better than the 3 a day I’ve been getting lately.

AnneElise

I am finally home from our trip! It is nice to be home and back to normal... yet we are getting terrible storms with hail and tornados...

I am going to spend some time catching up the last couple days. Glad to be back.

Mamatoabunch

Hi ladies, just checking in. MIL came over yesterday and actually fixed us dinner, made extra for lunch today, and cleaned my kitchen! Woohoo, I guess hubby telling her we need rest really worked. Brooklynn had her first follow up appointment today, I was sadly disappointed. My poor baby is down to 7 lbs 9 oz now and has jaundice, she had to get her poor little foot poked and her blood drawn Hubby had to take her into the lab because I could not handle the idea of them poking my baby :brokenheart:
I had thought that she was eating well though she is a bit lazy and falls asleep on the breast. Not sure what to do about that since I try everything to keep her awake during feedings. The nurse said that the baby should be taking in about 2 oz of breast milk at a feeding, they weigh the baby have you nurse them and weigh them again full. She took in just over an oz so that makes me feel like I am not doing a good enough job in the milk production area.

That is poor advice. A baby 4 days old does not need 2 oz of milk, that is standard for bottle feeding, not breast feeding. Jaundice is entirely normal, keep nursing and add sunning in a window. She probably has breast milk jaundice which is different and not a concern, beyond frequent nursings and sun in window. Also, weigh feed weigh is not an accurate measure of production, your breast aren't bottles holding a certain amount of milk, you make most of what baby consumes at a feeding, longer feeding, more milk consumed. At 4 days that is wonderful, not a poor production.

In addition her birth weight was 8lbs 3oz. So in ounces that is 131 oz, w/ a norm, before concern, of 10% weight loss, which is 13. 1 oz. A 118 oz would be lowest w/ 10%, that is 7lbs 3oz. At this point there is no concern and she and you are exhibiting completely normal newborn behavior and numbers.

blessdmomof4

So, I had a terrible experience with a Subway grinder (sub, hoagie, whatever people outside of New England call them lol). Something in it caused a terrible reaction for me. I have had similar reactions to foods w/ msg but not so severe. Terrible headache, gas, bloating, nausea. Just awful. This morning I also started having heart palpitations. I read that they are common in pregnancy. I have my 1st appt on Friday. I plan to bring it up. Just curious if anyone else has experienced heart palpitations during pregnancy. I read it is also common with a food reaction.

Also, I bought some papaya enzymes to help w/ digestion. Anyone else use them? Thoughts and experiences? They seem to be helping w/ the gas and indigestion. I generally take a digestive enzyme but it has pancreatin which i read is not safe for pregnancy.

dragonfly74

I have officially decided I want this baby to stay in! Labor is getting too real. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to know exactly when it is coming. I'll take all the prayers I can get. I broke down in tears this morning with my husband. I just want it over with (labor that is).

Bethe... all of these months and never knew your name, lol. If your little man is anything like Brooklynn you will get a surprise, after all of those days I had figured that she was just never going to come out. The one thing I learned with her birth is not to wait for water breakage or bleeding, contractions is definately enough of a sign. To think I had thought there was no way it was "real labor"

Sheri ~ Yeah I thought it was about time I added my name! I am one of those people that has no bleeding prior to labor. My water only broke with my third putting me into fast and furious labor. My first labor was under 5 hours. My second was 4 hours and my third labor (the one where my water broke) was only 3 hours. So I am anticipating this one will come even faster. Who knows maybe 2 hours

wilkeskayla

keeping the only sizes he needs at the time does make a lot of sense. And the space saver bag thingys! great idea. we got ALL of our nephews hand-me-downs, and believe me that little boy had everythinggggg. plus all of the gifts from the baby shower. I will probably end up taking most of the clothes back and putting the money towards the necessites that we really need, considering he will not be able to wear all of the clothes he has already.


Awesome idea to donate items, too! thanks ladies!

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

Hi ladies, just checking in. MIL came over yesterday and actually fixed us dinner, made extra for lunch today, and cleaned my kitchen! Woohoo, I guess hubby telling her we need rest really worked. Brooklynn had her first follow up appointment today, I was sadly disappointed. My poor baby is down to 7 lbs 9 oz now and has jaundice, she had to get her poor little foot poked and her blood drawn Hubby had to take her into the lab because I could not handle the idea of them poking my baby :brokenheart:
I had thought that she was eating well though she is a bit lazy and falls asleep on the breast. Not sure what to do about that since I try everything to keep her awake during feedings. The nurse said that the baby should be taking in about 2 oz of breast milk at a feeding, they weigh the baby have you nurse them and weigh them again full. She took in just over an oz so that makes me feel like I am not doing a good enough job in the milk production area.

That is poor advice. A baby 4 days old does not need 2 oz of milk, that is standard for bottle feeding, not breast feeding. Jaundice is entirely normal, keep nursing and add sunning in a window. She probably has breast milk jaundice which is different and not a concern, beyond frequent nursings and sun in window. Also, weigh feed weigh is not an accurate measure of production, your breast aren't bottles holding a certain amount of milk, you make most of what baby consumes at a feeding, longer feeding, more milk consumed. At 4 days that is wonderful, not a poor production.

In addition her birth weight was 8lbs 3oz. So in ounces that is 131 oz, w/ a norm, before concern, of 10% weight loss, which is 13. 1 oz. A 118 oz would be lowest w/ 10%, that is 7lbs 3oz. At this point there is no concern and she and you are exhibiting completely normal newborn behavior and numbers.

Thank you Annabelle, you are making me feel much better. The boys had formula even if it was only as a supplement so this is the first baby that I have done exclusive breastfeeding. My last nursing session I was only able to keep her awake for about 10 mins. I decided that getting the food in her was most important, and my breast felt like they were ripping at the seams so I pumped for a few mins and had hubby give it to her in a bottle.

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

I have officially decided I want this baby to stay in! Labor is getting too real. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to know exactly when it is coming. I'll take all the prayers I can get. I broke down in tears this morning with my husband. I just want it over with (labor that is).

Bethe... all of these months and never knew your name, lol. If your little man is anything like Brooklynn you will get a surprise, after all of those days I had figured that she was just never going to come out. The one thing I learned with her birth is not to wait for water breakage or bleeding, contractions is definately enough of a sign. To think I had thought there was no way it was "real labor"

Sheri ~ Yeah I thought it was about time I added my name! I am one of those people that has no bleeding prior to labor. My water only broke with my third putting me into fast and furious labor. My first labor was under 5 hours. My second was 4 hours and my third labor (the one where my water broke) was only 3 hours. So I am anticipating this one will come even faster. Who knows maybe 2 hours

My first son was an 18 hour labor, my second was 8 hours and with this little girl I am not sure. Pretty confusing if you ask me because she was either my fastest or my slowest, depends on how you look at it. I had that prodromal labor for so long that it should technically be my slowest but considering once I had gotten the contractions that just kept getting closer and stronger that labor was only about 5 1/2 hours.

I think that it is so frustrating that when you go to the hospital they always ask if you have any bleeding or if your water broke. It is like you are not in labor if one of those did not occur. I am sure glad that I decided to go in rather than continue waiting for another sign because I may have ended up with a really bad home birth. I dont think hubby would be able to catch one of my flying babies.

carina73

@ Sheri
Hi ladies, just checking in. MIL came over yesterday and actually fixed us dinner, made extra for lunch today, and cleaned my kitchen! Woohoo, I guess hubby telling her we need rest really worked. Brooklynn had her first follow up appointment today, I was sadly disappointed. My poor baby is down to 7 lbs 9 oz now and has jaundice, she had to get her poor little foot poked and her blood drawn Hubby had to take her into the lab because I could not handle the idea of them poking my baby :brokenheart:
I had thought that she was eating well though she is a bit lazy and falls asleep on the breast. Not sure what to do about that since I try everything to keep her awake during feedings. The nurse said that the baby should be taking in about 2 oz of breast milk at a feeding, they weigh the baby have you nurse them and weigh them again full. She took in just over an oz so that makes me feel like I am not doing a good enough job in the milk production area.

That is poor advice. A baby 4 days old does not need 2 oz of milk, that is standard for bottle feeding, not breast feeding. Jaundice is entirely normal, keep nursing and add sunning in a window. She probably has breast milk jaundice which is different and not a concern, beyond frequent nursings and sun in window. Also, weigh feed weigh is not an accurate measure of production, your breast aren't bottles holding a certain amount of milk, you make most of what baby consumes at a feeding, longer feeding, more milk consumed. At 4 days that is wonderful, not a poor production.

I would have to agree. Emma was sick when she was 5.5 months old and I had to weigh breastfeed weigh and the dr. said she wasn't eating enough, I offered to pump so they could measure accurately, but i don't pump well. so they MADE me top her up with formula. and when she wouldn't drink it all they FORCED it in her via NG tube! (nasal gastric) :sad:

but her weight finally came back up and I was NEVER SO HAPPY to take that f'ing tube out of my baby's nose!

and I also agree with the 10% weight loss. You're baby was receiving all her fluids directly from you. her little body has to figure things out on her own. it's actually much more of a loss if you've had a c'section, b/c of the extra fluids you're receiving also goes to baby!
Annabelle is ONE SMART COOKIE! :flowerforyou:

carina73

@ Sheri
when i delivered Patrick there was a poster on the wall in my room with pictures of the size of infants stomach's at certain ages. I can't find it but I found this, which is similar to what I remember from 4 yrs ago.

http://typeaparent.com/infant-stomach-size-and-growth.html

according to this site, by day 3 your baby's stomach is about the size of a ping pong ball. 2 oz does NOT sound right for 4 days old. it also says that by day 10 your baby can handle 60-81mL. (2oz = 60mL, 3 oz = 90mL)

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

@ Sheri
Hi ladies, just checking in. MIL came over yesterday and actually fixed us dinner, made extra for lunch today, and cleaned my kitchen! Woohoo, I guess hubby telling her we need rest really worked. Brooklynn had her first follow up appointment today, I was sadly disappointed. My poor baby is down to 7 lbs 9 oz now and has jaundice, she had to get her poor little foot poked and her blood drawn Hubby had to take her into the lab because I could not handle the idea of them poking my baby :brokenheart:
I had thought that she was eating well though she is a bit lazy and falls asleep on the breast. Not sure what to do about that since I try everything to keep her awake during feedings. The nurse said that the baby should be taking in about 2 oz of breast milk at a feeding, they weigh the baby have you nurse them and weigh them again full. She took in just over an oz so that makes me feel like I am not doing a good enough job in the milk production area.

That is poor advice. A baby 4 days old does not need 2 oz of milk, that is standard for bottle feeding, not breast feeding. Jaundice is entirely normal, keep nursing and add sunning in a window. She probably has breast milk jaundice which is different and not a concern, beyond frequent nursings and sun in window. Also, weigh feed weigh is not an accurate measure of production, your breast aren't bottles holding a certain amount of milk, you make most of what baby consumes at a feeding, longer feeding, more milk consumed. At 4 days that is wonderful, not a poor production.

I would have to agree. Emma was sick when she was 5.5 months old and I had to weigh breastfeed weigh and the dr. said she wasn't eating enough, I offered to pump so they could measure accurately, but i don't pump well. so they MADE me top her up with formula. and when she wouldn't drink it all they FORCED it in her via NG tube! (nasal gastric) :sad:

but her weight finally came back up and I was NEVER SO HAPPY to take that f'ing tube out of my baby's nose!

and I also agree with the 10% weight loss. You're baby was receiving all her fluids directly from you. her little body has to figure things out on her own. it's actually much more of a loss if you've had a c'section, b/c of the extra fluids you're receiving also goes to baby!
Annabelle is ONE SMART COOKIE! :flowerforyou:

Sounds like a horrible experience, I could not stand the idea of anything being wrong with my baby. The nurse called me and said that her jaundice level was almost 14 and so we need to take her back Wednesday for another blood draw. Hubby and I are totally unsure what to do about this. I am going to email the kids pediatrician and see what he says but so far we are leaning towards not having another draw. He said it was freaky the way they take her blood and he does not want her to go through that again unless it is absolutely necessary. They use this little scan thing on the forehead and if it reads high then you get the blood drawn so I think I am going to have them do that reader thing to see what it says and ONLY if it is high will we even think of taking her back to the lab. So torn between not letting them do unnecessary testing on her and not letting anything happen to my baby. I think I am becoming hormonal

sthorp1179

@ Sheri
Hi ladies, just checking in. MIL came over yesterday and actually fixed us dinner, made extra for lunch today, and cleaned my kitchen! Woohoo, I guess hubby telling her we need rest really worked. Brooklynn had her first follow up appointment today, I was sadly disappointed. My poor baby is down to 7 lbs 9 oz now and has jaundice, she had to get her poor little foot poked and her blood drawn Hubby had to take her into the lab because I could not handle the idea of them poking my baby :brokenheart:
I had thought that she was eating well though she is a bit lazy and falls asleep on the breast. Not sure what to do about that since I try everything to keep her awake during feedings. The nurse said that the baby should be taking in about 2 oz of breast milk at a feeding, they weigh the baby have you nurse them and weigh them again full. She took in just over an oz so that makes me feel like I am not doing a good enough job in the milk production area.

That is poor advice. A baby 4 days old does not need 2 oz of milk, that is standard for bottle feeding, not breast feeding. Jaundice is entirely normal, keep nursing and add sunning in a window. She probably has breast milk jaundice which is different and not a concern, beyond frequent nursings and sun in window. Also, weigh feed weigh is not an accurate measure of production, your breast aren't bottles holding a certain amount of milk, you make most of what baby consumes at a feeding, longer feeding, more milk consumed. At 4 days that is wonderful, not a poor production.

I would have to agree. Emma was sick when she was 5.5 months old and I had to weigh breastfeed weigh and the dr. said she wasn't eating enough, I offered to pump so they could measure accurately, but i don't pump well. so they MADE me top her up with formula. and when she wouldn't drink it all they FORCED it in her via NG tube! (nasal gastric) :sad:

but her weight finally came back up and I was NEVER SO HAPPY to take that f'ing tube out of my baby's nose!

and I also agree with the 10% weight loss. You're baby was receiving all her fluids directly from you. her little body has to figure things out on her own. it's actually much more of a loss if you've had a c'section, b/c of the extra fluids you're receiving also goes to baby!
Annabelle is ONE SMART COOKIE! :flowerforyou:

Sounds like a horrible experience, I could not stand the idea of anything being wrong with my baby. The nurse called me and said that her jaundice level was almost 14 and so we need to take her back Wednesday for another blood draw. Hubby and I are totally unsure what to do about this. I am going to email the kids pediatrician and see what he says but so far we are leaning towards not having another draw. He said it was freaky the way they take her blood and he does not want her to go through that again unless it is absolutely necessary. They use this little scan thing on the forehead and if it reads high then you get the blood drawn so I think I am going to have them do that reader thing to see what it says and ONLY if it is high will we even think of taking her back to the lab. So torn between not letting them do unnecessary testing on her and not letting anything happen to my baby. I think I am becoming hormonal

Poor Sheri, You've had some bad advice and its made you feel your breastfeeding is inadequate for your baby's needs. It sounds as though your milk is starting to come in and fill up your breasts now so put Brooklynn to work. Offer her the breast whenever she is awake and seems interested in food. The more she takes from you the more her tummy will grow and the more milk production will stimulate. When I had my last baby at 36 weeks gestation he got pretty jaundiced by day 3, however it started to clear when my milk came in and the fluids flushed it through his body. He looked quite tanned by day 4 but as his eyes were still clear he never required any treatment. Sunlight therapy will help so try putting Brooklyn in the sunlight as much as possible (sit near a window). Jaundice is a totally normal process where the extra bloodcells are broken down by the babys liver as the lungs are more efficient at providing oxygen than the placenta and not as much red bloodcells are needed. This accounts for the 10% weightloss in the first 7 days which is TOTALLY normal along with other things like mucus, meconium etc. which the baby excretes over the first few days.

You are doing a fabulous job, breastmilk is not a standard fluid like bottlemilk, it is tailored to your baby's stage of development and nutritionally it varies so much all the time it cannot be compared like and like to bottlemilk especially by volume.

We have some fantastic breastfeeding counsellors over here that can help to give you advice and guidance I hope you have access to the same support where you live.

One other piece of advice as well, while your milk is coming in and until you have established a good supply I would avoid using a breast pump because they are never as efficient as a baby at expressing milk so it will be harder (not impossible obviously) to get a good supply regulated and while she is feeding and she is dropping off to sleep tickle her feet to keep her awake!!!! When she does fall asleep wait for her to come off the breast herself because she can "dream feed" and it is quite common in newborns.

Good luck and hope you get everything sorted x

sthorp1179

Sheri - just had another thought, when I first started a midwife told me that if baby kept falling asleep while feeding to try and strip baby off a little maybe to her vest so she's not so snuggly warm or maybe change her nappy in the middle of a feed to keep her awake for longer. Hope this helps.

brittonymiller

I got up early this morning with my husband and had some breakfast with him. It was really nice. I used to do it all the time, but sorta stopped when I first got pregnant and was tired all of the time. The good thing is I have enough time to get ready and get to work early to exercise. Then I can be lazy or run errands between shifts and not feel like I should be working out or doing something more productive

I always weigh myself between 9 and 9:30am, but I was curious and stepped on the scale this morning at 5:45. I was down 2.5lbs from yesterday's weigh-in. If I had waited until my normal weigh-in time it would have been even more. It was definitely water weight, thank goodness! I'll weigh myself normal time tomorrow and do my official MFP check-in for the week then. I was definitely not entering the number I saw on the scale yesterday!

Sthorp- I'm really glad you are part of this group!! You are so well informed. I'm going to need your advice many times before all is said and done, I'm sure.

Sheri- I'm sorry you are having so much trouble with the hospital. I would not worry about the weight loss. It seems completely normal, as does the jaundice. I'm sure I would feel the same way you do about unnecessary testing. It would break my heart to see them poking and prodding my little one. I think I'll have to send my husband in just like you did. I'd get all worked up and hormonal. I'm sure you are doing a fantastic job!

Emma is kicking away! She must be digging into the orange juice Mama had for breakfast :laugh: I think she might be working herself into a head down position. Her kicks are consistently above my belly button now. They used to only be in my lower pelvic region. I don't think she has settled there yet, though. In fact, I'm pretty sure she was sideways last night. It felt really weird and my stomach looked like there was an alien trying to come out.

sthorp1179

Thank you, I'm here to help whenever I can, breastfeeding is one of my specialist subjects, having done a breastfeeding peer support course a couple of years ago. I have also read extensively about pregnancy, labour and birth over the years, I was going to train to become a midwife myself but with soon to be 4 little ones, I am not sure how I would fit a 3 yr degree course in my hectic schedule :laugh: