Post by Patsy Baloney on Aug 14, 2019 11:04:08 GMT -5
We had our big kid’s first day of first grade today! We weren’t really sure how getting her to the bus stop and getting the baby up and moving for the day would work out, but the only thing that suffered was my makeup, and we even had time to return our neighbor’s dog who escaped from the backyard and tried to join in on first day of school pictures 🤣🤣🤣
DS has been sleeping through the night (9:30pm-7am) since I went back to work 3 weeks ago. We’re almost to 4 months though, so I know sleepless nights are lurking.
We met with DS’s plastic surgeon this morning and are on the docket to meet our cleft palate team in October. His surgery can happen at 9-12 months, but his doctor said DS will need to be weaned from bottle and pacifier before the surgery. So, that’ll definitely be a year! I am horrible at teaching kids to use cups. My DD was on the bottle forever because it just seemed easier to me.
Unfortunately this is all going to coincide with my graduation from my masters program and a trip my H and I were planning, so we’ll have to shelve that for now. Womp womp. Oh well, plenty of time for trip when DS is all put back together and ready to move onto the next step - speech therapy!
Going from 0-1 kid was a seismic shift, and 1-2 was nowhere near as life changing. But damn if it isn't just. fucking. exhausting.
Yes! I’m amazed at both how easy and hard going from 1-2 kids has been at the same time. The frustrating part is that while DD2 is a relatively easy baby (or more likely, I’m a more experienced parent), DD1 has become SO much harder. I’m not sure if it’s the age (4) or a reaction to having a sibling. Just as DD2 finally started STTN, DD1 has become awful at bedtime. She’s also become a drama queen needing so much attention, throwing tantrums again, yelling at us, etc. I feel like we never get a break because one of them always needs something. I’m so tired.
I would say going from 0-1 was more life altering, but 1-2 is harder. I really wish I had the confidence I have when it was just one baby though. I see now how easy newborns are but I was so overwhelmed as a FTM.
On a positive and semi-related note, D guzzled a 2 ounce bottle of formula given by me today. Maybe I'll get some freedom after all! I feel so bad we've been trying to force feed nasty ass milk.
How do you make Dr browns bottles work for daycare? They always spill into the cap for me if I take them out.
Like you have the nipple on and use the cap?
All mine came with a flat disk to put on the bottle before the ring/nipple to travel. I think only one came with a regular screw on cap to use in place of the nipple/ring.
I remember with baby #1 that things got easier around 12 weeks. When does being a working mom of 2 young kids get easier?
Most nights I get up once, which is pretty reasonable for 10 weeks, and was very doable while I was on maternity leave. But when I was home on leave, I could go to bed earlier, I didn't have to be mentally ON all day at a level worth a hefty hourly rate, and I had all day to fit in small adult tasks. Now I wake up in the morning to a rush to get the whole family ready and out the door. DS doesn't have a schedule yet, so it's floating and a bit chaotic. Then work all day, trying to bill as much as I did before but with 2 pump breaks (and yesterday, a physical therapy appt for DS). The couple hours after we get home from work are a chaotic mess with two tired kids that we need to get fed and in bed. Then we eat, and by then it's like 9pm. Then I need to prep bottles, pack pump parts, pump before bed... and if there is ANY adult task that needs doing, I end up staying up past 11. Laundry, some bills, we're refinancing our house and little stuff needs to get done, somebody needs something ordered online... Back up MOTN, and up again around 6am.
It's not that any one night the amount of sleep I get is so bad. It's not. But the chronic buildup of just a little too little for weeks on end, and I'm constantly exhausted. I'm in my 3rd week back to work, and I have the post nasal drip that I always get when I'm overtired, I'm having to write down my time at work because I'm not sharp enough to work at full efficiency and my clients shouldn't have to pay for that, and my temper is very short with DD (who admittedly is not making this easier). I feel like shit. I can't lose weight. I can't control my snacking as well when I'm tired, or my caffeine intake (which leaves me dehydrated and doesn't help with nursing).
When do I feel like I can step off the treadmill for a moment?
Post by Patsy Baloney on Aug 15, 2019 9:56:41 GMT -5
Susie, I'm feeling the same way - we're looking at outsourcing some home stuff (getting a cleaner, for instance) until we're a little more in-control. I've been back at work for about 3 weeks, DS is on his way to 4 months (sleepless nights lurking), DD just started 1st grade, so our laid-back mornings are gone, I'm also getting my master's, so my classes start in 2 weeks, as does DD's theater class and Girl Scout meetings (which, I'm the troop leader!!!hahahahahakillmenow). I love being involved in all this stuff, so I do it to myself, but some nights I fall asleep on the couch at 7pm and my H gets everyone fed, washed and into bed. It's exhausting!
I don't feel like I stop until I go to sleep at night, and then I usually get woken up at 3am by DD because she wet the bed (we're trying really hard to PT overnight, but she's such a heavy sleeper and was in pull-ups for so long, breaking the "just pee, you've got a diaper on!" habit has been hard). DS is FF, so my H gets up in the night with him, if he gets up, but he's been sleeping through the night pretty much since I went back to work. I'm hoping that happens for you soon, or you and your H figure out how to trade off wake-ups, so you can at least get a full night of sleep to get you through the grind.
I'm an optimist, so I keep trying to remind myself that this is just a blip. In a year, I'll be well-rested and laugh at all this. But this blip doesn't feel so blippy right now.
Patsy Baloney , I already have a biweekly house cleaner and am still struggling but I will say that helps a ton. Your schedule sounds overwhelming too, hope that helps some.
melmaria, that sounds like a great idea, but yeah, the budget is awfully stretched right now. I think I need to figure it out with the number of hands we have. I keep thinking things may get incrementally easier: when DS gets more content to be set down, when he drops from 5x 2.5 oz. bottles a day to maybe 4 - 3 oz., and there isn't QUITE the sea of bottles/pump parts. Little bits. But man, it feels like a long moment between now and then.
gastro, I already have two new Spectra S1s (one is mine, one passed along by a friend who got it but then decided to wean instead of pump when her mat leave ended), so I'm not sure I can justify another pump. But at least my S1 allows me some mobility, which does help. I've also cut down to pumping 3x/day, 10am and 2pm at work, and 10ish-pm, so no more morning before work or MOTN. If I'm desperately full (if he STTN) I just use a Haakaa while he nurses. So at least pumping is not as intrusive as it was previously.
Don’t be scared! It’s way easier than I anticipated, but I have big kids sooooo.
I’m dreading going back to work. It’s going to be a shit show at my house and that is when things will get impossibly hard.
Mine are the same ages and basically the same personalities as namasteak 😭 LOL
I will say I can see that it is getting easier and the days DH is home are great. I think most of my struggle is just from soloing all day and then the end of day tiredness/meltdowns/etc.
I forgot how effing bad newborn breastfeeding hurts. I just caved into a nipple shield and it’s only day 2.
Don’t feel bad! I know, it hurts so bad. No one prepares you for that! I had legit PTSD from how much it hurt with DD1 that I was afraid to BF DD2 after the first few sessions. It hurt too much. I also needed the breastshield and only fed on one side and pumped the other while in the hospital. We also gave DD2 formula in the hospital. After a few days my nipples healed, I think DD2 got the hang of latching and I ditched the shield in day 7 with no issues. She was completely BF once my milk came in. Don’t feel bad, do whatever you need to! Hugs, the first days are so hard.
Post by icedcoffee on Aug 17, 2019 12:02:05 GMT -5
Postpartum nurses are totally underpaid and under appreciated. My nurse on the first night was legit a lifesaver. And the amount of bodily fluid she had to touch and clean. I called her boss in to rave about her. I am so thankful for her.
Postpartum nurses are totally underpaid and under appreciated. My nurse on the first night was legit a lifesaver. And the amount of bodily fluid she had to touch and clean. I called her boss in to rave about her. I am so thankful for her.
Yes! This baby was my first in a hospital and I was so surprised at how kind and helpful they were. I even sent dh home because all the things I thought I would need his help with were done by the nurses!
Postpartum nurses are totally underpaid and under appreciated. My nurse on the first night was legit a lifesaver. And the amount of bodily fluid she had to touch and clean. I called her boss in to rave about her. I am so thankful for her.
Yes! This baby was my first in a hospital and I was so surprised at how kind and helpful they were. I even sent dh home because all the things I thought I would need his help with were done by the nurses!
Postpartum nurses are totally underpaid and under appreciated. My nurse on the first night was legit a lifesaver. And the amount of bodily fluid she had to touch and clean. I called her boss in to rave about her. I am so thankful for her.
On behalf of other maternity nurses, I thank you. And especially for reaching out to her boss to put in a good word. We appreciate that more than you know.
Postpartum nurses are totally underpaid and under appreciated. My nurse on the first night was legit a lifesaver. And the amount of bodily fluid she had to touch and clean. I called her boss in to rave about her. I am so thankful for her.
On behalf of other maternity nurses, I thank you. And especially for reaching out to her boss to put in a good word. We appreciate that more than you know.
I nominated her for some award thing today. I found the brochure in my paperwork! I hope she gets recognized!
Post by lovelyshoes on Aug 17, 2019 19:46:06 GMT -5
Anyone use a good exfoliator? My skin needs help and I’m scared Ro is the stuff I used before pregnancy (drunk elephant tlc) and dr gross alpha beta pads. I read that the pads are safe while nursing, but I’m scared to use them. I’d love any recs.