July Thread

[shauni27]

Hi all. Happy summer! 

It was stormy here all weekend--all during the week last week and this week it should be beautiful and hot. Looking forward to banking some lake and pool time during this short week/long weekend!

S is being VERY dramatic and a complete 2 year old. SO HAPPY and enjoyable one moment and then full on tantrum the next. Hates getting his diapers changed. Throws himself on the floor crying. Fortunately it usually only lasts a couple of minutes. Also everything is "mine!" Snatches my cell phone, "MY PHONE!" etc. We took him to his first little pride festival yesterday and he was so cute running around waving his flag

[vmars]

I woke up feeling dizzy today. I think I over did it this weekend and not sleeping well last night didn’t help. It was my first weekend off my meds and was feeling good, but tried to be “normal” too quickly. I ended up staying home because I knew the office was going to be crazy today. I am glad I stayed home because I needed a day to rest and binge watch Jessica Jones.

[kellikans]

DD is 6 days old today. Had her weight check at the doctor this morning and has only lost 2 ounces from her birth weight, so hopefully she starts gaining now. Now she just needs to get her days and night switched. We have a grazer and she's nursing every 1-1.5 hours at night.

I'm still pretty sore from my c-section. I have one spot on my right side that gets a searing, burning pain. Luckily Ibuprofen helps.

L is so sweet with E. He was giving her kisses this morning. Seriously melts my heart.

[Mushe]

My baaaaaby turned 1 on Saturday. I seriously can’t believe it. I was really anxious all last week, and I know it’s from memories of how hard it was when she was born. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed these days. The au pair situation is harder than expected. She doesn’t take direction well with the kids, and doesn’t think things through like I’d expect. We talked about going to a park, since DS didn’t have camp. She had them walk there, which is fine, but B didn’t have a bottle for 6 hours, and she definitely didn’t have enough milk beforehand to sustain that. Ugh.

I’m so grateful for how well B is doing, but I don’t think I’ll be able to relax for a good, long time. She’s so different from DS, and not your typical happy baby. She’s more amused by things, like a Queen 👸 sitting on a throne, waiting to be entertained.

We did go ahead and lower her crib, because after months of pulling up on things, she’s finally doing it there. She’s 9.5m adjusted, and rocking gross and fine motor. Hopefully she’ll start chatting to us soon!

[red]

I don’t know where time flies, can’t believe your babe is 1 Mushe!
I’m 16 wks and finally looking a bit pregnant. I told work finally, we still haven’t come out to the masses. Immediate family and close friends know, but I’m just not excited to share with everyone else yet. It still doesn’t feel real, we really haven’t planned a darn thing yet. My sister was asking me about a baby shower and I don’t know if I want to bother. My family situation is messy and H’s family is all oversees anyways.

I have been nesting like crazy since we closed on our house 2 wks ago. I have bought sooooo much furniture. I need to stop shopping but I figure this is stuff we need eventually and I would rather enjoy sooner rather than later.

[shauni27]

kellikans, I still feel like you just found out that you were pregnant. I cannot believe baby E is here!
Mushe, SHUT UP. ONE?!?!?! That went FAST. Of course you are having some overwhelmed feelings right now; that was the most traumatic experience and I would hazard a guess that you have a bit of PTSD from it. I am sorry to hear about the au pair :/
red, We didn't tell anyone other than work and our parents/siblings until after 20 weeks. Then we never planned an official way to announce, pictures just started to appear of me at 30 weeks pregnant, lol. It is ok to take your time; you have no need to tell people in a way that does not feel natural to you.

[grover]

Taking baby J to the ENT in a bit to see what's causing him to keep failing the newborn hearing tests. He responds if I cough or sneeze near him, and to our dogs barking, at the same frequency as his twin does, so I'm not too concerned, but I'd love to stop taking him to these monthly appts. (I have to pay for daycare for the other 2 bc they said I cant bring any other kids who may make noise to these appts)

[shauni27]

grover, oh man that is SO annoying. We had issues with that too, at the beginning. He passed in one ear but not the other. So we had to keep going back. It was frustrating.

[thoseareradishes]

Happy birthday B! Mushe, I felt the same way before E's 1st birthday. So many hard memories came flooding back. Thankfully her second birthday was better. I realized last night that it was the 2 year anniversary of when we brought her home from the NICU. Time is flying.

red, obviously you do what you want/need, but I am sad I didn't have a baby shower (E was born very early and I wasn't in a good emotional place to have a shower). It has been difficult going to my cousin's showers and imagining what mine would have been like (friend showers don't seem to bother me though).

E is becoming quite the little rock star at gym. She really loves it and loves her teacher (who she hated the first few months we were going). I'm hoping gym and all the time we've been spending at the playground equals an improvement in her gross motor skills - she tested low average in the winter and will be tested again in a few weeks at preemie follow up clinic. I do worry though because she turns her feet in while walking and has been walking on her toes more recently.

[grover]

shauni27, yeah, he only failed one ear in hospital but at the 2 previous followups with audiology, he failed both ears. Today we met with the ENT who spent five mins looking at him, said everything was ok anatomically, but still has fluid. Recheck next month. Gah.

[loira]

Happy summer! We just got back from camping over the long weekend here. It mostly went well. A is in a real tantrum stage, which we never experienced previously because she'd always been so verbal. But now she just gets so frustrated if she can't talk us into things, or if we mess at all with any of her elaborate games, and the meltdowns are intense. But overall it was fun. We got to have a campfire, which was a pleasant surprise, ad I was sure there would be a ban already. Plus we lucked out and were the last car on an earlier ferry home. It was a Canada Day miracle!

Still on the fence about having another. Need to talk to my doctor to determine what all the risk factors would be before I could even begin to seriously consider it.

Starting to gear up for the property search. I feel very adulty. Most of my friends are already on their 2nd or 3rd properties, so we are really behind.

[loira]

Jul 2, 2019 13:59:51 GMT -5 thoseareradishes said:

Happy birthday B! Mushe, I felt the same way before E's 1st birthday. So many hard memories came flooding back. Thankfully her second birthday was better. I realized last night that it was the 2 year anniversary of when we brought her home from the NICU. Time is flying.

red, obviously you do what you want/need, but I am sad I didn't have a baby shower (E was born very early and I wasn't in a good emotional place to have a shower). It has been difficult going to my cousin's showers and imagining what mine would have been like (friend showers don't seem to bother me though).

E is becoming quite the little rock star at gym. She really loves it and loves her teacher (who she hated the first few months we were going). I'm hoping gym and all the time we've been spending at the playground equals an improvement in her gross motor skills - she tested low average in the winter and will be tested again in a few weeks at preemie follow up clinic. I do worry though because she turns her feet in while walking and has been walking on her toes more recently.

Love that she's having so much fun! Way to go, E!

[shauni27]

loira, S is being really tantrumy too. Solidarity, sister.

[Chrysanthemum]

kellikans congratulations!!!

Mushe happy birthday to your baby! I can’t believe a tear has passed! Hang in there!

grover my DS also had chronic fluid in his ears as a newborn and the frequent appts are killer! I can’t imagine doing it with two other kids!

My 6w3d u/s is tomorrow and I’m anxious to see a HB. I’ve started feeling a little sick lately so I’m a little less worries because I feel pregnant, but you never know. Hopefully tomorrow is reassuring.

[red]

Good luck tomorrow Chrysanthemum!

[grover]

Chrysanthemum, did the fluid in your DS ears clear up on its own, or did you go the antibiotics or tubes route? The next appointment is the week before school starts back up, so hopefully I'll have a better idea of a plan at that point. Good luck tomorrow too!

[kellikans]

Good luck tomorrow Chrysanthemum!

[Chrysanthemum]

grover It didn’t, we ended up putting tubes in at 4 months. The ENT and audiologist checked him like weekly since birth and sometimes one ear would pass but not the other. Then, it would be the opposite at the next appointment. He wasn’t passing the earring test (I forget the name, but the one wear the put the electrodes on his head to measure brain waves in response to sounds) so we were worried about hearing loss. 4 months was the youngest the ENT was comfortable putting tubes in. In the end, he’s completely health and hearing properly now. That first set of tubes fell out before his 6 month post op appointment and he didn’t pass the hearing tests again, so they put a 2nd set of tubes in at 1 year. But, ever since he’s been fine. They say he just had tiny, narrow canals that were more horizontal than vertical, so the fluid just didn’t drain. I remember being so anxious and worried throughout the whole ordeal, it was so hard. The exams at that age are also so unreliable I feel like so the whole process it frustrating. Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck!

[grover]

Chrysanthemum, Thank you so much! I know a lot of friends have toddlers with tubes, but no one I know had them placed this young. I'm guessing tubes may be placed, he'll be almost 5 months at the next check.

[shauni27]

Did everyone have a good holiday weekend? We spent all weekend in the pool or lake and within 2 days S was jumping off the diving board, swimming to the ladder on the side of the pool (telling me, "no mama, I do myself"), climbing out and getting in line to jump again. He is fine going under water and is obsessed with swimming and jumping. He shows us how he kicks and scoops to swim and in general is just so happy in water.

**note: he is within arms reach always, plus has a puddle jumper on.

The one thing I cannot seem for him to "get" is that he shouldn't be drinking the water! It is so frustrating. He swims with his mouth open ON PURPOSE to drink the water. It seems like he just wants water all the time. At the lake he would take his shovel (complete with sand and dirt), go dip it in the lake and try to drink from it. CONSTANTLY. At home if he sees the hose he tries to drink from it. If he sees his water table, he scoops in his toys and drinks from them. It is gross and I am struggling with how to combat it in general, but especially in the pool because he always ends up choking. Yesterday he threw up because of how much water he chugged from the pool.

[knx9211]

Jul 10, 2019 11:27:25 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Did everyone have a good holiday weekend? We spent all weekend in the pool or lake and within 2 days S was jumping off the diving board, swimming to the ladder on the side of the pool (telling me, "no mama, I do myself"), climbing out and getting in line to jump again. He is fine going under water and is obsessed with swimming and jumping. He shows us how he kicks and scoops to swim and in general is just so happy in water.

**note: he is within arms reach always, plus has a puddle jumper on.

The one thing I cannot seem for him to "get" is that he shouldn't be drinking the water! It is so frustrating. He swims with his mouth open ON PURPOSE to drink the water. It seems like he just wants water all the time. At the lake he would take his shovel (complete with sand and dirt), go dip it in the lake and try to drink from it. CONSTANTLY. At home if he sees the hose he tries to drink from it. If he sees his water table, he scoops in his toys and drinks from them. It is gross and I am struggling with how to combat it in general, but especially in the pool because he always ends up choking. Yesterday he threw up because of how much water he chugged from the pool.

Patrick has been in swim lessons for 7 months. The teacher told me the drinking the water was a phase back in December. He has not slowed down one bit. It’s so gross.

[shauni27]

Jul 10, 2019 17:00:27 GMT -5 knx9211 said:

Jul 10, 2019 11:27:25 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Did everyone have a good holiday weekend? We spent all weekend in the pool or lake and within 2 days S was jumping off the diving board, swimming to the ladder on the side of the pool (telling me, "no mama, I do myself"), climbing out and getting in line to jump again. He is fine going under water and is obsessed with swimming and jumping. He shows us how he kicks and scoops to swim and in general is just so happy in water.

**note: he is within arms reach always, plus has a puddle jumper on.

The one thing I cannot seem for him to "get" is that he shouldn't be drinking the water! It is so frustrating. He swims with his mouth open ON PURPOSE to drink the water. It seems like he just wants water all the time. At the lake he would take his shovel (complete with sand and dirt), go dip it in the lake and try to drink from it. CONSTANTLY. At home if he sees the hose he tries to drink from it. If he sees his water table, he scoops in his toys and drinks from them. It is gross and I am struggling with how to combat it in general, but especially in the pool because he always ends up choking. Yesterday he threw up because of how much water he chugged from the pool.

Patrick has been in swim lessons for 7 months. The teacher told me the drinking the water was a phase back in December. He has not slowed down one bit. It’s so gross.

That helps a little I guess, lol.

[knx9211]

Jul 10, 2019 19:42:12 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Jul 10, 2019 17:00:27 GMT -5 knx9211 said:

Patrick has been in swim lessons for 7 months. The teacher told me the drinking the water was a phase back in December. He has not slowed down one bit. It’s so gross.

That helps a little I guess, lol.

Haha as with 90% of things our kids do, it is both normal and gross/weird.

[scm1011]

Mushe Happy Birthday to Miss B! I'm sorry you're feeling overwhelmed, although your feelings surrounding B's birth seem completely normal. Not only that, but your journey before you got there. You've had a tough few years, hugs. As for the au pair, yikes. You're coming up on a year with her, too, right? Are you parting ways at that point? It almost seems like she's a 3rd child you need to manage.

[scm1011]

We’re doing well! Darby is 6 weeks old today and such a joy. She sleeps well (gives me 3-4 hour chunks) and generally has a great disposition. We did mommy and me Barre class the other morning and she just slept in the wrap the whole time. I never could have done that with DS, and this 2nd newborn experience is really highlighting what a difficult baby he was.

Speaking of DS, he is starting to adjust much better to big brotherhood. He likes DD to watch him play, and asks her things like “you wanna see my garbage truck, baby sister?” or “You wanna see my bubbles baby sister?”. It’s adorable.

Speaking of adorable... (Note D is wearing Mushe ‘s B’s hand me downs )

[icedcoffee]

Omg scm1011! She's so cute and already so big! Glad to hear she's a chill baby. I'm hoping for one of those after having DS, but....probably won't. Haha

[scm1011]

Jul 11, 2019 8:28:21 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Omg scm1011! She's so cute and already so big! Glad to hear she's a chill baby. I'm hoping for one of those after having DS, but....probably won't. Haha

Fingers crossed for you! It’s nice to have a baby that can be awake but not crying lol.

[icedcoffee]

Jul 11, 2019 8:44:14 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Jul 11, 2019 8:28:21 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Omg scm1011 ! She's so cute and already so big! Glad to hear she's a chill baby. I'm hoping for one of those after having DS, but....probably won't. Haha

Fingers crossed for you! It’s nice to have a baby that can be awake but not crying lol.

I remember when DS was like 5 months old and he was awake, but not crying for the first time and I was bragging about that and everyone was like uhh....that's something most babies do much earlier.  LOL  DS was such a cranky face.

[scm1011]

Jul 11, 2019 8:52:15 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Jul 11, 2019 8:44:14 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Fingers crossed for you! It’s nice to have a baby that can be awake but not crying lol.

I remember when DS was like 5 months old and he was awake, but not crying for the first time and I was bragging about that and everyone was like uhh....that's something most babies do much earlier.  LOL  DS was such a cranky face.

Saaaame. I can actually put this one down awake on a blanket and drink my coffee while it’s hot with 2 hands. She’ll just chill and watch the ceiling fan lol. It’s a whole new world.

[icedcoffee]

Jul 11, 2019 8:59:43 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Jul 11, 2019 8:52:15 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

I remember when DS was like 5 months old and he was awake, but not crying for the first time and I was bragging about that and everyone was like uhh....that's something most babies do much earlier.  LOL  DS was such a cranky face.

Saaaame. I can actually put this one down awake on a blanket and drink my coffee while it’s hot with 2 hands. She’ll just chill and watch the ceiling fan lol. It’s a whole new world.

OMG!  I need this to happen.  Especially now that RNP's are banned.  LOL

Although in some ways I credit DS' master skills at sleeping to his crankiness.  I did everything in my power to never have him be awake in the first few months of his life.