Week of 4/24

[shauni27]

Good Monday morning, ladies.

I had a mostly good weekend, but an acquaintance of mine went into labor this weekend and lost their baby boy during delivery. My heart breaks for them and I am so sad. But I also keep thinking "what if?" and projecting this situation onto myself. I have felt baby move on and off all weekend but still checked the heartbeat twice a day all weekend. But now I am freaking out because he wasn't very active last night and I haven't felt him yet this morning. Ugh. My anxiety is through the roof and I hate that my sadness for this couple has morphed into "what ifs" for me. It makes me feel so guilty.

Other than that nothing much going on. Busy week and my last week in the second tri.

[scm1011]

Oh my goodness, shauni27, how heartbreaking </3  
I think your feelings are completely normal.

We started Ferberizing DS last night, and it was SO HARD to listen to my poor baby cry. After a while I made DH do most of the checks because it broke my heart to go in there, pat his head, and give him a smile when he was looking at me all "WHY AREN'T YOU PICKING ME UP, MAMA?! HELP ME!!"

It took about 2 hours but he finally went to sleep, and we only had one wake-up (to nurse, I'm not compelled to night wean right now). I put him back down awake and after a few mattress leg slams he was asleep! I heard him a few more times during the night doing the leg slams but he never started crying in earnest again and slept until 6am. So I consider it a success! Hopefully the initial period tonight is shorter than last night.  

[shauni27]

nice job, scm1011! I bet it was so hard not to pick him up :/

[scm1011]

Thanks, shauni27!! It was so so hard, but we were at the end of our rope. I can't survive and do my job on 4 hours of broken sleep anymore. I'm hoping one brutal week or so will lead to improved rest for all of us long term, but man does it break you heart!

[starryfish]

aww I am glad to hear he did well with sleep last night! Did you move him to his crib/room? scm1011,

[starryfish]

S is SOOO congested.....we suck out the snot multiple times a day and you can STILL hear it after we do it. Poor baby. Any tips or tricks on how to help more? We use the nose frieda thing and saline drops

[scm1011]

starryfish , no, he's still in our bedroom  I'm not ready to move him yet, and want to keep with the AAP guideline of at least 6 months in-room. We moved him from the RNP to the PNP though, which felt monumental lol.

I hope S feels better soon! Cal had a bad cold for about 3 weeks and it was torture. Are you using a humidifier? We just ran that full blast plus did the nose frida + saline mostly, but also a little nasal passage/sinus massage that our chiro showed us (you can google it). It helped his congestion on days he seemed really stuffed up.

[starryfish]

Apr 24, 2017 11:55:06 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

starryfish , no, he's still in our bedroom  I'm not ready to move him yet, and want to keep with the AAP guideline of at least 6 months in-room. We moved him from the RNP to the PNP though, which felt monumental lol.

I hope S feels better soon! Cal had a bad cold for about 3 weeks and it was torture. Are you using a humidifier? We just ran that full blast plus did the nose frida + saline mostly, but also a little nasal passage/sinus massage that our chiro showed us (you can google it). It helped his congestion on days he seemed really stuffed up.

Yep we got a humidifier this weekend. Oh dont worry, S is still in our room with us. She sleeps in her bouncer bc she has to be elevated until 8m due to her projectile spitups. She sleeps best in her cradle bouncer rather than the RNP, so we are not messing with a good thing! We eventually want her in her crib and I was thinking 6m but need to wait until 8m for her to sleep flat. 

[starburst604]

starryfish - I discovered a trick with the humidifier that seems to work so well when L has a cold. I turn the ceiling fan on very low and in her small room it seems to distribute the steam and makes it really humid in there. Like, there was condensation on the windows and it felt very tropical lol. Maybe our humidifier just sucks but she slept so much better when we did that!

[mpc]

Hi ladies. DD and I are doing pretty well. She's getting adjusted to life on the outside. She's completely precious, of course

shauni27, I completely understand the anxiety. The only things that helped me were denial and delivering. Now that baby is on the outside I feel so much better. You are getting closer. <3

scm1011, when we did Ferber with DS he cried for 45 minutes the first night and only 10 the second. Then he did a couple weeks of a minute or so every time we put him down. The first night we walked away with no crying I cried, lol. It was rough, but one of the best things we did. I kept nursing him middle of the night, but it became a 15 minute thing each time rather than 45. It helped so much with sleep for us all I think. Good luck tonight, I'm optimistic it will be much shorter.

[scm1011]

Good to know, mpc - I hope you're right!
I'm glad all is well with you and your sweet girl

[konapoppy]

Hugs shauni27.

Nice work scm1011! You can do this!

I just booked the first half of my weekly MFM appointments through 21 weeks. I never thought I would end up with more appointments pregnant than I did going through IVF. It will be great to see them every week and catch anything early, I am just a little overwhelmed. I sent the schedule to my family and BFF so they can join me for some appointments.

[awick14]

OMG shauni27 I am so sorry for your acquaintance. My heart breaks for her and her family. I know it's hard but try not to think about it happening to you. It's not a common thing, please be kind to yourself.

scm1011- I am not looking forward to sleep training. She is a pretty good sleeper so I'm hoping it won't be too hard. But it will be hard to hear her crying like that. And DD will be in our room until at least 9/10 months. We are moving at that point and I don't feel like taking apart and moving her crib just to pack it up to move shortly after that.

starryfish- we have our humidifier going, and using nose frida and saline and it's slowly helping her be less stuffy. The air here is so dry.

DD had her 4 month shots today. She's been sleeping almost all day since. But hasn't been too fussy which is nice.

We are going camping for the first time of the year this weekend. I hope it's not too cold. It will be interesting to see how DD does.

[loira]

scm1011, OMG I read that as "Febreezing" and was so confused at first. Well done, though! I hate listening to A cry herself to sleep, which she still does about once a week, but it is SO worth it to have a baby who naps and goes to bed reasonably well.

Sleeping of sleep, I'm exhausted. My mum was also visiting my aunt, so A and I were rooming together this weekend and I am not equipped to share a room with her. She rustles around so much, and I'm a very light sleeper. I don't think I've had more than 5 hours of sleep a night since I arrived. Mum's gone home now, and I'm staying the rest of the week, so we've moved A into her guest room. I am looking forward to a better sleep tonight.

[loira]

shauni27, I'm so sorry for your friend's loss. I totally understand the anxiety. I agree with pps that denial can be helpful, but for me denial was never an option. I don't know what your birth plan is, but can you put something in place to give you more control? I'm thinking induction or even just extra monitoring during labour? I mean, I had an elective c-section, which is probably the most extreme version of this suggestion, but I know that's not for everyone.

[shauni27]

loira, we are not having a birth plan, but I will make sure to talk to the midwives about this and other triggers I have (our loss and previous delivery). I want them to be open with me and communicative, which so far they have been wonderful. I want them to know how scared I am, not of normal labor stuff, but of another loss, as the only delivery I have experienced was such a sad experience.

[mrsgoontz]

shauni27 I am so sorry to hear about your friends loss. If I'm being honest I know that it would give me significant anxiety as well. You think for so long that getting pregnant is the hard part but fuck...all of it is so stressful. I have spoken to my OB about delivery a bit and how important it is to me how certain things are handled and she was there for my last birth and totally understands. They are being very accommodating and it has helped the "what ifs" a bit. We don't have a formal birth plan either but I am advocating for what is important to me and they've been very responsive.

konapoppy I'm glad that you get to see those sweet girls every week. I go in every other week but the u/s schedule is normal. With my history I just need to get more cultures done to make sure there is no infection like last time.

My H left this morning with his photography buddies to Big Bend National Park for a picture trip. He'll be back Friday. I am looking forward to getting some things done around the house while he is gone.

I am getting a tummy for sure and I'm pretty certain my work already "knows". I think I am going to bring donuts or something in this Friday and tell everyone.

[grover]

A turned one month on Sunday- where did the time go???

[thoseareradishes]

shauni27, I totally get your anxiety, and no need to feel guilty.

scm1011, I hope sleep continues to get better! E is starting to be more awake at her care times. It's so hard to leave her at night now. I sat with her for awhile last night to help her calm down and go to sleep; luckily she likes her pacifier so that helped.

E is wearing clothes now and is swaddled! She is still in the isolette but the temp is only set on 78F, so she's doing a good job maintaining her temp while still gaining weight. In two weeks or so we can start to evaluate her to see if she's ready to try breastfeeding and bottles.

[shauni27]

thoseareradishes, your updates are my favorite thing <3 I am so glad she is maintaining her own body temp and gaining weight and wearing clothes! Can you remind me, how old is she now? How much does she weigh?

[thoseareradishes]

Apr 25, 2017 10:41:52 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

thoseareradishes , your updates are my favorite thing <3 I am so glad she is maintaining her own body temp and gaining weight and wearing clothes! Can you remind me, how old is she now? How much does she weigh?

She's 7 weeks (32 weeks gestation), and weighs 4 lbs now!  Girl loves her milk.

[cactuscookie]

shauni27, I'm so sorry for your friend. I know how that can mess with you during your pregnancy too. I remember starting to feel pretty confident toward the middle/end of pregnancy and then reading a story about a late loss, which ended up haunting me for the rest of my pregnancy.

loira, I'm glad your flights went well, although it sucks that you're away from your husband again. You'll have to give me flight tips. We're flying with H for the first time next month. She's pretty good in the car these days at least, as long as we keep a steady stream of snacks coming.

[shauni27]

thoseareradishes , can I ask a really dumb question? I know she is getting milk right now, but how is it getting to her if not via bottles? I know nothing about preemies. I am just curious.

ETA


loira, yes, I just started feeling comfortable and having fun with the pregnancy. And now I am back to worried and anxious again :/ It is awful.

[thoseareradishes]

shauni27, she is fed through a feeding tube that goes into her mouth and down her throat to her belly. It is hooked up to a pump that pushes the milk through the tube at a specific rate (right now, she gets 38cc's of food over an hour, every 3 hours). No dumb questions! I ask the nurse and doctors questions all the time.

[oneslybookworm]

EM is 33 weeks today! Still haven't heard from her in the past few weeks, and it's been a week since the agency has heard from her. I swear, I'm so emotionally numb, I'm not even sure if I have the capacity for worry any more (at least, that's how I feel today).

Her meeting with the social worker after we met with her during our visit was positive. She felt she connected really well with me and thought DH would make a great dad. She still wanted us there for the birth (at that time)...I'm just hoping nothing has changed.

49 days to go...I need it to move fast.

[shauni27]

oneslybookworm, GOOD LORD. to me it seems like she was JUST 25 weeks and the fact that there are now less than 50 days to go is incredible. But I also know how slowly time feels like it is going for me and I know it is even worse for you. I hope those 49 days fly by!

[lms]

shauni27 so sorry to hear about your acquaintance. That's just heartbreaking.

scm1011 I hope that last night was better than first night.

starryfish we do the same thing when C has a stuffy nose. Saline, nose freida and his humidifier.

@awick114 I hope camping goes well this weekend and that she does well.

thoseareradishes I squealed when I read that in a few weeks you might be able to try breastfeeding. It's so exciting that she's 4 lbs!

((oneslybookworm)) I hope these last few weeks fly by for you.

I can't wait for this weekend! We are meeting my parents in Charlotte on Thursday to spend a couple days with them. We haven't seen them since July when C was just 4 months old. It's quite a bit longer drive for them, 9 hours, compared to our 3 hours but I didn't want to take DD out of school for 2 days since she just missed a day because of the track meet in Atlanta this past weekend. So we come back on Sunday and then my MIL comes in town on Thursday to stay with us for the weekend. We haven't seen her in almost a year. I don't know that I've ever had 3 weekends in a row where I'm so busy.

We noticed Monday morning that there were bite marks on the edge of C's crib. It's on the side that's closest to his door where he typically stands. My H just ordered some crib rail covers so we can protect them because of course it wasn't just marks, he took the paint off. It had to have been when he woke up Monday morning because we were in Atlanta over the weekend and I know he didn't do it after his nap on Sunday because I grabbed him as soon as he woke up. The only thing we can think is that he didn't really go back to sleep after he made some noise around 5:30 Monday morning.

[rachelgreen]

I'm so sorry for your friend's loss. My heart is broken for them.

And...hi...

I came on to bump my 3tc NIAW post and it was already up there, lol. Now I'm having fun being on here and commenting like a mad woman before DD1 wakes up (dd2 is in the jumperoo). I actually am on my laptop so I'm seeing siggys for the first time in like, two years. I'm probably going to be a PW if I stay on here too long. lol.

[starryfish]

quick question....those with babies in daycare, what do you do for your teachers for teacher appreciation week? Trying to get ahead of the game on this one. DD is in the infant classroom and has 4 teachers.

[scm1011]

thoseareradishes, I'm glad to hear she continues to improve

oneslybookworm, you are a rock star. I hope the next 7 weeks fly by without incident.

starryfish, our daycare just asked for $15 from each family - easy and done! Has your daycare not given any kind of direction? I've considered buying C's 2 teachers each a $10 Dunkin Donuts gift card as well, since I see Dunks coffee cups in the room every day.