Archive through August 21, 2002
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TV ClubHouse: Archive: New Parents to be.....Tips and advice for us (ARCHIVE): Archive through August 21, 2002

Moondance

Monday, August 12, 2002 - 01:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Ava is a beautiful name! Crangrats!

Keeping you in my thoughts, Mom to be:)

Danzdol

Tuesday, August 13, 2002 - 10:26 am EditMoveDeleteIP
any new babies to tell about????????ENB??????we are waiting for the news.........Dylan wants to know who his new friends are.....

Wiseolowl

Wednesday, August 14, 2002 - 08:54 am EditMoveDeleteIP
As a parent with 2 kids in university my advice would be ; decide right away to set a certain amount aside each month for the children's post-secondary education whether its $50 100 or more if possible. How often do you go into the home where there is a 3 year old child and literally trip over the toys . Parents are so excited with their little ones that they spend this kind of money on toys etc that the kids play with for a week and five years later they are in a garage sale. Over the next 17 years they will constantly demand material things from you - just say no more often than not. It's not only a good life experience but when college time comes and they have the ability to go and the maturity to appreciate it it's the best gift -aside from your love and guidance that you will ever give them and it will be appreciated.

Caliogirl

Wednesday, August 14, 2002 - 02:04 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
As a mom of two, I know how special this time is. Enjoy each moment (there will be good and not so good) -- but it goes so quickly. Everyday they change and grow, everything is so interesting to them -- it gave me a whole new perspective on things. Now I catch myself driving in the car by myself and excitedly pointing out "a bus" on the highway for my 3 year old who is at home with his dad and I laugh at myself.

Kids really are amazing little creatures. They definitely brought out the best in me (and when I haven't had enough sleep and my breasts hurt from nursing, the worst ).

Congrats and good luck to you both.

Admin

Friday, August 16, 2002 - 10:36 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Lisa and I returned home from the hospital last night. We had a boy!

He was born Aug. 13 @ 1:55pm. Lisa did amazing....it was a tough time and she did great!

He was 7 lbs 4 oz and 22 inches long.

I'm sure Lisa will post here soon, and I'll get some photos together.

Thanks for all the support.

Bananaclip

Friday, August 16, 2002 - 11:16 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Congratulations on your new baby! Napping when the baby naps has been a life-saver for me. Housework can wait, especially the first week. Good luck!

Twiggyish

Friday, August 16, 2002 - 11:29 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Best advice Banana! Sleep when you can. Forget about the normal routines for a while.

Azriel

Friday, August 16, 2002 - 11:43 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Get a baby's first year calendar.(I know you can find them at Hallmark shops if you have one up there) It's much easier to stick a sticker on the calender with baby's first smile than to find that dang baby book and pull it out. It helps so much later when you finally pull the book out and can't remember what day it happened.

Sia

Friday, August 16, 2002 - 12:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Lisa, start--right now--keeping all the prescription slips for the baby's meds, everything from vitamins to antibiotics, anything prescribed at all. Buy a spiral-bound index-card pack, either 3x5 or 4x6-inch size, and paste, staple or tape each Rx slip onto the front only of each page. Begin at the front and work chronologically through the notebook. For each Rx, make a note re. what the medicine was prescribed for (runny nose, cough, fever, etc.) and note if the baby had a bad reaction or not to it. Also note if the meds seemed particularly helpful.

Take this Rx notebook with you to each doctor visit. When the doctor asks something like "Are there any antibiotics that have been ineffective for BabyAdmin or really beneficial to BabyAdmin?" you have the answers right there--with the dates and everything. Takes so much guess-work out of it when trying to relate Baby's history to the doctor, nurse or PA!

Admin

Sunday, August 18, 2002 - 10:41 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Okay, here's some photos:

Baby B Photos

Enbwife

Sunday, August 18, 2002 - 05:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hi everyone, what a week!!! It's good to be home with Baby B but exhausting too. He is absolutely adorable! I am in awe of him every time I look at him (usually I cry). The labour & delivery was horendous... 20 hours once the induction began to work until he came out, but it was all worth it. I ended up taking the epidural after 10 hours but I had back labour so the last 2 hours it was not effective. Needless to say I lived to tell the tale.

My sister having Ava the day before was so great because our rooms became party rooms at the hospital and we had tons of fun going back and forth. Plus it was very convenient for all the visitors. Ava & Baby B will grow up together celebrating their birthdays each year.

He is the sweetest little baby I have ever seen. I look at him and can't believe Neil and I made him. The sleep deprivation and sore boobs are all worth it when I see him sleeping or looking up at me. This thread and others has been really great and you all have been so supportive. Thank you for that. I now have to reply to all the e-mails from friends... it's good to be back! :)

Danzdol

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 07:08 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Hi ENB- welcome to the club....I am sooooo happy for you! Dylan says he is very happy also.......

IT's so awesome about your sister also. How great!

SIA I love the advice you wrote above. Dylan just got a mild case of bronchilitis and he is on albuterol so that will be the first thing on his folder!!!!!You had good timing for me.

Congratulations!!!!! ENB

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Enbwife

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 07:50 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Danz! I actually got to sleep quite a bit last night for the first time all week. Baby B does not like his cradle or sleeping by himself at night. He'll go down for 20 minutes or so then wake up and want to feed again or be held. I had to bring him to bed with me and feed him laying down. We both fell asleep and he slept for 3 hours straight... hmmm... I dunno about him sleeping with us all the time. Any advice???

Thanks SIA for the tip. We'll do that for sure.

Mamaanja

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 09:23 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Congratulations on your new baby! Childbirth can be exhilarating, to say the least, eh? Maybe we should start a thread for our birth stories....

I highly recommend co-sleeping. Especially when they are newborns! You can just latch them on when they are hungry and you both drift off to sleep. It will keep you sane. Lack of sleep=insane Mommy.

People will tell you "Don't do that" or "Babies need to learn to fall asleep on their own", because our culture is not used to co-sleeping.
But when babies are that little, their wants are their needs. Attending to their cries is not spoiling, it's teaching baby trust. So follow your heart and trust your instincts.

I recommend reading "The baby book" and "Night time Parenting" by Dr. William Sears. He does a super job explaining babies sleep patterns and how it all fits in with co-sleeping and breastfeeding.

Wargod

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 10:11 am EditMoveDeleteIP
We did the co-sleeping with my son. Was awesome not having to find my way to the crib in the dark, plus I think I got more sleep like that.

Right before my daughter was born, hubby decided he didn't want to share our bed with another baby. I went against my own instinct and let him move the crib into our room. The first few weeks were horrible! I was getting no sleep at all (she liked to take two hours to feed, go to sleep and wake right back up to feed again.) When she was three weeks old, hubby woke up about 4 am, to find me sitting in bed holding her, crying hysterically and begging her to go to sleep. Hubby, until that moment, didn't know I had been getting no sleep for three weeks. I was a bit too stubborn to admit I needed a little help from him or anyone else. Well, that started co-sleeping with her!

If you don't plan to go to work, may I suggest a kid-swap with your sister? My sis and I do this, and it works out great for us. Once a week I take her daughter, and once a week she takes either both or (depending if my son is in school) my daughter. It gives both of us a day to clean the house, run errands, or just sit back and relax. We also swap kids once a month (or try to) for an all nighter. Gives the parents a night out to yourselves and a full night sleep! I know the baby is young, and the thought of being without him for even a few hours is probably not crossing your mind yet, but in a year or so, it'll help. I love paying bills, grocery shopping, and visiting friends without having to drag the kids into and out of the car when its over a hundred degrees here or freezing cold, lol.

Because I went back to work when both my kids were 6 weeks old, I missed out on alot. My mom babysat and one thing she did for me was to keep a journal for both of them through the first year. It started with stuff like, baby had so many oz of formula at these times, then what foods, or if they were sick, what meds and what times....but also included stuff like when they would smile, or how much rolling they did. If they went somewhere that was put into the journals. The highlight of my days after work was to read the journal and see what they'd been up to that day!

Bananaclip

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 10:31 am EditMoveDeleteIP
He's so precious Enb!

I always said I would never co-sleep because I thought it was dangerous but I gave in. It's so much easier and I like have him where I can see him. Also it feels like I'm more in tune with him and wake up faster when he's hungry. When he sleeps with me he never gets to the crying stage when he's hungry because I can hear the sucking sounds.

Danzdol

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 11:30 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Dylan is a "loner" baby......he wants attention during the day but not to be carried at all for more than a minute which kills him because I always want to snuggle and he wont let me or anyone. That has been the only upside this week when he got sick- he was clingy for the first time......at night he just started sleeping for 5-7 hours straight at a time in his crib. For somr reason he just never cries to be held only to feed...................and he feeds a lot.

Even if I don't do it, I can understand why cosleeping is cool, they are just so cute and cuddly and besides they get old real soon.

ENB go with your instincts.

Jewels

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 01:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
What an adorable baby! I am so happy for you. You made it!

Like Danzdol, I had a "loner" baby, he was not a cuddler at all, it drove me crazy because I wanted to hold him all the time and he just didn't want to snuggle. But just you wait, Danzdol, someday he will run into the room yelling "Mommy, hug!" My son does that all the time he loves to be hugged and get kisses, it is the best!

My husband and I decided before our son was born that we would not do co-sleeping. And I think it worked out better for all of us that way. I was able to sleep really well between feedings and didn't wake up for every little noise he made. We had the baby monitor in our room so I could hear him if he needed to be fed, but couldn't hear every little gurgle and snort. We tried to have him sleep in our room once in his bassinet and it was the longest night of my life. Everytime he rolled over, I woke up. I also felt bad for my husband...he's the one that had to get up and go to work in the morning and I didn't think it was fair to keep him up while I was trying to feed, especially if our son was fussy. I could take a nap the next day while our son slept if I needed too, my husband would had to work all day, I just didn't think that was fair to him.

After about a month of him sleeping in a bassinet, we put him in his crib, he looked so tiny, but I wanted him to get used to it. At 7 weeks old he slept through the night and has ever since. When we go on vacation he has no problem falling asleep on his own. I know people who have to go to bed when their kids do because the kids can't fall asleep on their own. It kept me sane knowing that I could put my son to bed at 7:00pm and my husband and I could have a few hours to ourselves and my son would sleep until 7:00am, and he still does. He has always been a good sleeper, still takes 3 hour naps too.

Maybe it would have been different if I would have had a snuggly baby, I don't know, but I know we made the right choice for us, and I plan on doing it the same way for the next one! Go with what works for you, Enbwife, but try to take advantage of all the quiet time you can get. It will help your sanity!

Keep us posted!

Twiggyish

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 03:33 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I knew of someone who rolled over on her baby while sleeping. When our baby was born, I remembered that and it was for that reason, I slept downstairs near the baby's room for a few months. (We have a two story house)

Have you all picked a name yet for baby?

http://www.babynames.com/V5/index.php?content=

Yuhuru

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 03:42 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
My situation was a lot like Jewels. We used a bassinet right by my side of the bed, but for 3 months. It was very convenient and I could lean right over and put my hands on him when I needed to. I was able to nurse pretty easily. Also I'm a paraniod worrier freak so I was also afraid that me or my hubby would crush him.


ENB, The best advice I ever got AND that I like to give is how to address advice. My cousin told me to smile and nod and say,"Hmm, I never thought of it like that" and go do what the heck you want :)

Also, with Ava and your baby being so close in age fight your inner demon really hard so that you don't start comparing your munchkin's progress with Ava's. It doesn't matter who sleeps through the night first, who gets on solid foods, etc. Spare yourself the stress. And believe me it never ends. There's always something. You're a great mom even if you baby isn't potty trained until age 4.5 :) And you're still sexy even if it takes you 36 months to lose your baby weight (oops, that's my story :))

You guys are making me so excited to do this again. Only 5 more months to go!!!

How are you feeling Jewels?

Jewels

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:01 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I forgot, but I was going to say the same thing about comparing each others babies. One of my best friends has a son 3 months younger than mine, she is constantly comparing the two of them and it drives me crazy. Knock on wood, but they will both read and walk eventually.

You will get a lot of advice that sounds crazy...especially when they are newborns and you are nursing, some peoples ideas seem insane! Yuhuru's cousins' line is a good one!

Yuhuru...I am feeling really good. I am 6 months this week! Can't believe it. Am I next? I have popped out like crazy in the last month or so...I seem to be carrying this one really low so it is causing me some pain when I walk for a long period of time (one reason why my miles have dwindled in the exercise thread) and it seems harder to move around. I was laughing at a post on the AOL pregnancy board...A lady was saying that she was 22 weeks along and hadn't gained a pound yet...couldn't believe it! Another one said she had only gained a pound. You mean there are people out there who don't gorge the minute they find out they are pregnant?

When do you have your ultrasound?

Yuhuru

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 03:50 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Jewels,
My ultrasound is Monday. I'm huge! I've gained more weight so far with this pregnancy than I did my entire last pregnancy. Some people have started to tease me about twins. Somehow I don't find it funny :)

I'll keep you posted. I'll put info in your members folder if you have one.

Admin

Wednesday, August 21, 2002 - 08:23 am EditMoveDeleteIP
This is my favourite photo of my new son, along with his new cousin. (He's on the right)

twoofus

Egbok

Wednesday, August 21, 2002 - 08:31 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Adorable Admin! I love the size of his baby feet!! Yes, size 12 or 13 for sure!! LOL
Hope all is going well for the three of you, as well as for Enbwife's sister and new family too.

Will we be hearing a name for Baby B (Enb Jr.) anytime soon?

Twiggyish

Wednesday, August 21, 2002 - 09:34 am EditMoveDeleteIP
What sweet babies! He sure is growing fast.