Fall for February 2011 babies

[Grapecrush]

Anxiety is a nasty thing, and when you can't even figure out what to be anxious about, or you start doubting your own abilities to the point that it affects your daily activities, you know the beast has taken over. Remember, you are not your anxiety...it is a separate entity, an unwelcome visitor - one you learn to live with, knowing it will bubble up when you least expect it, or you find ways to quell, if not conquer, it. Elena and Jen, I'm thinking of you both and wish you some inner peace. Take it easy on yourselves.

[mullinska]

mum, woo hoo on Toby crawling! now the fun begins. I have to admit, I am a horrible house keeper and I usually just swiffer the kitchen and mop when I get around to it. I have never been so horrified as to see the amount of dirt on Fiona's belly as she scooted across the kitchen floor. I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed and scrubbed and it was really sad how much dirt had built up! I am incredible embarrassed about it. I hope the work trip goes well and what a star your mom is. Mine would never do such a thing.

Elena, I am so sorry to hear you sound so stressed. I wish I could just come over with a beer and just hash it all out. At least that always helps me when I can just sit and let it all out with a friend, and beer is good for the milk supply I hope that the weight thing ends up being a non-issue and the good news is that he is still happy laid back Tommy. I am sorry your husband is being not so helpful in the support department. I guess with his own stuff he needs to let it out somewhere and it is always the ones we love best, right?

Jen, I am sorry to hear that your anxiety is up. I do hope that it is a passing phase. We do what we can as mothers and adapt to it all. I hope that the return of school will bring a return to some normalcy for you.

grape, ah.. the second child.. to do it or not to do it. I think these decisions are hard the second time around. It is harder to justify and expense when you have one happy healthy child. I always knew I wanted more than one and I was surprised when #2 didn't just happen. It was a struggle for us to make the decision. We ended up with a really good tax return that helped to find Fiona. Of course we are now feeling the pinch now that she is here with the extra costs. But I am so happy we made the decision.

Country, I am glad you got some skiing in with the little one... with any luck you will not be able to go at all next season November will be here so soon!

Tired here.. after spending a long time scrubbing my floors today, I can now feel confidant about leaving Fiona on the floor in my kitchen! I mean... people live with dirt floors and their children learn to crawl, right? Ugh, I still can't believe the dirt that was hiding there. It is probably my biggest mistake in the remodel, buying a floor that hides dirt, as well as holds it it seems. Labor day weekend was pretty laid back here, stayed home did some housework and yard work and started to draw up some plans for my friend's remodel at her house. I think we will barter, me help her with her addition and her husband can help us built a custom desk. Of course I have not mentioned this to the husband yet.

The in-laws called yesterday at 4pm and basically invited themselves for dinner... normally I don't mind drop ins, but the house has been a sty and I had spent the morning in the garden and the afternoon on the computer with the house plans. In a way it actually helped me to get my butt in gear to clean some stuff up. It just made for a really frantic 1.5 hours til they arrived.

Allison is back off to school tomorrow and then she has her first dance class on Wednesday. She is so excited! I am also hosting a playgroup on Friday morning. I belong to a mom's group and we set up playgroups at our houses from time to time and people sign up to come. So I will have 7 moms there and their little ones. It has been forever since I have hosted. I was so out of it with the TTC and then with being pregnant and pre-school, I just rarely go around to it. It will be nice to have one with Fiona being so young that I can enjoy conversation again, so hard with the 3 and 4 year old crew.

Oh.. and on the supply talk. I tried to pump tonight since Fiona fell asleep after only nursing one side... these boobs do not know how to pump anymore... 1/2 ounce.. I just did it to try to avoid feeling engorged in the morning, but I guess that they just know what they are doing and they will only react to Fiona. I have some frozen away in case we need it. It just means that I may not be able to replenish it after I use it. Not complaining, just really surprised about it.

[Grapecrush]

Mull, you cannot be a bigger slob than me (and my DH). Now that Z is starting to show signs of on-the-move-ness, DH insists that we do not wear shoes in the house. Don't know how much that will help. Anyway, we rarely have people over because we're embarrassed about the grossness of the house...and there's nothing to get our butts in gear better than an impending visit!

A (former, long story) friend of mine is a scientist and a strong advocate of letting kids be dirty so they build up their immune systems. That's fine, but once I went outlet shopping with her and her then toddler. After we had pizza and chocolate ice cream, she didn't even wipe his filthy mouth and hands and then allowed him to touch whatever he wanted at the Bath and Body Works outlet store. Nasty,

[erobin1]

Mum-- Hope your trip goes well.

Mull-- pumping-- uggghhh! hate it! love your tales of dirt. And, in my opinion, you did the right thing with a dirt hiding floor...

Grape-- lol on the chocolate ice cream hands in the store! How hilarious! One of those things where you can see a cerebral person losing track of basic common sense in service of a theory. heehee

AFM--

OK, well, psycho lady back from the ledge.

First of all, my nanny is away so my MIL (bless her heart) filled in this morning. So I had her bring Tommy in for a formal weigh and had my nurse put it on his growth curve in his chart. And he's OK. He had a significant dip but he's already about half way back up to his original curve. So I think it really was just adjusting to me going back to work and that his adjustment is already underway. Thank God. What crazy people DH and I can be. Honestly. But, it makes me feel sooooo much better that all the measures we'd already put in place (cup drinking every hour, etc) were actually working. It just flipped me out to think they weren't.

He's such a dear dear baby. Today he's started babbling much much more. It is noticable. Will mimic sounds "mama" "baba" totally cute. Really working hard on the crawling. Not quite there but working hard.

AND, in amazing news, the City planning staff decided to grant our school permit without a hearing! We've been putting on a lot of political pressure behind the scenes, and had a lawyer on the job (paid for by a parent, thank god), and it worked! I almost can't believe it. It is such a tremendous relief.

School started today and we've got nearly 60 kids over at the early childhood center (preschool) and 22 in the fledgling elementary (we've temporarily turned my mother's house into a one room school room until we can get into our new facility)! It was an incredible feeling to go pick up Sammy today and encounter all these strangers. Feels like it is taking off.... which will be a miracle in this economy.

OK, so, much more cheerful this evening...

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I've ordered the mesh things and the bottles Jen suggested. Will reweigh Tommy again in 2 more weeks to make sure the trend continues. But..... so relieved I can't tell you.

[mullinska]

Elena, such great news!!! With Tommy and about the school. You sound like a new woman.

Grape, I am not a germaphobe.. so I can handle some dirt, but I do wash my kids face and hands My grandmother always used to say that you were going to eat a bushel of dirt before you die.. so a little won't hurt. I think it would be fun to compare houses some time I am a mess. Having a 4 year old has made it oh so much worse.

AFM: I am getting used to my old architecture program. They have it free for students and educators and since my husband is an educator, I am using his info to re-aquaint myself with it. I think I really need to keep current on things even if I won't be going back to work really soon. I am trying to help my friend out with a house renovation and what seemed like a really easy fix may end up being a little harder that I thought, not on the drawing end, but on the actual implementation... they will definitely need an engineer.

Big news locally is that there has been a huge credit card breach in our area, I know 8 people personally that were affected and there are almost 100 that have reported to the police about the problem, but there are many more since they only want the charges that go over $500 to be reported. Fraudulent charges have been started this weekend all across the globe with duplicate cards! I am not sure where in town it originated, but it seems to be a local thing. So far I have not seen any issues on my cards. Most people found out by getting calls from their credit cards about suspicious activity. Others didn't learn until they checked their accounts since the charges were smaller. Scary stuff... I do hope we aren't affected.

Anyway, up too late working on these floor plans.. Fiona just let out a cry, but went back to sleep.. maybe those top teeth are on the move? Not sure. Hope all are well.

[MumInWaiting]

E - Great news! Love the mesh things...love them. Hopefully Tommy will have fun with them, and there's nothing better than finding a way to have a baby feed himself. It's awesome to entertain for a little bit to free up some time for yourself.

Mull - There should be some rule against in-laws dropping by for a surprise visit. Glad you got a bit of warning, though, and you're right it's a nice way to force you to get the cleaning down quickly anyway!

Grape - I'm going to re-evaluate everything I touch in the next Bath & Body Works store I visit!!

AFM - I'm in Chicago now. Going to sleep...so excited to get 8 hrs of sleep in a row. Amazing!! And this hotel that I stay at is The. Nicest. Hotel. Ever. They sent me an email to "pre-order" from the pillow menu, so I had a body pillow waiting in my room when I checked in. And they have a mini heater in the closet, in which they keep a neck and eye pillow so they're warm and ready for you. Oh, and the deep bathtub...I just took a wonderful bath...

Of course, I also just watched about a million videos of Toby and DH. I miss them both. Glad I get to see them tomorrow!

[jenmom2myboys]

E, You sound much better.The mesh things do rock. Wyatt get it twice a day with fruit.

Mull and Grape, Your dirt has nothing on mine. We have some old carpets in here that we haven't had the money to replace yet and even though I have tried to shampoo them I feel like they are dirt filled. My kithcen floor is a magnet for dirt and it doesn't help that last summer we had to have the yard tore up with a backhoe for drainage. We have 2 acres of dirt that Scot, the dogs and the boys drag in. That said I ama germaphobe but dirt to me aren't germs, lol. I wash my hands like crazy and have gigantic alcohol gel sanitizer things, lol.

Mum, I want to go to that Hotel, sounds like heaven.

AFM, I decided to let things go but then Hospital Administration office called. They wanted things cleared up so they transfered me to the ER. The ER Doc was on the phone with my Doc, wonder why they called her and not me. They said they would call right back and never did so that pissed me off again. I called hours later only to be told that I should have asked more questions so that infuraited me. They do have protocal for scans but she would not tell me what it was and why the doc ordered it. SO she and I got int a yelling match and I told her I wanted whoever was above her, she was not the head but the assistant. No call back from he ER. I did call admisistraion back and later talked with an Administrator who was the Head of Radiology and the Surgical Unit. They are trying to cut down on scans, he did not have his own daughter scanned but observed when she was having abdominal issues. He understood my concerns as a Parent. They are going to get pamphlets on scans for in the ER and they had some big meeting in the ER that afternoon. I just wanted something good to come out of this. I told him I felt that my rights as a Parent to make an informed decision had been compromised with that particular Doctor. I also still want the ER Head to call me but I am pleased that the Administration took my complaint seriously. I however will not drop my complaint with the State or JC until the ER gets back to me. Oh and our refrigeratpr broke. WE just decided not to do anymore work on the house until Scot and I got our teeth fixed, root canals and got new glasses. It looks like a fridge trumps that. It is raining cats and dogs here.

[jillian15]

Hi ladies – sorry I always just pop in and out. I wanted to throw a question out to you all. Do any of you have suggestions for things I can drink or eat to help boost milk production? I just started drinking that “Mother’s Milk” tea – not sure if it is helping.

As you may remember, Ada and I didn’t do well with breastfeeding so almost immediately I started pumping and gave her breast milk in a bottle. I had an oversupply for about 5 months and actually had to buy a deep-freeze freezer to store it all. My supply started to decrease and I was getting just enough for what she needed in a day (she drinks anywhere from 30 to 36 oz a day-6 bottles of 5 to 6 oz each). Now, all of a sudden, I’m getting just about half of what she needs in a day – I’m pumping the same number of times a day for the same duration. I’m pretty stressed in general right now and although I’d love to cut back the number of times I pump – which is four times a day – so on one hand I want to keep giving her breast milk until she is one. I probably have enough, with my frozen reserves, to make it a couple months.

On the other hand, I am so sick of my breast pump. So, so sick of it. Although, I may have to bronze it and put it on my wall when I’m done.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Oh, and I'd like to throw my hat in for the the biggest slob on this board. Ada has been crawling like a champ for a while, and now she is pulling herself up and "walking" by pushing a box or laundry basket around. I think it is because my floor is so gross that she is doing anything she can to get away from it!

[jenmom2myboys]

jillian, I pumped for over 8 months for Talon because of his cleft palate so I understand. I cringe when I think of pumping. Have you tried Fenugreek? You can gt it at GNC. Oatmeal is another thing to try and plenty of water.

[jillian15]

Jen - I feel your pain about everything you have been writing about. The fridge - OMG on top of everything else - what is next, right? We had to fix both cars, a leaking pipe, a broken tv, a broken sump pump - all in the same month. It drives me crazy. I have a dentist appointment next week - I really hope I don't need any work done.

Thanks for the Fenugreek suggestion. I hadn't heard of it. I'll see if I can find some tonight. In the meantime, I'm going to go make some oatmeal