any april/may 05 moms want to chat?

[s_olano00]

Hello all,

Things are quite the same in our corner.... early wakings, finding AK across her crib after naps and debating whether the 3am - 4am wakings are due to hunger or habit....

Lately, AK is doing something very funny.. she has found the way to say AAAAAA while breathing in  :shock: she will sound as if she is choking and she even coughs, but since I have a baby monitor that besides being kind of a walkie-talkie, monitors the baby's breathing and it would tell me when she's not, I know everything's OK. So if she wakes up (naps, night sleep) and she gets bored of sucking her fist, she will start Aaaaa, AAAaaaa, which really cracks me up  Of course, it's not that endeering when she does it at 4am, but I guess it's her way of having a time out when she's tryin to get herself back to sleep.

Erin's advice was gold to us.... since 2 nights ago, if AK wakes up at 3am - 4am, I don't rush in inmediately (before, I just assumed she was waking up because she was hungry -her 4 hour mark- and indeed she was draining almost 8oz), but due to a "logistics issue" 2 nights ago, I didn't have her bottle ready and it took me about 5 mins from the moment she woke up to prepare it, and by the time I got to her room, she was asleep! She woke up again at 4am and I stayed in my room, and after some AAAaaaa's, she went back to sleep. So she proved me that she doesn't need her 4ish am feed anymore     

Now, AK wakes up at 7am (and if she wakes up before, I put her back to sleep right away) and has a great "breakfast" !!!! Her daily feeds have improved considerably after stopping the 4am feed, which is great for me because during the day I give her my milk and during night I give her formula.

On Tuesday we went to her Doc to get the 4 month shots (one on each leg + the drops against the polio) and she did quite well afterwards... she wasn't cranky at all, just yesterday, she had a little fever, but that's all. Also, I found out that she already weights 7.24kgs (bit less than 16 pounds) and is 67 cms long (about 26.5 in) no wonder why my poor back hurts so much everytime I pick her up  :?

Well Ladies, gotta go.. AK is about to wake up and I have prepare the "scenery".

I hope you and your LO's have a great day/night

[Olivia's Mommy]

Wow. So much to catch up on.

Carrie--We do DF at 11:00 and I usually feed if she wakes up after 3:00. I figure it's been 4 hours and she's probably hungry (even if that's not the reason she woke up). She usually takes a full feed. If it's after 6:00, I usually try to settle her, but that rarely works as she usually wakes around 7:30 anyway. If she doesn't settle, I'll feed, then let her sleep a little later (8:30 or 9:00) sometimes...but that's more for my sake! I try to only do that once in awhile, though. And I always offer a feed when she wakes up to start her day...she doesn't always take it, but I offer. I don't know if that was helpful or not, but I hope so.

Theresa--Olivia has done a little better. 2 2-hour naps yesterday and a pretty good night! What helped us was a wind down (I hadn't been doing one because she didn't need it, but apparently now she does!) We only do about 10 min, but it seems to be enough to settle her and get her ready for a deep sleep. I think with her increased activity it's more difficult for her to "switch" to sleeping mode.

Andrea--thanks. I think you're right. Last night was better (except that I unintentionally woke her up at 1:45!) Her face was smashed up against the bumper and I tried to move her and woke her up! I thought she'd settle back down, but she didn't. After about an hour, I fed her and she went right back to sleep. She slept until 7:30 this morning! I hope I didn't jinx it by waking her up! At least it seems to be getting better!

Well, Olivia is NOT happy about something...gotta run!

[motherofquinn]

Ladies, checking in after a few days and so much to catch up on!

Now on day 9 of EASY PU/PD and had a major relapse yesterday, it was as if Quinn forgot everything he learned! I had to do PU/PD for 30 min with a hysterical baby foa all naps, that hadn't happened since day 1. Things have been better today.. only a few minutes of PU/PD in the late afternoon nap, otherwise I think we are back on track. I think relapses are normal?

Kate, to answer your question of a couple days ago, Quinn is taking both breasts at the 4 am wake-up. I think he is pretty much draining both as he does during the day so I assume he is getting the hindmilk at every feeding...? I assume it is hunger and not a comfort thing? Should I be concerned if he only feeds about 4 min on each breast? Or maybe he's just an efficient eater. (He's about 16 pounds at 4 1/2 months...)

Nancy, Quinn has been sleeping on his tummy since he learned to roll over. At first we were freaked out because he could only roll one way (from his back to his tummy) and thought that made sleeping on his tummy somehow dangerous. But after being reassured by our pediatrician, we haven't worried. Now Q can roll both ways and squirms around quite a bit when he is settling himself. I am still in the habit of putting him down on his back however and he usually rolls to his tummy on his own. Sometimes, however, when he is not settling well I will turn him to his tummy and he will be asleep within a few minutes. It seems as though he forgets to turn and gets upset! I wonder too if I should just start him on his stomach? BTW we haven't beed swaddling Q for a about a month now...it seemed to annoy him more than help him.

Theresa and Carrie, I have the same problem of the 11pm DF and the early morning wake-up. I am still feeding at 4ish. I try to wait to see if he will settle on his own, but often I am too tired to be patient and know that feeding him will put him back to sleep at least until 6:15ish...(I wish it could be 7 but he wakes up happy and babbling and it doesn't seem as though PU/PD is the right way to extend his sleep when he is happy!! I have the same problem with the am nap...he wakes up happy after an hour...how do I stretch it to two?)

Because of the relapse we had yesterday, my little guy has almost lost his voice, it is both sad and cute at the same time   :roll:

Hope everyone has a good night!

[Olivia's Mommy]

All you moms of tummy-sleepers: Did you hover over your LOs when they first started sleeping on their tummies? Now that DD is starting to roll over, I worry about her once she's on her tummy. I'm losing sleep b/c I feel like I have to stay awake to help her if she can't get back on her back. Also, she scoots around the crib and a couple of times I've found her with her face smashed up against the crib liner. That has freaked me out! Has anyone else gone through this, and does it get better? Am I being paranoid for no reason?

[Katet]

Well I have 5mins, I'm just home from the Hospital for a quick shower. Liam was admitted yesterday, he either has gastro (Aiden also has) or may have meningitis as white cells were found in a CSF (he had to have a lumbar puncture done.
I will post an update when we get discharrged hopefully Sunday... we have to wait 48 hours from when the last test was done to see if it is bacterial menigitis.

[Taylor's Mommy]

oh gosh Kate I will say a prayer for you and Liam.  please keep us posted on his progress.  so sorry you are having to go through this with your little guy :cry:

[Jamom]

Kate-- I'll be thinking of you and Liam and hoping for the best.  Hugs to you.

[Olivia's Mommy]

Kate, you and Liam are in my prayers. Please keep us posted; I'm so sorry you have to go through this.

Blessings!

[s_olano00]

Kate, you and your babies are in our thoughts. I hope everything will be fine and soon you will be at home enjoying your boys.

[mommytsa]

Kate- I'm hoping for the best for all of you!

[jjstar]

Kate, we're thinking and praying for you guys.

[motherofquinn]

Kate, you and your little ones are in our thoughts and we are sending lots of positive energy and virtual hugs your way!

[JKHH]

Kate,

What you must be going through...you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Regards,

[mommycarrie]

Wow Kate, that's not good news at all.  I'ts amazing how strong you are and how you can handle things.  I hope your boys' test results came back with good news.  I am keeping you in my thoughts.

Take care,
Carrie

[Katet]

We are home. After 72 hours in hospital, we are back home. All the cultures came back negative, so they diagnosis was a virus/ gastro... could have told them that as Aiden had gastro, but for babies under 6mo, they like to be over cautious & as he had a slight increase of white cells from the lumber puncture (spinal tap) they had to give antibiotics & we had to wait until all the cultures came back to rule out meningitis.

Anyway he is a happy boy again & slept well last night, so hopefully that won't be too messed up, but we have feeing issues to fix... on 2.5hour feeding as he refuses my right side & while he wasn't well I was feeding almost hourly so he could get a little often.

Thanks for all your support & will post the whole story when I get a chance. All I can say is ALWAYS trust your instinct that things aren't quite right.