Elly's update

Hi everyone,

I'm still working on my birth story (it will be a long one ;-), but I just
wanted to let you know that I posted some pics of Erin at Webshots' site, so
in case you'd like to view them, please send me your e-mail address and I'll
send you the link.

UPDATE:
we're fine! Erin's schedule is fantastic (feedings: around
7:30--midday--wakes up at 3:30 pm, nappy change, walk, breastfeeding--wakes
up around 6 pm, bath, change and breastfeeding--11 pm--around 3:30 am), so
basically we wake up only once during the night.
She breastfeeds well, has over 4 kg now (don't know the exact weight, it was
3.85 kg on Tuesday and postnatal care nurse's guess was that she'd gain
another 150 by the weekend), and I have no problems in that regard.

She is very alert, and in the best mood in the morning - it takes ages for
her to wake up,
she makes funny faces and smiles. She also likes to be left alone in
her cradle to watch her cradle carousel toys. She's
is lifting her head (it worries me a bit, her neck is so
tiny!) and we often find her not lying in the same position we put her in
(we place her on her side with a rolled towel behind her back to enable her
to turn to her back, but now she found a way to move away from the towel),
and she is very lively baby altogether.
She doesn't mind voices, music, sounds from the telly, phone ringing,
sleeping in the dark... She reached the phase when 95% of the time we can
put her in her cradle, turn off the light and leave the room, and she falls
asleep by herself (and deciding when to give her a bath helped with this -
she would not do this before we started giving her a proper bath; then she'd
fall asleep by herself only during the day, not at night).
I just hope she stays this way!
To us she looks like a one-month-old - more grown-up every day, so I try to
take at least one photo of her every day - time is passing by so fast!


Before her belly button cord stump was completely healed we had a bit of the
"crisis" from 6 pm until 10 pm - it was as she deliberately would miss her
sleeping cycle, and she just wanted to breastfeed or to be held by her Daddy
during that time. She would fuss a bit (but she is not a loud baby). Now the
belly button cord stump's "remains" are finally taken care of, so we started
giving her the bath when she is her fussiest self - and she loves it; she
wakes up around 6 pm, has her bath, change and eats, and then sleeps like an
angel.
DH is fantastic at changing her, burping her, and she likes him to hold her,
so having him around is a big help!

I'm doing fine. I still feel sore from time to time and very sleepy. The
lochia didn't wear off yet - postnatal care nurse said it will happen soon.
However, because I bled a lot a couple of hours after birth, she recommended
taking iron syrup supplement - and gave me the name of the brand which
doesn't make me throw up!
I lost about 11 kg, so have around 5 kg to lose to get back to my
pre-pregnancy weight. I decided to start exercising more (postpartum yoga
mostly and some fitness exercises) when Erin turns 1 month old - so far I
only walk with her every day.

I can't believe that 3 weeks ago I had contractions that were 15 minutes
apart!!!

Hope all of you are doing fine!

Elly
Mom to Erin - 2w6d old today

Congrats! Everything sounds like it is going incredibly well. She sounds
like a wonderful baby! Good for you walking already for excercise!
Kat
Mama to Maggie 11/03/01
and #2 EDD 02/01/04


"Elly" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone,

I'm still working on my birth story (it will be a long one ;-), but I just
wanted to let you know that I posted some pics of Erin at Webshots' site,
so
in case you'd like to view them, please send me your e-mail address and
I'll
send you the link.

UPDATE:
we're fine! Erin's schedule is fantastic (feedings: around
7:30--midday--wakes up at 3:30 pm, nappy change, walk,
breastfeeding--wakes
up around 6 pm, bath, change and breastfeeding--11 pm--around 3:30 am), so
basically we wake up only once during the night.
She breastfeeds well, has over 4 kg now (don't know the exact weight, it
was
3.85 kg on Tuesday and postnatal care nurse's guess was that she'd gain
another 150 by the weekend), and I have no problems in that regard.

She is very alert, and in the best mood in the morning - it takes ages for
her to wake up,
she makes funny faces and smiles. She also likes to be left alone in
her cradle to watch her cradle carousel toys. She's
is lifting her head (it worries me a bit, her neck is so
tiny!) and we often find her not lying in the same position we put her in
(we place her on her side with a rolled towel behind her back to enable
her
to turn to her back, but now she found a way to move away from the towel),
and she is very lively baby altogether.
She doesn't mind voices, music, sounds from the telly, phone ringing,
sleeping in the dark... She reached the phase when 95% of the time we can
put her in her cradle, turn off the light and leave the room, and she
falls
asleep by herself (and deciding when to give her a bath helped with this -
she would not do this before we started giving her a proper bath; then
she'd
fall asleep by herself only during the day, not at night).
I just hope she stays this way!
To us she looks like a one-month-old - more grown-up every day, so I try
to
take at least one photo of her every day - time is passing by so fast!


Before her belly button cord stump was completely healed we had a bit of
the
"crisis" from 6 pm until 10 pm - it was as she deliberately would miss her
sleeping cycle, and she just wanted to breastfeed or to be held by her
Daddy
during that time. She would fuss a bit (but she is not a loud baby). Now
the
belly button cord stump's "remains" are finally taken care of, so we
started
giving her the bath when she is her fussiest self - and she loves it; she
wakes up around 6 pm, has her bath, change and eats, and then sleeps like
an
angel.
DH is fantastic at changing her, burping her, and she likes him to hold
her,
so having him around is a big help!

I'm doing fine. I still feel sore from time to time and very sleepy. The
lochia didn't wear off yet - postnatal care nurse said it will happen
soon.
However, because I bled a lot a couple of hours after birth, she
recommended
taking iron syrup supplement - and gave me the name of the brand which
doesn't make me throw up!
I lost about 11 kg, so have around 5 kg to lose to get back to my
pre-pregnancy weight. I decided to start exercising more (postpartum yoga
mostly and some fitness exercises) when Erin turns 1 month old - so far I
only walk with her every day.

I can't believe that 3 weeks ago I had contractions that were 15 minutes
apart!!!

Hope all of you are doing fine!

Elly
Mom to Erin - 2w6d old today

Sounds like everything is going great! That's wonderful Elly! Oh and of
course I'd LOVE to see Erin lqqkingglass at shaw dot com

--

Jenn
-WAHM
-DS11
-DD6
-#3 edd 25/06

I'm glad everything is going well for you. I'd love to see the pictures my
email is nadeneann at shaw dot ca

Nadene

Elly wrote in message
...
I'm still working on my birth story (it will be a long one ;-),
but I just wanted to let you know that I posted some pics of
Erin at Webshots' site, so in case you'd like to view them,
please send me your e-mail address and I'll send you the link.

I want to see! :-) I'll email you.

UPDATE:
we're fine! Erin's schedule is fantastic

Wow, you are doing great! Jaden is still getting up at least two times
every night, I have no idea what his schedule is other than going to bed
at 10:00 pm, and I have yet to do any exercise at all, though he'll be
two months old on Monday. My excuse is having a toddler, and poor
walking weather. :-)
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 7 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

"Elly" wrote in message
I'm still working on my birth story (it will be a long one ;-), but I just
wanted to let you know that I posted some pics of Erin at Webshots' site,
so
in case you'd like to view them, please send me your e-mail address and
I'll
send you the link.

I would like to see pictures! (are they different than the ones you emailed?
I will answer soon, btw. She is adorable!). beadjoy at hotmail dot com. I'm
really looking forward to the birth story!

UPDATE:
we're fine! Erin's schedule is fantastic (feedings: around
7:30--midday--wakes up at 3:30 pm, nappy change, walk,
breastfeeding--wakes
up around 6 pm, bath, change and breastfeeding--11 pm--around 3:30 am), so
basically we wake up only once during the night.
She breastfeeds well, has over 4 kg now (don't know the exact weight, it
was
3.85 kg on Tuesday and postnatal care nurse's guess was that she'd gain
another 150 by the weekend), and I have no problems in that regard.

That sounds like a nice schedule! Lann is very loosely predictable, but does
keep us guessing a bit. It is almost like he is on a 48 hour schedule
instead of 24--i.e. every other day he has a similar pattern (one day naps
at 1:00, the next at 3:00, the next at 1:00 again). I'm a bit jealous of the
once per night feeding!

She is very alert, and in the best mood in the morning - it takes ages for
her to wake up,
she makes funny faces and smiles. She also likes to be left alone in
her cradle to watch her cradle carousel toys. She's
is lifting her head (it worries me a bit, her neck is so
tiny!) and we often find her not lying in the same position we put her in
(we place her on her side with a rolled towel behind her back to enable
her
to turn to her back, but now she found a way to move away from the towel),
and she is very lively baby altogether.

Is she smiling quite a bit now? So fun and reiniforcing! Just over the last
two days, Lann has started giving us really delightful full face grins--eyes
crinkling up, mouth open in a big wide smile. He was smiling little smiles
for a while before that, but nothing like we've seen lately! It is wonderful
:-)

She doesn't mind voices, music, sounds from the telly, phone ringing,
sleeping in the dark... She reached the phase when 95% of the time we can
put her in her cradle, turn off the light and leave the room, and she
falls
asleep by herself (and deciding when to give her a bath helped with this -
she would not do this before we started giving her a proper bath; then
she'd
fall asleep by herself only during the day, not at night).
I just hope she stays this way!
To us she looks like a one-month-old - more grown-up every day, so I try
to
take at least one photo of her every day - time is passing by so fast!

I'm shocked when I look at the pictures from shortly after he was born--he
looks so small (and he had lots more hair then, than he does now!!). Isn't
it weird to imagine that this time next year you'll have a one year old?

Before her belly button cord stump was completely healed we had a bit of
the
"crisis" from 6 pm until 10 pm - it was as she deliberately would miss her
sleeping cycle, and she just wanted to breastfeed or to be held by her
Daddy
during that time. She would fuss a bit (but she is not a loud baby). Now
the
belly button cord stump's "remains" are finally taken care of, so we
started
giving her the bath when she is her fussiest self - and she loves it; she
wakes up around 6 pm, has her bath, change and eats, and then sleeps like
an
angel.
DH is fantastic at changing her, burping her, and she likes him to hold
her,
so having him around is a big help!

I'm intrigued by this bath plan--we may have to try something similar. Lann
has a fussy spell every evening that starts somewhere between 5:00 and 7:00
and lasts for about an hour or so. Maybe we should try the bath plan as
well. To be honest, we are not very good about working in the time to bathe
him--it is sort of a when-we-happen-to-think-of-it thing!

I'm doing fine. I still feel sore from time to time and very sleepy. The
lochia didn't wear off yet - postnatal care nurse said it will happen
soon.
However, because I bled a lot a couple of hours after birth, she
recommended
taking iron syrup supplement - and gave me the name of the brand which
doesn't make me throw up!
I lost about 11 kg, so have around 5 kg to lose to get back to my
pre-pregnancy weight. I decided to start exercising more (postpartum yoga
mostly and some fitness exercises) when Erin turns 1 month old - so far I
only walk with her every day.

My lochia just finished up. Its about time! I think it is *great* that you
do daily walks with Erin! I would like to do that as well, but it is
starting to get chilly here. I have reinstated my daily yoga routine (I
started back into it--modified--at about 3 week post partum) and that feels
really good. I can usually only work it in at night, even though I much
prefer to do it in the morning. Oh well, I'm glad I'm managing to squeeze it
in daily!

I can't believe that 3 weeks ago I had contractions that were 15 minutes
apart!!!

Isn't that so strange?? For me, six week ago today at this time my mom was
on her way to my house and I was starting to have contractions that were 3
minutes apart! Every Sat. at 4:30, I look at DH and say, "remember what we
were doing X weeks ago today?" Gives us a weird feeling to count how quickly
time is passing!

Glad to read an update! I will post one of my own after my 6 week check-up I
believe. It is kind of weird to be one of the "non-pregnant" people now--I
felt so connected to this group and I'm now in a sort of limbo, where I
don't quite feel like I belong anymore!

--
Em
mama to Lann, 9/21/03
(6 weeks old tomorrow morning!)

"Em" ha scritto nel messaggio
news:No_ob.81095$HS4.674367@attbi_s01...

I would like to see pictures! (are they different than the ones you
emailed?

Yes (I think the two I emailed are included, though) - there is more of
them.

I will answer soon, btw.

Looking forward to it :-)

She is adorable!).

Thank you :-))


UPDATE:
we're fine! Erin's schedule is fantastic (feedings: around
7:30--midday--wakes up at 3:30 pm, nappy change, walk,
breastfeeding--wakes
up around 6 pm, bath, change and breastfeeding--11 pm--around 3:30 am),
so
basically we wake up only once during the night.
She breastfeeds well, has over 4 kg now (don't know the exact weight, it
was
3.85 kg on Tuesday and postnatal care nurse's guess was that she'd gain
another 150 by the weekend), and I have no problems in that regard.

That sounds like a nice schedule! Lann is very loosely predictable, but
does
keep us guessing a bit. It is almost like he is on a 48 hour schedule
instead of 24--i.e. every other day he has a similar pattern (one day naps
at 1:00, the next at 3:00, the next at 1:00 again). I'm a bit jealous of
the
once per night feeding!

I've heard stories of people not having to wake up during the night at all,
so I'm a bit jealous of them ;-) Still, as she breastfeeds for not longer
than 20-25 minutes at the time (she lets go of the nipple and leans her head
to my breast as if it's a pillow - I melt when she does that!) and then it
takes another 10 minutes to burp her (she is *very* difficult to burp - it's
never a loud sound so we're always guessing whether she burped or not; I was
quite freaked out of her not burping but me having to put her down because
she was already asleep in the beginning! Then the postnatal care nurse said
if she doesn't burp in the 10 minutes, we should just put her down on her
side and even if she burps/spits in her sleep, she'd be ok. Another burping
problem we have is that if she doesn't burp, she tends to get the hiccups -
it doesn't seem that the hiccuping thing is annoying/painful for her, though
(and she *was* hiccuping a lot in utero!!)). So, basically she sleeps for
cca 3 hrs at the time, which allows me to get some decent rest, too.

Is she smiling quite a bit now? So fun and reiniforcing!

Yes! This morning DH was changing her nappy and talking to her, and suddely
she just looked at him and grinned very widely, and for longer than a couple
of seconds (so her "smiling pattern" changed too - for lots of "little"
smiles to big wide grinns) - it *is* wonderful!

To us she looks like a one-month-old - more grown-up every day, so I try
to
take at least one photo of her every day - time is passing by so fast!

I'm shocked when I look at the pictures from shortly after he was born--he
looks so small (and he had lots more hair then, than he does now!!). Isn't
it weird to imagine that this time next year you'll have a one year old?

We noticed that she outgrew her first outfit today! OK, I think it would
still fit her if she didn't have to have 2 cloth nappies above the
disposable one (the peadiatritian at the hospital suggested to all new
mothers to put two cloth nappies above the disposable one, folded widely, to
help with the development of the hips - I'm sure there's a proper term for
this kind of nappy folding in English, I just can't remember it!), but since
it did fit her before (with the cloth nappies) and now it doesn't...

Before her belly button cord stump was completely healed we had a bit of
the
"crisis" from 6 pm until 10 pm - it was as she deliberately would miss
her
sleeping cycle, and she just wanted to breastfeed or to be held by her
Daddy
during that time. She would fuss a bit (but she is not a loud baby). Now
the
belly button cord stump's "remains" are finally taken care of, so we
started
giving her the bath when she is her fussiest self - and she loves it;
she
wakes up around 6 pm, has her bath, change and eats, and then sleeps
like
an
angel.

I'm intrigued by this bath plan--we may have to try something similar.
Lann
has a fussy spell every evening that starts somewhere between 5:00 and
7:00
and lasts for about an hour or so. Maybe we should try the bath plan as
well. To be honest, we are not very good about working in the time to
bathe
him--it is sort of a when-we-happen-to-think-of-it thing!

Fussy spell that lasts only an hour or so - count your blessings!!

We missed the bath last night, and her fussy spell lasted from 6 pm until 10
pm! We changed her nappy at 6 pm (10 minutes), she ate for 20 minutes and
then we tried burping her for another 10 minutes - she fell asleep at 6:40
pm and slept for only 20 minutes -- woke up at 7 pm. DH carried her (she was
quiet, though, but didn't allow him to put her down to her cradle) until 8
pm. Then we had another nappy change-feeding-burping session; again she fell
asleep at 8:40 pm, slept for cca 20 minutes--woke up at 9 pm. More carrying
until 10 pm. Again, nappy change--feeding--burping session until 10:30 pm; I
put her down, she cried, then I picked her up, went to the living room, sat
down with her, rocking her and singing, and she finally fell sleep -
thankfully, she was asleep from cca 11 pm until 2:30 am!
So yes, I strongly believe that the bath plan is helping - after she wakes
up hungry, has the bath and eats, she is really, really tired then - and she
goes straight back to sleep for at least 3 hours. I guess this means we're
not missing any more bath times!!!

BTW, the reason we didn't bathe her - suddenly (like in a couple of hours)
she got something that looks like very tiny acne on her face - on her
cheeks, under her eyes and on her forehead. This was weird - she had such
wonderful, smooth skin since birth, and now this. So I was worried she might
have developed an allergy to her shampoo or something.
I called my mother to come and take a look - she said it doesn't look like
any kind of allergy or childhood diseases she ever saw (and it's only on her
face); she said it could be the seboroic dermatitis (again, don't have the
exact word for it in English - it is a loose translation, sorry!). I went
and read the description of it in the "baby manual" we got from the hospital
when she was born, and it sounds like it - some kind of rash (light in her
case) that might appear from week 2 and should disappear by month 4; the
book says it doesn't require special treatment, moist baby ointment should
be enough.
So we put the usual baby cream (the kind we use after the nappy change) on
her face. Today the "rash" is still there, and there doesn't seem to be any
more "acne" than yesterday. Erin doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all,
and I know her fussy spell is just the fussy spell (she did it before, too).
Still, I'm going to call the postnatal care nurse tomorrow to come and take
a look.

My lochia just finished up. Its about time! I think it is *great* that you
do daily walks with Erin! I would like to do that as well, but it is
starting to get chilly here. I have reinstated my daily yoga routine (I
started back into it--modified--at about 3 week post partum) and that
feels
really good. I can usually only work it in at night, even though I much
prefer to do it in the morning. Oh well, I'm glad I'm managing to squeeze
it
in daily!

Well done on reinstating daily yoga routine!!!

I can't believe that 3 weeks ago I had contractions that were 15 minutes
apart!!!

Isn't that so strange?? For me, six week ago today at this time my mom was
on her way to my house and I was starting to have contractions that were 3
minutes apart! Every Sat. at 4:30, I look at DH and say, "remember what we
were doing X weeks ago today?" Gives us a weird feeling to count how
quickly
time is passing!

We do the same thing, too! And it's funny how every time we have this
conversation, we always remember and end up talking about something
regarding labour & childbirth we haven't talked about before. It's as if we
always remember something new.

Glad to read an update! I will post one of my own after my 6 week check-up
I
believe. It is kind of weird to be one of the "non-pregnant" people now--I
felt so connected to this group and I'm now in a sort of limbo, where I
don't quite feel like I belong anymore!

Yes, I also feel like I don't belong here anymore, but it's hard to cut the
connection and move on! I do read mkp and mk (when I find the time), but as
I don't participate much there, I don't feel "connected" yet.

Congrats to Lann on his 6 weeks - time *is* flying - Erin is 3 weeks old
today!

Have to go and get her ready for our walk.

Elly

Elly wrote in message
...
BTW, the reason we didn't bathe her - suddenly (like in a
couple of hours) she got something that looks like very tiny
acne on her face - on her cheeks, under her eyes and on
her forehead. This was weird - she had such wonderful,
smooth skin since birth, and now this. So I was worried
she might have developed an allergy to her shampoo or something

"Baby acne" - it's completely normal and nothing to worry about. ;-)
It's due to the hormone changes you and she are going through, adapting
to not being pregnant/being a separate person now. Julie and Jaden both
had it and it went away in a couple of weeks. Jaden's skin is already
completely better. I just continued to wash his face, but very gently,
so as not to break the skin on any of the pimples. I know it's
disturbing to see but there's nothing wrong.

Em said:
Glad to read an update! I will post one of my own after my 6
week check-up I believe.

I've been wondering about all the September moms too, and was going to
post a thread asking for updates from all of us. Maybe now that it's
the beginning of the month we'll have the whole series of update threads
for every month -- Mary, are you out there? I had my 6 week check up
(at 7 weeks, due to midwife's vacation) a week and a half ago, so I
guess I should get on it and write an update myself.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 7 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

Elly wrote:


and then it
takes another 10 minutes to burp her (she is *very* difficult to burp - it's
never a loud sound so we're always guessing whether she burped or not; I was
quite freaked out of her not burping but me having to put her down because
she was already asleep in the beginning! Then the postnatal care nurse said
if she doesn't burp in the 10 minutes, we should just put her down on her
side and even if she burps/spits in her sleep, she'd be ok.


Really, particularly after the first few weeks, I
wouldn't bother burping, particularly at night. If you try
that and she has problems, of course go back to burping,
but mine generally did quite well without burping at
night once they were past a few weeks old. I'm all for
making nighttime feeds as short as possible ;-)



BTW, the reason we didn't bathe her - suddenly (like in a couple of hours)
she got something that looks like very tiny acne on her face - on her
cheeks, under her eyes and on her forehead. This was weird - she had such
wonderful, smooth skin since birth, and now this. So I was worried she might
have developed an allergy to her shampoo or something.


Nah. Baby acne is very common. Don't put *anything*
on it, and it will go away in a few weeks.


Best wishes,
Ericka

"Cheryl S." wrote in message
Em said:
Glad to read an update! I will post one of my own after my 6
week check-up I believe.

I've been wondering about all the September moms too, and was going to
post a thread asking for updates from all of us. Maybe now that it's
the beginning of the month we'll have the whole series of update threads
for every month -- Mary, are you out there? I had my 6 week check up
(at 7 weeks, due to midwife's vacation) a week and a half ago, so I
guess I should get on it and write an update myself.

I'd like to read some updates! I feel a little "disconnected"--there were so
many of us Sept. moms and we were always checking in with each other and
then we had our babies and then BAM, nothing! Life has moved on without us!

As a side note just to share, our birth center had a party today celebrating
their first 100 births. Very cool! Baby #100 was there at 2 weeks old. We
didn't find out what number Lann was--somewhere in the 90's, but not sure
what exactly.

--
Em
mama to Lann, 9/21/03
(six weeks old today!)