Post Partum checki-in 3.2.08

C

cyclinggirl

Cathlete
Hey Mommies,

A late night check in for last weeks progress. It was a tough week going back to work and Sienna still not sleeping well...me not sleeping much at all. (Praying tonight is different.) So I'm glad I got any exercise in at all, I sooo didn't feel like it. Hoping this week is better.

MON-walk 00:50:00
TU-medicine ball abs 00:05:00
WED-pm nap 00:00:00
THU-walk 00:30:00
SAT-Bosu/pilates sculpt 00:50:00
SUN- walk 01:00:00

Total: 03:15:00

How are all of you doing? How is Tamal these days? LJ? Nico? Hope you're all well and had a wonderful weekend.

Aranacini, I saw your last post. I'll write with my schedule etc. So glad that things have turned around with Nico's sleep habits. And your workouts inspire me!!! You must be looking and feeling much more like your old self. Real sleep and vigorous workouts always make me feel my best.

Have a good week ladies, more later. Hoping to catch some winks!

Steph
 
goodmorning steph, and the ladies that follow,

last week was not a good workout week for me i think i only did 2 days. i ended up getting a cold towards the end of the week and feeling lousey. this week i am hoping will be better also.

i went back to work yesterday...it was a terrible day. not just because i didnt see my baby all day but one of my patients died. the good part is that i didnt have to worry about LJ not getting taken care of. That it self was a relief. I was trying not to cry when i left for the day. I felt so guilty.

LJ is also sleeping a lot better but, not through the night. This may make me a bad mother but i find that if we put him in bed with us he does much better at night. Its important that I get a good night of sleep with the job that I do. When the time comes he needs to go to his room then we will deal with it. It is just easier to nurse him in bed and not have to get up.

hope to hear from the others i will be checking in again
 
Melissa, congrats on being back at work, I'm sure it wasn't easy. And I'm so sorry to hear about your patient too, that must have been tough on you -- whew! -- such an emotion filled day. I hope today is better. :)

So...I'm interested in your sleeping habits. How do you position LJ so you can sleep soundly and safely together? I've had Sienna in bed to nurse side lying but I'm concerned that I'll crush her or roll over on her so I can't relax and actually sleep (even though we have a king sized bed). When she's done I'm happy to put her back into her own bed 2 feet away...so I can truly sleep.

Any tips??? She hasn't been sleeping through the night, so I'm open to anything. I got 4.5 hours last night and then 1 hour dozing while she nursed, sooo not enough to be alert at work. Plus, I was pooped from my first cycling workout, a long walk, and painting her room yesterday. I think I'm going to have to use my non-work days as recovery days and nap while she's napping instead of trying hard to get stuff done.

I'm glad you're finding a way to cope with his waking. I wouldn't say your a bad mom at all, you're smart and clearly adaptable!

Steph
 
Hello Mommies,

Melissa - I am so sorry to hear about your patient. Hopefully there won't be days as stressful as that in the near future (what a way to return to work!). BTW, my childbirth instructor was totally pro-family-bed. In many countries babies sleep with their parents with no ill effect - and in some places their attitude about sleeping separately would be negative ... so - do what feels best for you :) My instructor also pointed out that you have self awareness while sleeping - after all, you don't roll off the bed anymore, right? As long as you and DH haven't been drinking or taking sleeping pills, LJ shouldn't get squashed ... but keep covers down at waist level.

Steph - I hope little Sienna lets you sleep enough to be rested. Nico will have to have a chat with her ... I have no real advice for you - only sympathy. Nico didn't sleep really well until I put him in his little fleece sacks (or fleece pjs - fleece being the key). I think they keep him more evenly cozy throughout the night.

Yes, I am feeling (and starting to look) more like myself. I've turned a corner and gone down to a size medium yoga pant and can almost wear my size 10 jeans ... maybe in another couple of weeks!

I had some bug last week/weekend, but here's my list:

Fri: Super Sick
Sat: Super Sick
Sun: 1 hour walk carrying Nico
Mon: PUB; 1 hour walk carrying Nico
Tues: Butts & Guts



arancini
 
RE: Post Partum check-in 3.2.08

Hey Arancini,

So glad you're over your bug, not fun. I had something a few weeks ago and it totally drained me, it was on top of Sienna being really sick too so it was a double whammy. Seems like everyone I know has sick kiddos or are sick themselves right now...'tis the season. Can't wait 'til it's over.

Congrats on your shrinkage, that's awesome! You're working so hard at it you truly deserve some major payoff. BTW What's PUB?

So last night I hit the hay at 9:30 with Sienna. I took her on some night time errands and she slept like a baby. :) She woke a bit at home and went back down easily. I kept her in our bedroom in near darkness and we kept things quiet and mellow and put her down for the night after her last feeding. She woke up at 12:45am and nursed in bed/slept until 3am. I put her back into her bed and she woke up again at 5:30am with stuffiness so we changed her and DH gave her some peditlyte while I slept (yayyy!). She went back down and we both woke up just after 7am. So that's the most sleep I've had in a long time. :) I don't mind her in my bed, I just have to remove all my extra pillows and move my puffy comforter down. I still don't sleep as well, but maybe in time I will. Whatever it takes to get more sleep!!

She's vocalizing sooo much and soooo loudly now. It's really cool to hear her voice. Our house is very open so she loves the acoustic echo. We were out to dinner with a friend on Sunday and Sienna's "singing" became less amusing...she was really belting out her tunes while we ate. We had to excuse ourselves for a walk. She may be small but she's pretty mighty...what a set of lungs!! DH says she's going to be an opera singer (jokingly).

How are the baby boys doing? Any new habits or tricks?

Have a good one ladies!

steph
 
RE: Post Partum check-in 3.2.08

Steph, I find that I dont get as comfortable in bed but still manage to sleep well. I usually sleep on my side and put my pillow behind me and clear everything from his face/head area. He usually ends up falling asleep nursing and so do i. I wake up in the night when he does and offer him the "breasteraunt" and he goes for it falling back to sleep even quicker. Usually around the morning we will at least get up to change him. This has made a huge change in sleeping. I get way more than sitting up in bed and trying to get him to fall asleep after. The only bad thing is that he doesnt get burped after eating but he seems to be ok with that. I definatly wake up sometimes just to make sure he is okay. I dont care to share my bed but if it means i am going to get more sleep. I am willing to do that. LJ hates his co sleeper. I think he has slept only a few nights in it when he was first born. I do hope that Sienna becomes a better sleeper soon and maybe this will help. It sounds like Sienna is at the same stage as LJ. He loves to hear his voice. Cooing and making noise. Its very entertaining sometimes. I think he is almost trying to talk to me in his baby language. I love it though.


arancini, I am hoping you are feeling better. I had a cold also last weekend it was terrible. LJ laid down on saturday at like 1 ish and i went to bed with him. we didnt get up until 4. I was so happy that he slept so i could get some too. Our birthing instructor also talked about family sleeping and its really natural for some cultures to do this. I just hear from my mother that I will be sorry for doing it because he wont want to get out of our bed one day. I am totally okay with it right now. When it becomes a problem than i will deal with it. Congrats on the weight loss. Keep up the good work. Its really hard to feel like you self after everything you go through.

Today was my second day back to work and it was much better. Thank you both. I posted a Pic of my chunky monkey as my aviator. I just love this pic. Hope you both are doing well.
 
RE: Post Partum check-in 3.2.08

Hey there,

Nico is squealing his hello's in the background - surely you can hear him? He too has discovered the acoustics of our house and has been squealing and cackling a ton. He really digs it when we squeal back :)

Yes, hopefully we are all through with colds for the season. Bleah. Today I went out in shorts and a tank top - it was in the upper 60s (not the hottest it's been, but nice) and we had a great walk.

I'm glad you guys are getting a tiny bit more sleep ... every bit counts. We are trying to wean Nico off of his swing - he has been sleeping in it exclusively at night for weeks now. I have a feeling we will be back to some sleepless nights temporarily.

Gotta run ... BTW, PUB is pyramid upper body.
arancini
 
RE: Post Partum check-in 3.2.08

Melissa,

I'm glad your second day was better, and thanks for the sleeping tips. I pretty much do the same as you.

But last night was awful, I feel like an old man with a hip replacement...side sleeping with kiddo in the same position doesn't really work for me I guess. She doesn't dine and unlatch...she grazes (still lightly sucking) for 90 minutes and then I realize she must be full and finally pull her off. If we go somewhere else and nurse she pays attention and gets it done more quickly and then she's full and we're both back in our beds, in theory anyway. I'm going to try that tonight. Wish me luck...I'd be so happy with 5 consecutive hours, it would help with all the detail work I do at work. (end of whining session)

Arancini, sounds like Nico is doing the same squealing thing. It's much more aggressive than cooing but not quite crying...sort of like baby yelling/singing. It seems to have a purpose too because she hasn't been crying or whining as much at night, she uses her squealing to communicate her happiness and unhappiness. So evolved!

Good luck with weaning Nico from the swing! We've done well with putting Sienna directly into her bed...it's been 4 days and so far so good. But she wasn't swinging all night, I hope Nico transitions easily.

Manmohini, are you back at work now? How are you and Tamal? Keep us posted, we're thinking of you.

Steph
 
RE: Post Partum check-in 3.2.08

Hi Ladies,
I don't have much time before Tamal wakes up and raises a tumult. I can't believe he is actually taking a nap lying down in the bed. Lately, he cries every time I put him down and he wants to sleep upright on my body. A few times in the afternoon, I have suspected that reflux has been making him cranky.

Just to weigh in on the family bed discussion. I sleep with Tamal on a futon on the floor. He is a decent night sleeper, but he does wake up every 3 hours still. If I nurse him side lying he goes back to bed almost immediately. If I had to get up, he would never fall back to sleep or it would take me 2 hours of intense effort. Fitnurse, I share your concern about not burping after the feeding. That would wake Tamal up. Still, if reflux is a problem, the burping is necessary.

I have been told I have an "active baby" who fights sleep.

I am impressed with everyone's workout regimen. Mine consists of walking at the most these days. Tamal is so demanding that I can barely put him down. I start teaching again on Tuesday. I decided to teach half of my afternoon course in a virtual classroom so that I can be at home and keep an eye on the sitter. Yes, Iam feeling serious separation anxiety. The sitter came today to meet Tamal and while he took to her, he kept holding his arms out to me. That was so sad. Probably this will be worse on Mom than baby.
Manmohini
 
RE: Post Partum check-in 3.2.08

Hi Manmohini, so good to hear from you!

Sounds like you have a very close relationship with Tamal both physically and spiritually, I'm sure it will be difficult for both of you to adjust but I'm know you will in time. He's probably sensing that something is up i.e. your impending return to work, they definitely pick up on our anxiety. That's probably why he has been wanting to sleep on you.

I originally felt like I didn't want anyone to be with Sienna and then by the time my first week of work came around I had come to the conclusion that I wanted her to feel secure with herself enough to be with other people. Maybe it was witnessing the crowd of kids at daycare and realizing the importance of all secure one on one relationships. Or maybe it was that she got so sick when I was originally due to go back. I'm sure my emotional unreadiness contributed to her being so sick at the time. Either way, I was genuinely happy to see her connect with our temporary nanny. They have a nice relationship and though I have pangs of jealousy when I'm at work, I'm relieved to know that she's loved and she enjoys becky's company.

I've also noticed that she's been more comfortable with other people since leaving her with the nanny. She used to cry when DH's mom picked her up or held her, but last weekend she was very calm with her and they had some sweet moments. I was convinced she was going to give his mom a complex with all her screaming.")

All of this is just to say that I'm sure you'll get through it and good things will come of this transition too. Maybe you'll eventually feel relief for the increased personal space/time and he'll pick up on your happiness and be a more content little guy.

I hope it goes well next week. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend with your Tamal. :)

Steph
 
RE: Post Partum check-in 3.2.08

Thanks, Steph. Yes, I agree. Tamal is very much a people person. He loves every face he sees, and he smiles at everyone, so I think it's good he gets exposed to many people. It hasn't helped that we've been so cooped up. One of my objectives is to get him around as many people as possible. He likes motion and people mostly--doesn't like to sit still for too long.

Still, I just want to make sure I leave him always in good hands. Granted, I'm only going to be gone for 3 hours a week. The other 8 hours, my husband will be caring for him, and that doesn't concern me at all--he has a good bond with hubby. So I guess 3 hours with a caretaker is a good start. In fact, I redesigned my Thursday so that I don't have to be away from home from 2-10. I'm going to teach a virtual class from 2-4 instead. This will allow me to be gone only in the evening. Somehow, I think transitioning into it in small bursts is the best way. Still, next year, since I have an ultimately flexible job arrangement, I am going to try to work it out such that it's mostly my husband or me giving the care especially for the first couple of years.

Thanks for your encouragement. As I suspected, these things are probably harder on the mother.

Sounds like Sienna has turned a corner. Give the little cutie a kiss for me.
Manmohini
 
RE: Post Partum check-in 3.2.08

Hi Manmohini, I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who sleeps with my baby. I really look forward to cuddling with him and bonding. I have just found it so much easier. I also hear you on the child care thing. I thought it was going to be really hard going back to work. I found it to be somewhat enjoyable. There is nothing more I would love in life is to stay home with LJ but we cant do that. Its just kinda nice to get back to reality again so to say. That is great you can arrange your scheduale so you can be with him. I wish i had a job that I could do that or even work from home. I am lucky tha this grandma cares for him, that has also made it 100% easier to go back to work. If i had to leave him with a stanger i dont think it would have been so easy for me. The first day I think that I wanted to cry but, i held it together.

Thanks everyone for the comments on LJ. He is my little angel. I dont know what I did before him.

melissa
 
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