Yes, It's Normal!

See You Later Bottle

2010-01-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

So I am weaning my 11 month old son off the bottle. I want him to be completely off the bottle by the time he is 13 months old because I'm sick and tired of bottles and formula and all of that stuff. On top of the weaning thing, I also am cutting out baby food and switching to feeding him just whatever we are eating for meals. Well, anyways, here is the plan of weaning and I have 6 weeks to make it work:

Week 1 (Down to 3 bottles):
Morning: bottle, oatmeal/fruit/waffles/toast (something)
Lunch: Sandwich or something like that- no baby food and no bottle
After Nap (around 4p): Bottle and a snack
Dinner: whatever we are eating
Right before bed: Bottle

Week 2 (Down to 2 bottles):
Morning: bottle, oatmeal/fruit/waffles/toast (something)
Lunch: Sandwich or something like that- no baby food and no bottle
After Nap (around 4p): A snack- No bottle
Dinner: whatever we are eating
Right before bed: Bottle

Week 3 (same as above)

Week 4 (Down to 1 bottles):
Morning: oatmeal/fruit/waffles/toast (something)- no bottle
Lunch: Sandwich or something like that- no baby food and no bottle
After Nap (around 4p): A snack- No bottle
Dinner: whatever we are eating
Right before bed: Bottle

Week 5 (same as above)

Week 6 (No More Bottles):
Morning: oatmeal/fruit/waffles/toast (something)- no bottle
Lunch: Sandwich or something like that- no baby food and no bottle
After Nap (around 4p): A snack- No bottle
Dinner: whatever we are eating
Right before bed: No Bottle

So this is the plan. Right now we are on Week 2 and it's going okay. There have been a few days where I gave him 3 bottles, but he's teething and not eating very well so I need to make sure he's getting enough nutrition.

Hope this helps someone!

The Vaccination Question

2009-08-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

As a parent this has been one of my BIGGEST questions.

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

I've gone back and forth so many times.

I've seen the research on BOTH sides of the plate. Both very compelling. I've literally spent hours upon hours researching the pro's and con's. And believe me when I say that, as I have google-itis. It's a disease. I swear. Google it.

I've listened to my kids pediatricians (who are all very pro-vaccine)

I've listened to Jenny McCarthy talk about her son's battle with autism because of vaccinations (or what she perceives as being the cause).

I've read countless blogs of mother's whose kids disabilities are what they believe to be a direct result of vaccines.

It's all very compelling.

Jonathan and I decided to stop vaccinating our kids when Lyric was 9 months old because we just didn't feel comfortable with the statistics and also because our daughter would take vaccinations very hard. She would always get sick, feverish, and cried a LOT.

However, when we decided to move to Belgium, we knew that in doing so our children would begin a life of traveling the world. We are the kind of parents who take the kids every where we go, and my 6 month old son has already been to Belgium, Israel and Egypt. So knowing that because of increased travel, our children could potentially be exposed to more things, we re-visited the idea of vaccinating.

Here is the suggested Vaccination Schedule for 2009

Pretty crazy huh? That's a lot of shots. That's a lot of little viruses to put in such a young child's body... And here are my thoughts on what I consider to be the big 3:

Hepatitis B:
Here are my questions. Why does my 1 day old baby need a Hep B vaccine if I do not have Hep B? I could understand if I carried the disease, but I don't. Hepatitis B is generally transmitted either in childbirth from the mother, through sexual contact or sharing dirty needles for drug use. Well I don't have Heb B and the other two reasons my 1 day old baby would not be exposed to, so I wrote that vaccine off immediately.
But when I started doing the research again I found that 1/3 of the world has the virus. In the US it's less than 2%, but in the world it's a lot more prevalent. Now it's not more prevalent in Western Europe where we are living, but if we begin traveling more extensively to Eastern Europe, Africa or the Mid-East the chances of picking it up is greater, but still unlikely, so I was going to skip that vaccination. That was until I was talking to Jon about it and he said, "Oh ya. I had that in high school." So it looks like I'm going to continue on the Hep B schedule.

dTAP -
Again, if you stay in America, the chances of catching Diptheria, Tetanus or Whooping Cough (Pertussis) is very low. I'm serious, it's a bit ridiculous how low the chances. Like literally less than 50 cases of tetanus have been reported in the US a year. Only FIVE cases of Diptheria have been reported since the year 2000! However, the Whooping Cough (Pertussis) is more prevelant. Nevertheless, I was very against this vaccination, especially that they are normally administered together and you can't pick and choose (well you can, but they don't make it easy on you).
However, when I started doing the research again based on statistics from countries other than the U.S., Diptheria and Pertussis are VERY prevelant in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. We decided that we were going to go ahead and give them the dTAP to help protect them.

MMR
This is the one I struggled with the most. The Measles, Mups and Rubella.
I hate that they are injecting my kids with live attenuated viruses that have a good chance of making her sick. Like 1 in 7 chance. I hate that.
But I would also hate my kids developing a potentially life threatening illness as well. Did anyone see that Private Practice episode about Measles? Ya, that brought a whole new thinking to me. I know, it's just a TV show, but I was pretty much a "don't vaccinate" person and then it started having me think about the broader picture. I know that was the point, and I'm not niaeve in knowing why PP did a show like that and who was behind it, but still. The depiction of a mother losing her child to Measles because she didn't want to vaccinate hit home. After doing more research on it, I felt that the benefits outweighed the risks.

I know there are quite a few other vaccines. The pneumococcal vaccine I don't have a problem with because the vaccine is injected into the body to stimulate the normal immune system to produce antibodies that are directed against pneumococcus bacteria. From what I read it's just doesn't raise any red flags for me.
The Polio vaccine. I am totally for that. That used to be one of the leading causes of death in children and they figured out a way to save children from it. I'm going to readily accept that one.
Rotavirus, a little unnecessary, but the virus is HIGHLY contageous and I've had friends whose kids have gotten it and it spread like wildfire through the family and is a terrible illness that lasts a few days, but it's not life threatening.
Chicken Pox vaccine- again pretty harmless in my opinion, except for the fact that once again you have a high chance of contracting it with the vaccination.
Hepatitis A is prevelant even in America and I was already wanting to get the kids vaccinated against it.

I think the bottom line is you have to figure out what is best for your child.
The MMR, even though it's controversial, I think it's benefits outweigh the risks. I've also done a lot of research on links to autism and such and can find NO actual proof. It's a lot of circumstantial evidence that I believe needs to be looked into more. But there is nothing that can give me the peace of mind that by NOT vaccinating my child I am doing what is best for them.

However, on the flip side I think it is every parent's choice. I have very close friends/family who do not vaccinate and their decision is simply that, their decision.

We would probably still not be on the typical vaccination schedule due to the fact that the risk of contracting most of the illnesses is pretty much non-existent in the U.S. Sorry, but it's true.
However, moving so close to countries where they do have consistent outbreaks gives me reason for concern and that is why we are choosing to begin vaccinating our kids again.

We've gotten a peace about it and are going forward with it.

No one can decide for you. You can give me all the articles, blogs, short dramatic videos you want on EITHER side of the fence, but until you figure it out for yourself as a parent what is best to do for your children, all you'll do is be more confused.

But I still say the question of whether or not to vaccinate your child is one of the hardest and most controversial issues in parenting.

Coughing Only When She Lays Down

2009-08-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

Written By: Destiny V.

My 10 month old daughter had been coughing only when I would lay her down to sleep. She would start coughing so much that she would wake herself up.

At first I was really concerned, thinking that she was developing some type of sickness. But she wasn't lethargic, she had a bit of a runny nose, but nothing dipping on the abnormal scale. She by all accounts was totally fine except when I would lay her down to sleep.

After talking to my doctor on the phone, I found she is just having some drainage. Right now it is cold/flu season and the weather is awful. She is just getting a little bit of a runny nose and when she lays down, the drainage is causing her to cough.

My doctor said to take her in if:

Her runny nose gets more persistent, especially if her snot is green or yellow (clear is ok)
She develops a fever
She loses her appetite
She is lethargic
She starts coughing more during the day

Please don't take this like I am a doctor or anything, it's just my experience!

RSV with a 3 Weeks Old

2009-08-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

Written By: Courtney W.

RSV……Not fun at all

I had my 2nd daughter in January of ’04 and thought the world was wonderful! I never could imagine that anything that small could get so sick. Well when she was about 3 weeks old, she started getting pretty congested! I really did not think too much of it. Kids get snotty all the time, right? I didn’t start to worry until she developed a little cough. Still, the fairly new mother that I was, thought, well I should take her to the Doctor just to see if they can write me a RX for her cough and we would be on our merry little way. WRONG!!!

As I went to the Doctor that day, I was totally not prepared for what was about to take place. The Doctor came in to see me, listened to her chest and immediately told me that she needed to be admitted into the hospital for RSV. What the heck was RSV? I had never heard of it until right then.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus is a respiratory virus that infants get which causes wheezing, congestion, fever and coughing (acts like the common cold). Most all kids get RSV in some form by the time they are at least 2 years old. It is highly contagious.

As you might imagine, this completely freaked me out. I felt like I just got out of the hospital from having my baby and now I was being admitted back because, if gone untreated, she could die. I rushed to call my mom and let her know what was going on. Luckily my husband went with me to the Doctor’s appointment. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been by myself and gotten this horrible news.

We went straight to the hospital from the Doctor’s office. They checked us into a room with a baby crib that looked like a prison for infants. Not the most comforting thing to see right when you walk into the room. The hard part about this experience was watching my 3 week old having to get her blood taken. They could not find a vein for the longest time (Because she was so little) and had to try and re-try to find it. After using both arms and then turning to her feet to find it, I was literally in tears. My husband almost punched the nurses. Just having to see your baby lying there screaming at the top of her lungs and not being able to do anything, breaks your heart. They put her on a breathing machine with this special medicine. We had to give it to her every 3 to 4 hours. My husband and I both stayed the night with her at the hospital those 3 nights and let me tell you, that’s not fun! Nurses in and out every 3 hours, nursing every 2 to 3 hours and being so uncomfortable when you finally were able to lay down for a little sleep. Just not fun anyway you look at it. When we got to come home, they sent us home with a nebulizer and the RX medicine to put in it. We had to continue giving it to her for several weeks every 3 to 4 hours. She also could not sleep laying down flat. She had to be propped up in her bed to sleep so that she could breathe better. I had to suction her out with the bulb syringe and this over the counter thing called, "Little Noses Saline drops”. Totally worked wonders for her congestion. My oldest was only 15 months at the time and came down with another form of RSV too but because she was older, it came as an ear infection and that’s it. Thank goodness I didn’t have 2 kids admitted in the hospital. That would have sucked!

I never want to go through that again. I wish I would have known that December through March is the worst time for RSV. I might have tried to be more careful with taking her places in those early days of her life. Thank goodness I took her to the Doctor before it was too late!

Orbital Cellulitis- Eye Infection

2009-08-05T23:09:00.002-07:00

Written By: Carrie B.

Orbital Cellulitis- aka a really really bad eye infection!!! Seriously, I thought that I had seen it all. Nothing prepared me for what was going to happen the morning I woke up and my new one month old had his eye all matted up.

I thought that it was a cold in his eye or one of the other kids poked him in the eye and it was a little bacterial infection. I just thought I would wait it out and see what happened. As the day went on, the worse it got. By 5 pm his eye was swollen shut. I called his pediatrician and she told me to rush him to Urgent Care. After a long wait in the waiting room, they moved us to an examination room. The doctor came in, examined him, and then began to pry his eye open. Puss oozed out of his eye, I thought I was going to pass out. Between my tears and shock, I called my husband back there. The doctor told us we had to get him to Cook Children's Hospital to be admitted. She said he needed to be checked for menengitis. I lost it right there in urgent care. They started poking him with needles for an IV of antibiotics.

Once we got to the hospital it was a long night in the ER. They were poking his eye with q-tips, they did a ct scan, and the worse possible, they did a spinal tap on him. The ER doctor pulled me aside and started asking if I had any sexually transmitted diseases. I went ape all over that man, after everything we had just been through, I was not prepared for all that. Keep in mind it was 2 am, I was so tired!! He told me it was routine questions, but naturally I took offense.

Finally at 3 am we were put in a room...isolation!!!! I am grateful for those doctors and nurses, but at the time, it was like prison. We were there for 3 days. All the tests came back negetive for menengitis, but he was diagnosed with orbital cellulitis. It starts out with a crusty eye and then leads to swelling and redness. It may result in an ear infection too. My son Wyatt had a double ear infection to boot.

Later they told me that if it had gone on any longer untreated, he could have lost sight in that eye. Thank God I acted on my motherly instinct. God is good to take care of all His children no matter what age.

Thrush

2009-08-05T23:09:00.001-07:00

Written By: Carrie B.

Thrush is not very common in many babies, but all four of my children had it when they were between the ages 2 weeks and 2 months.

Thrush is a form of yeast, that is found inside the mouth. It is white patches found on the roof of the mouth, in the cheeks, and/or on the inside of the lips. Doctors say that it is painful. If you are breastfeeding it can be transferred to the mother, and I know, from experience, that it is very painful.

Treating bottle-fed babies, it goes away faster. Treating breastfed babies takes longer. It lasted with me, when I breastfed my son, for 3 months. I remember I had to blow dry my nipples after every feeding and then put a cream on. It got very messy and frustrating. But I was bound and determined to breastfeed for the whole year, that I just fought through it. I even stopped breastfeeding one of my children because of thrush, I think that is where the determination to nurse for the whole year came from. I had to prove I could do it.

Thrush spreads quickly, so make sure, if you suspect your infant has it, to get treatment immediately.

Teething

2009-08-05T23:08:00.001-07:00

Written by Carrie B.

With everything that comes with babies, this, in my opinion, is the hardest. I have the hardest time with teething babies. It may be because my kids always teethed really bad. They would run fevers, have diarrhea, were very inconsolable, and even two of them would vomit. I know that teething is rough for the kiddos, but it equally hard on mom and dad too. But just like everything we have survived and I guess it was not too bad because I keep having kids.

Over time I have come to rely on a few products that have helped my babies with teething troubles. Of course there is Tylonel and Ibuprofin, but I have found the miracle cure, my saving grace. Teething Tablets, they actually work!!! You put two or three tablets under the babies tongue ( I hold them there with my finger) and they melt instantly. I have never seen something work so quick. They have cured many restless teething nights. I am so confidant in this product, I promise, you will love them.

The brand I really like is Hyland. There are many different kids, but these are the best. I have tried the cheaper ones, but still not as good as the Hyland tablets.

I hope this helps someone!

Post-Partum Depression

2009-08-05T23:07:00.001-07:00

Written By: Carrie B.

I experienced the "baby blues" with my first child.

I remember just watching her cry and not knowing what to do, feeling so helpless. I told my husband that we needed to just take her back to the hospital and just drop her off. I felt so out of control, I could not control any of my emotions. It would be days before I showered and I would even go without eating. All I could do was cry and sleep. Three months after the birth I began to feel somewhat "normal" again.

I wish sometimes that I could go back and do it over again. I didn't bond with my baby girl like I should have. I had no idea how to deal with the "baby blues". I felt very alone even though I had people around. It was a very bizarre feeling, because I knew that I should have been excited to have a brand new baby, but that feeling didn't come until she was 3 months old.

If I had known then what I know now, I probably could have controlled it a bit better.

My suggestions for a mother feeling like this is:

Talk out your feelings with your spouse, mother, or friend; you will feel better.
It is okay to cry, you just had a baby; it is overwhelming.
Take help as it is offered, your baby will thank you. Happy mom = Happy baby!!
Drink PLENTY of water, very important.
Let light into your home, room, etc; this can take a frown and turn it upside down.
Most important...Take care of yourself!!!

I am no expert, but I do wish I had someone tell me these things when I had my first baby. It would have done a world of good for me!

How To Keep Your Marriage Alive AFTER Kids

2009-08-05T23:05:00.002-07:00

Written By: Courtney W.

I am a mother of 4 kids all under the age of 5! Man is it hard to find time to spend with my husband, but the need is so important!

Some ways I have found that help in keeping your marriage alive are:

1. Make sure you have at least one date night during the week, that you and your husband can spend together! Even if it's just renting a movie and ordering take out!
You can put the kids to bed early and have the whole evening to spend together.

2. Always think of ways you can show your husband that you put him first. Your husband should be #1 ALWAYS!!!! So many times kids can take "first" place above your man, if you are not careful! However, nothing kills a marriage more than this. Your kids should grow up knowing that their dad is the most important person and takes priority above them. For the kids, it establishes a relationship that they will aspire to have with their
spouse one day! It gives them a sense of security knowing that their parents are totally committed to one another! For my husband, it gives them a sense of respect and honor. When a wife feels respected and honored (and vice-versa), you have the recipe for a long lasting, loving marriage! It's the key!

3. Talk to your spouse about things other than just your kids when you are alone together! You need to be reminded that you are still fun, cool people apart from kids! I know it sounds funny but you can get so wrapped up in being parents that it's easy to forget what attracted you to each other in the first place.

4. Have fun with sex! Even though you have been married for awhile, don't get stuck in a rut with the same ol' same ol'! Make it fun! Remember what it was like to have sex before kids? Then re-create that! The spontaneity of it all, the passion. JUST DO IT! Also, when you don't feel like it and are totally not in the mood....something my mom always said, just tell your brain to get in the mood! Your husband needs this and you may not feel like giving it to them, but you need too! As you give in, you actually will find yourself
enjoying it too! (Trust me...I know!!!)

5.. Be spontaneous!!! With EVERYTHING!!! Sex, dates, days out with the kids. Just have fun! Switch it up a little every week! This will help keep things from getting in such a rut!
6. Allow each other to go on girl/guy night outs! Maybe not every week (but I highly suggest it), but at least twice a month. You need time where you can just be around your friends and talk to the same sex about life and other things. This is so important! All moms need to have a time where they can go out and talk to other moms, or friends about anything and everything! For dads it's the same thing. This will bring an appreciation for one another and grow you closer as a couple just by having a night out alone! Funny how that works :)

These are just a few things that me and my husband do to help keep our marriage alive after having 4 kids! It takes work but it's well worth it! I love being married!

My Period After Pregnancy

2009-08-05T23:05:00.001-07:00

Written By: Destiny V.

I was a nursing mom and after talking with many of my friends, I was so happy to find out that you don't have a period while you are nursing.... right???? WRONG! Well at least for me.

After the typical month-long bleeding fest you have after delivering your baby, I was happy to finally have that "clean" feeling again. I was really unprepared for that whole post-partum bleeding thing, so I was ecstatic to finally be rid of it all. That is until 2 weeks later when I woke up with cramps. Of course I just brushed it off as my uturis going back to normal, but upon going to the bathroom, I was shocked to see that I had started my freaking period!

I was so irritated. Not only was I going to have to deal with my period again so soon after the birth of my daughter, but now I had to worry about possibly getting pregnant!

So I started 6 weeks after delivery.

Ick.

When I Started My Period After Pregnancy

2009-08-05T23:04:00.002-07:00

Written by Joanna M.

If I remember correctly, I bled/spotted for about a month after delivery. Then nothing for about 2 weeks. Then I started bleeding again and thought, oh no! I can’t be starting my period already! Come to find out, I guess there was just a 2 week pause or something in the postpartum bleeding. Or maybe I was overexerting myself so I started bleeding again, I don’t know.
My first real period came almost 6 months after delivery. Mind you, I was breastfeeding during this time, so if you’re not nursing you could start earlier. It was heavier than my pre-pregnancy periods, which was upsetting (I’ve always had pretty light periods, lucky me!) My next one wasn’t until 2 months later, and was lighter (yay!), and then I had another one almost 4 weeks later. So it looks like I’m back to regular periods but I’m still breastfeeding so I wouldn’t be surprised if I skip another period or two before weaning.

Birth Control While Nursing

2009-08-05T23:04:00.001-07:00

Written by Joanna M.

My husband and I didn’t really decide on what we were going to do for birth control after pregnancy until after we started having sex again. During our dating days, we discussed Natural Family Planning, but never really used it to the fullest (hence our beautiful little girl!).
I did some research on breastfeeding and its contraceptive effects. Supposedly, nursing is supposed to suppress ovulation and therefore prevent pregnancy. Of course I’ve heard of people that breastfed in addition to other forms of birth control, and still managed to conceive. Then I heard that there were certain conditions that had to be met for breastfeeding to be an effective form of birth control:
Your baby is under 6 months of age
You haven’t had a period yet
You nurse 8+ times a day
You nurse at least every 4 hours during the day, and at least every 6 hours at night
The fancy name for this is Lactational Amenorrhea Method or LAM. In other words, as long as you haven’t had a period and you’re breastfeeding full-time, you should be protected. So we decided that’s what we’d do. Besides, who wants to mess with pills, condoms, and all that jazz when you’re taking care of a newborn?

Well, then came my 6 week checkup and my Ob/Gyn kind of scoffed at our idea, basically saying, yeah well that really doesn’t work but hey, it’s up to you! So we thought about it and, although we really didn’t want to, and the LAM most likely would have worked, we decided to use condoms, just in case.

At the time I couldn’t bear the thought of getting pregnant again. Don’t get me wrong, we want more kids but those first few weeks are really tough and the last thing you want to do is start all over again! Plus, eventually those feedings get fewer and farther between.
I often wonder if all this time we could’ve done without the condoms and just depended on the breastfeeding. Especially when it’s working out just fine for other friends of mine (usually the ones that wouldn’t mind getting pregnant again right away, go figure!) But hey, when we decide it wouldn’t be so bad to have another one, we could just stop using them and see how long it takes! Although, I think after I’m done breastfeeding and my period goes back to normal, we may try out NFP and see how that goes. From what I’ve heard, it really seems like a good method—no barriers, no artificial hormones, greater awareness of fertility.
For those of you considering other methods, here are a couple of facts:
The Pill will dry up your milk, so don’t take it unless your formula-feeding.
The mini-Pill (progesterone–only) won’t dry up your milk, but it doesn’t prevent ovulation, so if by chance you do conceive, it could prevent the fertilized egg from implanting in your uterus and thus terminating the pregnancy. If you have a problem with this (like me) then it’s best to find some other form of birth control.

Tubal Ligation- Getting Your Tubes Tied

2009-08-05T23:03:00.001-07:00

Written by Carrie B.

The plan was for my husband to have a vasectomy, but the procrastination of the vasectomy got me baby #4. So it was time to take matters in my own hands.

At my first pre-natal visit, before the doctor could say hello, I blurted out, "I want my tubes tied". I have had the most amazing 4 pregnancies and births. I loved being pregnant; it was an experience that I will hold dear to my heart for the rest of my life. But my husband and I felt that a tubal ligation was the best decision for us. With a slew of research, we decided to go ahead with it.

It was done after the birth of my fourth. The day following his birth to be exact. Apparently that is the best time to do it because your uterus is still enlarged enough to push the tubes right at your belly button. All it took was one incision and then snip snip tie tie. There is no way I will get pregnant again. The whole procedure took 30 minutes, then I was back in my hospital room nursing the baby. I was put under anesthesia, so it took about 30 more minutes to come out of that.

The healing time was very minimal, maybe a couple of days. No pain, just very tender. I was able to nurse the baby with no problems.

Before deciding to have the tubal done make sure it is definitely what you want. It is permanent!! Discuss it with your spouse and doctor.

Disciplining 6-12 Months

2009-08-05T23:01:00.002-07:00

Written By: Destiny V.

There comes a time in your child's life, when you finally have to start saying no.

It starts off so cute, they begin to crawl and pull up on things. They are loving life and wanting to experience everything. However, it isn't always safe or correct for them to be experiencing certain things.

I remember, right around 6 months old, my daughter was already crawling and she kept crawling over to the cords connected to my husband's computer and pulling on them. I told her no about 10 times and she would look at me, smile/laugh and turn and pull them again. She thought it was a game. My husband's computer was dangerously close to falling, so I went over to her, pointed at it, said "No-No, don't touch" and I swatted her hand. She once again just laughed and pulled on the cord again. My resolve was a little stronger this time and I repeated the no-no don't touch routine, and swatted her hand a little harder. This time, she looked at me with her blue eyes, filling with tears, stuck out her bottom lip and screamed bloody murder.

That was hard for me. I knew that she didn't really know what she was doing, but the bottom line was she needed to begin to learn that when mommy says no, you obey or there is a consequence. If she would have pulled the computer down it could have fallen on her and really injured her, even in the best case scenario it would have broken her dad's $3000 computer.

It only took a few times of follow through spanking till she started to understand that no, means no- don't you do that.

By 9 months, the swatting the hand thing no longer worked as she had gotten too tough, so I now resorted to swatting her leg. That gets her attention.

The biggest thing that I have learned from my mom and sister is that you only spank for rebellion. You don't spank her thinking she should have known better. You spank her when you tell her no, and she looks at you, understanding in her eyes, and does it anyways. That is rebellion and I personally feel needs to be dealt with immediately.

Never spank out of frustration or anger. Never spank when they do something accidentally, like spilling something or knocking something over. Basically, only spank rebellion.

Well that's my story at least. My daughter is extremely well behaved and knows her boundaries. Not that she doesn't try to test her limits on a daily basis, but she responds well and knows that I love her more than life.

I know it sounds trite, but I discipline her because I love her.

Best Tip for Getting Your Baby to Sleep!

2009-08-05T23:01:00.001-07:00

Written by Teddi B.

This bit of advice/knowledge, whatever you wanna call it doesn’t fall exactly into the category of “Yes It’s Normal”, but I could never stand by and NOT share the most important piece of advice that I have!!
What does a young mother with a newborn, a mother of 1 or 5 need the most?? -- A good night sleep, right?. To be able to face our very BUSY days (that is NOT rocket science). So a little background for you that may let you know how serious, passionate and darn right “not even kidding” I am.
I have been a mother for 23 years and have 5 AMAZING children – I have had totally natural child birth, epidurals, thumb suckers, pacifier users, discipline issues, sibling rivalry - you name it, I have probably experienced it and got the t-shirt. BUT… if someone told me that I was going to die and I could leave 1 piece of advice to my 4 daughters – what would it be (of course things of the Lord aren’t even a question – just talking practical helpful advice for mothering) --- my advice would be to buy a big box fan and put it in your nursery for your babies. CRAZY for some I know, but let me explain…
23 year ago I had the amazing blessing of having 5 older sister that had a total of 8 kids between them and 1 of them used a box fan in their nursery and noticed that they had REALLY great sleepers and wondered if it had anything to do with the box fan. So as we had children every sister had a box fan in her nursery and before we knew it, we had a total of 28 children and EVERY one of them were AMAZING sleepers as infants and children.
Fast forward to a few years back and one afternoon I was watching good ole’ Oprah and low and behold a Dr. Harvey Karp (a pediatrician who has A LOT of letters after his name) is on and he is talking about the Five S’s of Parenting/Soothing Infants:
Sucking
SHUSHING
Swaddling
Side/stomach positions
Swinging.
All of them are VERY good advice to soothing an upset baby, but he all of the sudden starts talking about the shushing. My ears perked up when he started talking about the VERY loud noises in the womb and he describes the noises to --- A BOX FAN and that the baby has heard all of those noises so that is why they LOVE the shushing (he thinks you should sh, sh, sh right in a babies ear (loud) to soothe them but there is something SO much easier and BETTER) - so my thought was - BINGO, I knew that my older sister was WISE, but now we had medical evidence to back up our crazy box fan obsession!!
So that is the history of “The BOX fan” and now I will share how it works.
Well, you go to the dollar general and you buy a big $12.00 fan and in the summer you use it in your child room to circulate the air – and help them sleep like ANGELS and in the winter you have it near the entrance of their room but pointing out so they don’t freeze BUT they still can hear it. That is it!!
I have had 5 AMAZING sleepers – the side benefits to the box fan is when the phone rings and you could KILL the person calling because your infant wakes up or your 2 year old screams at the top of their lungs and wakes your infant up or you would LOVE to vacuum but the baby is asleep (I have vacuumed right up to my kids doors and they don’t hear it) – they WON’T get woken up!
Now training a baby to go to sleep on their own is a whole other topic (which that same sister perfected for all of us – man I owe her a lot) but when they do wake up in the middle of the night the fan will help soothe them back to sleep. Trust me – I promise it works – it even works for adults. No matter how old your children are they will remember those special 9 months inside of you and that noise will trigger comfort in them.
All of my children still use a box fan and we are believing God that their spouses will learn to love them too because where they go their box fan goes!! Also, if someone says that it can hurt their hearing that is rubbish!! I know 28 adult/children that hear perfectly – well sometimes they have selective hearing but the box fan isn’t to blame!
One little side note is if you travel you need to take it with you because they become dependent on it but it is WORTH it. We have travelled by airplane to places and the 1st thing we do is find a store to buy a box fan and then we just leave it there. Another bit of advice is the small fans, ceiling fans or noise makers DON’T have the same effect as the “not so attractive” box fan (my best friend).
I pray you hear the passion in my writing and if you are WISE you will go RUNNING to the store – the most horrible thing IN THE WORLD is that they are hard to find in the winter so buy a spare just in case!! Or you can borrow 1 of my 7!! Happy SHUSHING and when you experience the wonder of it – PASS IT ON!!

Sleeping Through the Night/Waking Up

2009-08-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Written by Joanna M.

Before giving birth, I knew little more than to expect that my baby would be up every 2 hours at night to eat. And that she did.
We tried putting her in the bassinet my mother-in-law had bought for us, but she hated it. So she slept with us for a week or two, until we finally decided to put her in the nursery in her crib. We struggled with the decision, since she was only 2 weeks old, but we hadn’t done a lot of research to know how to safely co-sleep, so we got a video monitor (only $99 for a Summer brand one at BabiesRUs) and that eased our fears a bit.
I could see her any time I wanted by just turning on the screen, but I still went in to check on her a lot, you know, just to make sure she was breathing and all.
About a week later, she slept through the night. I couldn’t believe it! It actually scared me, because I was told that in the rare case your newborn sleeps longer than two hours, you can’t let them go longer than 5 without eating. I still don’t know if that’s completely true, but I didn’t want to risk it, so I set my alarm to wake her up for middle-of-the-night feedings. I know, am I crazy or what?!
So anyway, that night I must’ve forgotten to set the alarm, because she woke up crying and I realized it had been like 6 hours or something. I freaked out and said, “Oh my gosh, she must be starving!”
I continued this for a few weeks until her pediatrician told me it was okay to let her sleep, as long as she was waking up for feedings during the day. I think this was around 6 weeks or so, and she slept 7 or 8 hours. Soon after she began sleeping longer and longer, eventually 11-12 hours a night. Straight. No waking up. It was glorious! Granted, she was never very good at napping consistently, but I was so happy with her sleeping so good at night that it didn’t really bother me.
Don’t be jealous though! When she was about 7 months, it all stopped.
She had just mastered sitting unsupported a couple weeks before that, so it could be that (I’ve heard that babies wake up at night to practice their new skills and have trouble getting settled back down) Since then, she’s learned to scoot, pull up to standing, and most recently, crawling on all fours. So, at almost 10 months, her sleeping patterns are still very erratic. Every once in a while, she’ll go down without a fuss and stay asleep all night. But it’s very rare! Most nights, she doesn’t want to go to sleep in the first place and/or wakes up at least once if not 3-4 times a night. We can usually rock her back asleep without nursing, so at least my husband has been able to help out a little!
It can really be exhausting, and sometimes we end up bringing her to bed with us, but it seems like just when we feel like we really need a break, she sleeps through the night and we are reminded that God is gracious!
I have to believe that this is a phase, and that eventually her sleeping habits will improve, even if there’s a kink every now and then. We love her and are committed to helping her sleep as best we can!

Putting My Baby on a Schedule

2009-08-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

By: Joanna M.

I had no idea how I was going to feed my baby (other than breastfeeding) before she was born. A friend of mine gave me a book on scheduled feedings, but I didn’t read it until a couple weeks after delivery. I didn’t know much about demand vs. schedule so I just ended up thinking that this particular book had all the answers. But I was so wrong!

I tried so hard to follow it exactly that I ended up exhausted, and I’m sure my daughter wasn’t faring too well either. I honestly think I should’ve just fed on demand, at least at first. The hospital staff didn’t help either. I guess I took the “30 minutes every 2 hours” a little too seriously. I tried so hard to put off feeding my baby until it was “time” that she may not have gotten all the nourishment she needed during those newborn days. I’m not going to beat myself up about it now, but I really wish I would’ve done more research before she was born to get an idea of what I thought was the right way. I also wish I would’ve started listening to my instincts sooner. Eventually it got to the point where I though, forget it, this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about and my baby needs me, period.

Don’t get me wrong, there IS something to be said for having a routine, but it should always be flexible. It’s not perfect yet, but I think I’ve found a happy medium between demand and schedule. I think babies also need some sort of a routine, so they can have some order and stability in their new world.

My daughter’s feedings have decreased in quantity over time (at first I guess it was about 10-12 times a day) and at 9 months, it’s still every 2-4 hours, but since she no longer nurses at night (usually) and is eating more solids, she’s down to about 5 or 6.
I’ve had to tweak our routine from time to time based on her age, needs, and new developmental skills, and it still varies from day to day, but I can’t imagine not even being able to estimate what time I can be somewhere (granted, we WILL be late on occasion!)
In my opinion, it’s good to have some kind of a schedule or routine, but don’t force it on your baby before he/she is ready. Make sure their needs aren’t being neglected for the sake of perfect timing!

Our current routine (on a “perfect” day) goes something like this:
Julia wakes up around 8am, I change her diaper and she nurses.
She plays in her exersaucer and on the floor while I eat breakfast, check my email, make my husband breakfast and lunch, do chores.
10am (or earlier if she gets fussy) I give her cereal with fruit. Then I change her diaper and change her out of pajamas and nurse again.
She goes down for a nap, which lasts anywhere from zero minutes (I only thought she was sleepy!) to 2 hours. If she doesn’t want to take a nap, I try again after the next feeding. During her nap, I take a shower, do more chores, eat lunch, read/pray, maybe take a nap.
When she wakes up I nurse her again and then we go run errands or visit somebody.
Sometimes she falls asleep on the way home, in which case, I’ll leave her in the carseat, and let her nap. When she wakes up, I nurse her again.
After this, each day is very different, based on how things have gone thus far. Sometimes it’s already time to get dinner started, sometimes there are a couple hours to spare. So, sometime between 3 and 6 she’ll get a solid food snack, but keeps nursing every couple hours.
Basically, the rest of the afternoon, she spends playing and eating. If the weather is nice, we’ll go for a walk in the stroller around our apartment complex.
She eats her solid food dinner either during or after our dinner. If it’s still early, she’ll play a little longer before bedtime.
Bedtime: story or bath, then diaper change and pajamas. I nurse her again and then we sing her a song and put her to bed. This is usually around 9 but often varies between 8 and 10.
That’s a day in the life of Julia, in a nutshell. There’s usually a hiccup or two in the routine, but that’s okay!

Potty Training My Kids

2009-08-05T22:58:00.002-07:00

Written by Carrie B.
Location: Keller, Texas
Mother of 4

I was quite afraid to start potty training and I had no idea where to begin.

I was told to let the child lead the training. That was the best advice that I could have ever received. My first daughter took her sweet time, she was fully trained at 3. She had a certain place that she would go to and "do her business", so I started catching her before she could start the job and moving her to the potty. A couple of times doing that, she got the hint.

Now, pull-ups...waste of money in my opinion and I will tell you why. I have found that when "trainers" have diapers or pull-ups on then they are lazy and will just potty in them. If you put them in panties or underwear from the get go, then you may have accidents to clean up, but the training is faster.

Now my second daughter was a little different. She was afraid of the potty all together. Potty training her was very frustrating!! It took me holding her down on the toilet, her kicking and screaming until she pooped in the toilet. After that first time, she was sold on it!! She was 2 and a half.

My 2 year old son is just now being trained and he by far was the easiest. He just started going on his own, it was unbelievable. We have had more accidents with him, but that comes with it all. He is not fully trained, he still wears diapers to bed and naps, but he is close though!

It takes picking up on their cues, like standing completely still, holding on to something and bearing down. You can even start asking them if they would like to sit on the big kid potty, make it as appealing as possible.

Remember, to reward your little trainer, they so deserve it. Praise them for every tee tee and every, well...you know. It is those little jumps, claps, and potty dances that keep them trying.

Two Months

2009-08-05T22:58:00.001-07:00

Written by Courtney W.

I have a 7 week old baby boy who is the love of my life!

Right now he is smiling all the time. He recognizes who his mom and dad and sisters are. He loves to look at toys! He also has found his hands and stares at them at every chance he gets.

The newest thing that he does is "talk" to us when we talk to him. He makes little cooing sounds like "uhh"s" and "Ooo's". I think maybe he thinks he's having a conversation with us. It's so cute!

He eats about 3 to 4 oz. and is only awake for about an hour or hour and a half at a time! The rest of the time he sleeps!

I better enjoy it now because that will all change in a couple of months!

10 Month Milestones for My Daughter Lyric

2009-08-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

By: Destiny Vandeput

For all you mothers who wonder if your kid is on track development wise, I can't help you!

BUT if you want to read what my daughter is doing at 10 months, please do! Just remember, she's a genius! :) (as all mother's think their kids are, but seriously, she is.) :)

Well she is pulling up on everything and walking around furniture. She still crawls, but at an increasingly faster pace! She'll walk in between furniture if it's not too far away. She has even started venturing to take her first steps. She has mastered the art of standing up on her ownThe farthest she has gotten is 5 steps before falling.

She is really starting to mimic. She says mama and dada all the time, as well as talks giberish a lot. It's so cute! Anything that slightly resembles a cell phone, she puts up to her ear and tries to talk to it. She LOVES baby dolls! I've started giving her a sippy cup and she loves it. She's hasn't had seperation anxiety that much, and has finally started relaxing in the Church nursery. She really understands when I tell her not to do something.

Behavioral Issues: She gets frustrated at me and will make a growl like sound at me. She doesn't always come to me when I tell her to. She gets frusted at her cousins/other kids when they try to take things from her or if she wants something they have and once again does the growl. I've had to do more spanking this month. I've had some problems with her not wanting to go to bed before 10pm. If I put her to bed before 10, she'll cry, like she's not ready to sleep.

Her basic schedule is as follows:

Wakes up 8:30-9:00am and drinks an 8 ounce bottle. Then will have something along the lines of a banana, baby food fruit or rice cereal.
She normally goes down for a nap about 2 hours after she wakes up. This nap is normally about an hour long.
When she wakes up she gets lunch which consists of a 6 ounce bottle and one jar of veggies and one jar of fruit. She plays then normally takes another nap at around 2-3. This nap is normally at least 2 hours long.
When she wakes up she gets another 6 ounce bottle and some snacks. Her snacks are normally those gerber cookies/puff/wagon wheels maybe some more fruit.
Then she once again plays till dinner time. I have been feeding her for dinner basically anything that we eat, if possible. If we are eating spaghetti, I'll give her noodles, no sauce. I'll give her green beans to gnaw on or another veggie, mashed potatos, bread, rice, etc. If what we are eating is not kid friendly at all, then I give her baby food (veggies and fruit) or those gerber graduates raviolis (I just started that and she loves it).
Before she goes to bed around 9:30, I give her another 6 ounce bottle.

So that is basically her life in a nutshell. 10 months... is she really about to be 1 year old?? That's crazy!

Nursing Tips

2009-08-05T22:56:00.002-07:00

Written By: Joanna M.

Before becoming a mother, I always knew I wanted to breastfeed. My mom nursed all of her kids, and I planned to do the same. Healthy, warm, convenient, practically free, not to mention the comfort and bonding it provides! Naturally it seems like the best choice. I realize it’s not practical for everyone, but for those of you who want to give your baby the best, here are some tips:

First of all, you MUST be determined. Sore nipples, feeling uncomfortable in public places, nursing strikes, less-than-fashionable nursing bras, pumping at work… all of these make breastfeeding difficult and I can guarantee you that you will be tempted to stop on more than one occasion. But if you’ve decided breastfeeding is really for you (and your baby, of course!) then congratulations! You’re giving your child a wonderful gift, and no matter how long you nurse, I promise you won’t regret it!

Sore nipples: Medela PureLan nipple ointment and shields are life-savers…or shall I say, nipple-savers! Don’t try to break the suction; just let your newborn nurse as long as she/he wants. Trying to de-latch makes it more painful—wait a few weeks to do this until your baby is nursing better and your nipples don’t feel so sore.
See a lactation consultant! I can’t stress this enough. Most of them will meet with you for free. The hospital I delivered at actually gave us their pager number so we could ask them questions whenever needed! I was still calling them up months after I delivered, and they were so helpful. They can teach you how your baby should lay to most efficiently nurse, various breastfeeding positions, answer pumping questions, and more.
Nursing bras: Don’t buy a whole lot before you deliver, because your cup size will definitely go up, but you won’t know how much until after your milk comes in. So just buy one or two that you can wear home from the hospital, and get you through until you can make it to the store to buy more that actually fit better. There are some websites online that sell bras that are much cuter than those you can find in stores. Most of them are pretty expensive (unless you consider $50-60 to be cheap!) but I found a couple that were pretty affordable. At first I worried about sizing, but the sizing charts are pretty helpful and you can always return them if they don’t fit.
Nursing in public: There are capes and covers that you can purchase, but if you don’t want to shell out the cash, just throw a blanket over your shoulder (or tuck it into your bra strap) and this works pretty well (until your baby gets old enough to squirm, get distracted and pull it down!) Also, there is a law that protects breastfeeding moms- anywhere that you are allowed to be, you are allowed to nurse! So don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. Breastfeeding is completely natural, just try to remember that when you start to feel embarrassed or awkward. After time you’ll get better at being discreet, feeling more confident and less uncomfortable. I even found myself using the blanket less and less as time went on! One more thing, several places have special rooms for nursing mothers: some churches, BabiesRUs, Parks Mall in Alrington, Texas (by the bathrooms), etc. Take advantage of these, as you’ll be more likely to enjoy the feeding and usually there are changing tables and rocking chairs available.
”Low” milk supply: Don’t assume you don’t have enough milk! This is especially difficult in the first days after delivery. There may even be people that try to convince you that the baby’s not getting enough, and pressure you to give your baby formula. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of faith, but you have to trust that your body is doing what it’s supposed to even if you don’t see the evidence! Even if your breasts don’t grow 2 cup sizes overnight, your body will produce the milk your baby needs, if you let it. Supply and demand, people! The more you nurse (even when you think there’s nothing there), the more milk your body produces. And it’s usually not very much until you go home from the hospital (just colostrum). If you really are worried about your baby getting enough, get a baby scale just to prove to yourself that he/she is gaining weight (weigh right before and after feedings and you’ll see the difference).
Surround yourself with people that support your desire to breastfeed and encourage your efforts. It’s much easier to have success in breastfeeding if you have family and friends that you can go to for help. BUT, even if you don’t, with a lot of dedication you can still do it!
Schedule vs. Demand: This is a very controversial topic among breastfeeding mothers and other “experts”. I’ve tried a little of both, and you really just have to figure out what’s best for you and your baby. Try different things and see what works for you and your baby. The most important thing in the way you choose to nurse is of course your baby’s health. Do some research online and/or in books but don’t just try to stick to the first thing you read. Furthermore, just because someone recommends something that worked for them, doesn’t mean you have to do it that way. Your baby is unique and after time, you will discover how to best meet his/her needs.
Most importantly, just remember that this is a special time in your child’s life and it won’t last forever! Difficult times will come and go while you are nursing, but the good ones far outweigh the bad! Enjoy and keep telling yourself “I CAN DO THIS!”

Sore Nipples

2009-08-05T22:56:00.001-07:00

The first couple of weeks after the birth of my daughter were less than comfortable.

I knew I wanted to breastfeed, but I had no idea the torture it would inflict on my nipples! Every time she wanted to nurse, I would dread the pain. I would just cry and get frustrated. To make matters worse, she would fall asleep after just a couple of minutes of nursing and then would wake up a little while later, and want to nurse an hour later, only to fall asleep again in the middle of it. In other words, my nipples were being worked over time!

The lactation consultant in the hospital insisted that I nurse 15 minutes on one side, 15 minutes on the other. No more, no less, and it was of utmost importance that I kept my baby awake. She instructed me on de-latching my baby, correct positioning, etc.

Most of that worked, except it was almost unbearable to try and break the suction. My nipples were cracked and bleeding! Every time she latched on felt like the worst pinch ever. My husband insisted we call for help.

The lactation consultant at the hospital where we delivered invited us to come and meet with her. It was an hour well spent, to say the least! She encouraged me to relax on the strict timing and just nurse as long as she wanted on one side, always offer the other, but not to force it. She also gave me some Medela Nipple Shields (which really helped but looked funny so I only wore them at home) and PureLan.

So, to sum up, take advantage of the lactation consultants’ help and put PureLan (other nipple creams/ointments may work just as well, that’s just the one I used) on your nipples after every feeding. I only had to do this for a few weeks before it was no longer necessary.

Don’t give up! I promise it WILL get better and you'll be so glad you stuck with it!!

When Breast Feeding DOES NOT Work

2009-08-05T22:55:00.001-07:00

There is one thing that everyone asks you after you have a baby.
“Are you breastfeeding?”
It doesn’t seem to matter where you are. At the doctor’s office, with a group of friends, with relatives— even strangers somehow find the guts to ask… normally in front of a big group of people. And what are you supposed to say if you don’t? Because everyone knows that breastfeeding is the best thing for you baby, so if you say you are using formula it obviously leads to the conclusion that you don’t care about your baby, right? After 5 grueling weeks of trying to breastfeed and encountering every obstacle in the book, I can boldly say that it doesn’t work for every single mom.

I am a very health conscience person. I probably use more alternative methods than normal people. That is why before I had a baby I was determined that breastfeeding was going to work and it was going to last the whole first year. Then I had a birth experience I wasn’t planning on. I had a c-section, my baby went straight to the NICU and no one bothered to wake me up until 12 hours after I had given birth to her. That means that she had 5 to 6 bottles in the NICU and had already gotten used to the idea that a bottle is where her food comes from.

LESSON #1:

Make sure your husband knows about your strong desire to breastfeed and the importance of feeding the child as close to her arrival as possible. If any complications occur, you will be so out of it that the doctors will just do what they want with you and the baby and throw your birthing plan out the window. It is important that he takes charge and makes sure your baby gets started on the right foot.

Well, after that I began breastfeeding. And boy was it painful! I went through almost a whole tube of Pure-Lan in the hospital alone! The breastfeeding counselor came and saw me sometimes twice a day. Apparently, when you have a C-section, your body does not experience the full birth process and gets confused on when it is time to turn on the milk, so it normally takes longer for your milk to come in. My daughter would just suck and cry and suck and cry. She was so angry that nothing was coming out unlike the wonderful bottle she had experienced the previous day. After 3 days of this, my daughter was losing weight and the counselor said that it was probably time to supplement.

LESSON #2:

If you REALLY want to breastfeed, never take the doctor’s advice when they say you should supplement. I have heard it said— Supplementing is the first step in weaning your child off the breast. Since breastfeeding is based on supply and demand, if you don’t build your child’s appetite with your milk supply, you will never satisfy her with the breast alone. She will always be a bit hungrier than what you can provide.

Well, I didn’t know this and I began supplementing. It was such a hassle. I had to get formula ready, then put it in a syringe, then attach the syringe to a mini tube, then somehow try to get my daughter to latch on while holding everything else, then try to insert the tube into her mouth while holding her and keeping her latched on, then I had to press the syringe so milk would come out, but if I pressed too much, milk would end up all over my clothes and so on. After all of that, I would have to wash all of the equipment so it would be ready for the next feeding and use the electronic pump for an extra 10 minutes to increase my supply. Basically, feeding became a two-person job and my husband had to wake up every two hours with me to perform the entire ritual. This didn’t sit well with him. Of course he loved me and wanted to help, but this was going a little too far for his expectations and I was feeling guilty. Like I wasn’t being a good mom already and I wasn’t being a good wife and handling it all myself without bothering my husband. And everyday, the counselor would tell me that my milk would probably come in the next day so the whole process would end soon. Well, it didn’t.

By this time I was finally home (I stayed in the hospital for 7 days). I was in so much pain. Everyone told me it was normal, but I still couldn’t understand why I couldn’t handle the pain. I couldn’t even put on a shirt without wanting to scream. I went to person after person getting their advice:
Sleep skin to skin with your baby.
Don’t get out of bed for an entire day and just feed your baby.
Take a Fenugreek Supplement. (By the way, this makes you smell like maple syrup!)
Stop supplementing and make your baby work for it.
Make sure she’s latched on correctly.
Pump more.
Pump less.
Just relax.
Stare at a picture of your baby while you pump.
Go somewhere quiet.
Eat more food.
Drink more water.
Don’t get stressed out.
Don’t stop now!
ARRGGGG!!!!! Nothing worked!! I was starting to show signs of the crazies! How could I do any of this when my baby screamed all day long because she was hungry???

LESSON #3: Whenever you start going crazy, this could be a sign to stop what you are doing a reevaluate. My daughter may get the benefit of breast milk, but lose the benefit of a loving and sane mother. This is not best.

I decided to call the breastfeeding counselor again. The one I used at my hospital was no longer available to me so I went to a new place. She watched my daughter breastfeed and came to the conclusion that we both had thrush— And this completely disgusted and embarrassed me. It is basically like a yeast infection on your breast and in the baby’s mouth. She gave me cream for it and told me to push through the pain. I felt like deep down inside I didn’t have the problem, but I figured the doctor’s knew best and I kept going. The cream stained all of my bras and smelled disgusting and the pain was so bad I cannot even think of an emotion to describe it. After 4 days of this, in which the directions on the cream bottle said it would take to get better, I was not even a tiny bit better. I took my daughter to the pediatrician and they said she didn’t have thrush. I went to the doctor myself and she told me I didn’t have thrush nor did I ever have thrush.

LESSON #4: Always trust your instinct. It is normally right.

At this point I could pump out about 1 ounce of milk for every 15 minutes using the electronic pump. That ounce became like liquid gold to me. I would add it to a couple more ounces of formula and make my daughter finish her bottles because I worked so hard for them. It was so tiring to breastfeed her for 45 minutes and then give her a bottle and then pump. I was miserable— emotionally and physically. I didn’t have time to rock my child or play games with her or do any fun mother stuff. I spent all my time just trying to fix the problem.

I decided to go to the doctor again. The pain was still there and I had to get one final opinion. While I was there she asked me to breastfeed for her and she would do an examination afterward. She came to the conclusion that my baby was a biter. She had gotten so used to bottles that she had learned how to bite the milk out instead of suck it out. Because I wasn’t producing enough milk, she would bite, and because she was biting, I wasn’t producing enough milk.
My doctor said, “Wow, this must have caused you a lot of pain!”
Finally! Someone who actually told me that my pain wasn’t normal!
It was like I was finally free of the guilt and the horror of the past month and a half.
She said it would be quite a long process to get her back to sucking again. And I wasn’t ready to go through any more experiments. I prayed about it a lot. I felt like God finally gave me the peace to quit that day. He brought across my path many moms who used formula from day one and showed me how healthy their kids were.

One thing I had really dealt with throughout the process was not just the health side of the issue, but the bonding as well. Over the past couple months I had taken a mental tally of all of the older moms who did and did not breastfeed and then observed how their kids had turned out. I had come to the conclusion that the ones who breastfed for a long time had a much closer and happier relationship with their kids. This made me sad. But, then I had a realization. Maybe this was the case, not because of the breastfeeding in itself, but because of the natural tendencies of a mother who would breastfeed for that long. The bonding is not because of the breastfeeding, but because of the love shared between a mother and her child. And I knew for a fact that I was that kind of mom, even if I couldn’t feed my child in the way that was “best”. I am going to try it again on child number two, but this time I will try to trust myself that I am a good mom, trust God that he knows what is best, and just follow my instincts. Who know, maybe I will be a breastfeeding pro!

Engorgement

2009-08-05T22:54:00.002-07:00

Written by Carrie B.
The sound of that word makes my stomach hurt. This can be painful, but if you take care of your breasts properly then you could possibly prevent it from happening.

Again ladies, I am no expert, I am just speaking from personal experience. When I came out of the bathroom and lifted my shirt to my husband, his eyes almost fell out of his head. My milk had just come in and I had the beginnings of engorgement. This was with my first so I had no idea how to take care of this. What I did learn is-

Drink plenty of fluids, you will need it.
Nurse frequently!!!!
If you need instant relief, stand in the shower and let the girls drip. This relieves the pressure without producing more milk in it's place.
Be patient, after a few days they will soften

Please don't give up, get a good support system. You can do this!!!

Leaking Boobs- aka Lactation

2009-08-05T22:54:00.001-07:00

Written by Carrie B.

There is nothing more embarrassing than talking to someone just to have them look down and giggle to themselves. You think how rude until you realize what they are giggling at. LACTATION!!!

Your boobs are leaking, spewing if you will. They have leaked through the nursing pad, bra, and now is letting the entire world know you are providing nourishment for your child. I only expereinced embarassing lactation with my first, after that it got easier to prevent. Some of the best nursing pads, in my opinion, are Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads (and their nursing cream is really good too). They are inexpensive and you get a lot for your money. Also, getting a couple of really good nursing bras helps. I suggest bras from Motherhood. They are a bit pricey, but they are worth it. Getting one with a little bit of padding will also help in case you are lactating heavily. Nursing is the best you can do for your baby. I successfully nursed three of my babies, one all the way to one year. Lactation is one of those things that comes with it, but it is worth it. Happy nursing!!

Nursing Tips for 1st Time Moms

2009-08-05T22:53:00.001-07:00

Written By: Jennifer M.

In my opinion, when trying to begin breastfeeding your baby, do NOT give up. Breastfeeding CAN be hard. It is definitely a learned art, but the old saying "Practice Makes Perfect" really does apply here.

In my opinion, do NOT introduce a bottle for at least 2-4 weeks. If you TRULY have to supplement use an SNS by Medela. This allows you to continue letting your child latch on and nurse, while giving him/her the supplement of formula at the same time.
If you want to nurse, get as much information as possible before the baby is born. Also, make sure to have a number of a local lactation consultant handy if you are having any problems.
In my opinion, nursing on demand is the way to go. Scheduling feedings can seriously affect your milk supply, so let the child be the one to tell you when the next feeding is.
JUST KEEP TRYING and remember that less than 5% of women truly CAN'T nurse and less than 1% of women TRULY have low milk supply.
Call the Le Leche League! This was something that helped me a lot, when I didn't think that the information in my books, from peers, or from my pediatrician sounded accurate, or was very supportive. Don't let ANYONE tell you that nursing isn't natural, that you should wean, that you can't do it, or anything of that type. Anyone who tries to sabotage your nursing relationship with your child is putting their own problems above your child's health - and your own, since nursing is quite beneficial to Mom too!
Most of all, remember that your body just spend nine months providing everything for your baby, and caring for them, and making them grow healthy and strong. Once they're out of the womb, your body doesn't stop. The nourishment is just different now, but it's still your body's job to provide for your baby, and help them be the best they can be. It's natural, wonderful, and empowering, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Go to a Le Leche League meeting or a Lactation Consultant breast feeding meeting before the baby is born to learn the basics of holding, latching, and breastfeeding on demand. Proper breast feeding knowledge and management can really make the difference in success. Surround yourself with people who are supportive of breast feeding, and be confident and committed in your decision to breastfeed.
Buy the book, “The New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding.”
Join a breast feeding support group like LLL, or seek online support
Keep with it no matter what! This is your child’s health you are jeopardizing.

Formula vs. Breastfeeding

2009-08-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

Written By: Jennifer M.

Breast milk is WAY better for the baby than formula. Breastmilk has over 100 ingredients that formula does NOT have. Breastmilk and formula are NOT THE SAME BY ANY MEANS!!!
Formula is meant as a last resort for the less than 4% of women who can't breastfeed and do not have access to donated breastmilk. I would suggest that EVERY parent TRULY educate them self about the negative effects of formula.

They should start by reading the articles "What Every Parent Should Know About Infant Formula" and "Formula Companies Under Ethical Cloud" Make sure you are in the know about everything because people WILL try to give you incorrect information.

Call the Le Leche League! This was something that helped me a lot, when I didn't think that the information in my books, from peers, or from my pediatrician sounded accurate, or was very supportive. Don't let ANYONE tell you that nursing isn't natural, that you should wean, that you can't do it, or anything of that type. Anyone who tries to sabotage your nursing relationship with your child is putting their own problems above your child's health - and your own, since nursing is quite beneficial to the Mom too!
Don't trust pediatricians and OBs for nursing advice. They are NOT lactation consultants (well, unless they specialize in it). Asking a pediatrician about nursing advice is like asking your dentist about your skin. They're doctors in general, but should never give advice outside their field of expertise.
Most of all, remember that your body just spent nine months providing everything for your baby, and caring for them, and making them grow healthy and strong. Once they're out of the womb, your body doesn't stop. The nourishment is just different now, but it's still your body's job to provide for your baby, and help them be the best they can be.
It's natural, wonderful, and empowering, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

In my opinion, formula is not good for babies and should only be available via a perscription. and it makes me want to cry for how many moms just easily jump to formula. Breastfeeding is what is best for your baby, why wouldnt you want that? FORMULA IS NOT JUST AS GOOD AS BREASTMILK.

When discussing breastmilk vs formula, there are two issues here...
1- the benefits of breastfeeding
2- the risks of formula

We all know the benefits of Breastfeeding, but there is also the issue of the risks of formula. Babies' tummies were never meant to digest formula, and the dangers can be evident immediately or can be seen as long-term damage.

Formula-use is not without its risks...

How Long Should I Nurse My Child?

2009-08-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

Written By: Jennifer M.

The American Association of Pediatrics recommends nursing for at least 1 year and there after as long as mother and child both desire (exclusively for 6 months before introducing ANY solids) and the World Health Organization recommends that babies be breastfed for at least 2 years and there after as long as the mother and child both desire.

I personally feel that babies should be breastfed for at least 2 years. There is evidence and research showing that babies NEED the nutrients in breastmilk for 2 FULL YEARS for proper growth and development.

In my opinion, a mother should breastfeed as long as you possibly can, and as long as you and your child are interested.
The longer you nurse, the more benefits to both you and your child for the rest of their entire lives. The time spend in a couple years of your life breastfeeding your child is irrelevant to the long-term effects of your actions.
The AAP takes the world's lowest stance in saying 'one year' minimum. The AAP also receives one million dollars as a donation every year from just ONE formula company... formula companies who make formula for "older children", showing that they believe there even is a need for the nutrients in formula or breastmilk past a year, so the idea of weaning from breastmilk at a year, just to buy toddler formula makes absolutely no sense, when breastmilk is still superior.
The WHO ( World Health Oranization ) suggests an absolutely minimum of two years, which is scientifically proven to at least be more accurate, and more beneficial to both mother and child. It's also less "PC" as far as Americans are concerned, but we're also a nation with a huge obsession with sex and breasts, and a huge issue with keeping the body's true purposes and functions as something totally taboo and embarrassing. We're also a nation with very advanced medical knowledge... but also with one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world. The Susan G.. Komen Foundation (the ones who do all the pink stuff and walks for breast cancer) promote healthy, normal-term breastfeeding, and recognize that people who wean early, or never breastfeed at all, are going against their body's natural function, and increasing their risk of breast cancer.
Breastfeed as long as you can. Your healthier life, and the healthier life of your child, are more than worth an hour or two a day for a few more years.

Nursing vs. Formula

2009-08-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

Written by Joanna M.
First of all, let me say that I am very pro-breastfeeding! I know not everyone is, so I’m sure there will be other points of view here from moms who choose to do formula, with good reasoning for doing so.
The only times my daughter has had formula have been by someone else who was watching her when I didn’t have any pumped breastmilk. Fortunately, she has never had any problems taking it.
The reasons I choose to breastfeed are:

It’s healthier. There’s a reason so many formulas claim that their brand is “closest to breastmilk.” There are antibodies in breastmilk that pump up your baby’s immune system-- studies have shown that breastfed babies get sick less often. My daughter is 9 months old and has only been sick twice.
It’s practically free. The only cost involved is you eating extra food (about 500 calories a day), which is MUCH less expensive than formula.
It’s convenient. I don’t have to carry bottles and formula around with me (my diaper bag is already big enough as it is!) and whenever she needs to nurse, I can just stick her on the boob. No mixing and warming and washing bottles required.
It’s relaxing. The same sleep-inducing hormone in breastmilk that causes your baby to nod off is also released into the mother’s system and has a calming effect.
It’s comforting to your baby. When my daughter is all worked up, nothing works like my breast to soothe her. Disclaimer: it is important to encourage other sources of comfort so that when you’re not around, he/she is not inconsolable!
It’s natural. God made our bodies to do amazing things, including (but not limited to) the ability to meet our children’s needs for bodily nourishment.
BONDING! Yes, I’m sure you can still bond with your baby if you give him/her formula, but there’s just nothing like the feeling I get when I look down at my baby sucking away, skin-to-skin, looking up at me with her big beautiful eyes and drifting off into dreamland! It’s amazing the way I feel so close to her and I’m sure it’s mutual!

As you can see, I absolutely love nursing. I plan to breastfeed all my babies! Yeah, it’s not always a piece of cake but it’s so worth it! In fact, the biggest thing I’m looking forward to once I’m done is getting back into cute bras and not worrying about what shirt I’m wearing! Still, it’s a small price to pay when compared to the benefits of nursing!

Is My Nursing Baby Getting Enough Food?

2009-08-05T22:49:00.001-07:00

Written by Courtney W.

The ways that I always can tell if my baby is getting enough milk when I nurse is in a few different ways:

When the baby first latches on, they will make a fast sucking motion to get the milk flowing! Then you will see them take long sucking motions because your milk just let down and it is coming faster now.
When the milk lets down, you may see a little milk in the corners of their mouths as they eat. This means there is plenty of milk to satisfy them.
Their little body's will begin to totally relax as they eat and their eyes will start to roll in the back of their heads. The sucking will get less intense as they get full! Relaxing is a shear sign that they are getting enough milk.

This is just what I have observed. It doesn't mean it's the same in all cases, but for the majority it is!

A Nursing Strike

2009-08-05T22:48:00.003-07:00

Written by Joanna M.

My only experience with a nursing strike was while my daughter was sick. She was about 8 months old at the time, I knew I wasn’t ready to wean and I was pretty sure she wasn’t either!
She would nurse for anywhere from 15 seconds to 2 minutes and just stop, I could not do anything to get her to latch back on. She was totally uninterested.
I tried giving her water in a sippy cup but that didn’t really work either.
After trying everything we could think of, we ended up taking her to the ER because we thought she was dehydrated, but the levels on her blood test came back normal and they told us that basically, hunger and thirst are such driving forces that if a baby needs to eat, he/she is GOING to eat.
Kids lose their appetite when they’re sick, too. She had an ear infection as well, so it may have been painful to nurse. I was getting really frustrated because nursing has always been like the universal cure for us! Whether she was hungry, tired, or just fussy for no apparent reason, nursing always helped. So for her to all of a sudden refuse it was just unnerving! But, I decided to just wait it out, stick in there, try to offer the breast as often as possible and just hope that she would get over it.
After a few days, she started to nurse a little more and before I knew it she was back to normal! I’m glad I didn’t give up and assume it was time to wean.
I’ve heard that some babies go through phases like these, but it was such a relief when it was over!

Latching On... Or Lack Thereof

2009-08-05T22:48:00.001-07:00

Written by Liz L.

When I was pregnant with my first child, my husband used to tease me that our son would never go hungry with boobs as big as mine. I would smile and nod, and think how weird is THAT going to be.
Fast forward to our little man’s first few hours after birth. They’d taken him away, cleaned him up and made him look like one of the babies in the movies, and now he was back in my arms and hungry. Mildly embarrassed, I pulled out my boob and tried to start feeding him like they’d taught us in our childbirthing classes.
Do not be fooled ladies, the calm and relaxed screen mom who’s child instantly latches on while she looks down lovingly and smiles, is NOT every mom. Especially not this one.
Try as we could (even with help from the nurse) this baby was not latching, and I could not will my milk to come in. This continued for the 3 days I was in the hospital, and after 2 days of not eating, the doctors started feeding Dutch with a bottle.
Three weeks into being at home, and my son still wasn’t latching on, and I still wasn’t producing more than 4 oz a day. I followed all the lactation consultant’s instructions and pumped every 2-3 hours hoping to ‘beef up’ my milk supply. Each time, after 20 minutes of pumping, I would walk my pitiful little ½ oz to the fridge, and plop down on the couch feeling like a failure.
After a talk with my mom, I decided to call it quits on the breastfeeding.
I was so worried that we wouldn’t bond the way we were supposed to if I wasn’t breastfeeding, but my mom (thank God for her) explained that it’s not where the food comes from, it’s that I am holding him and feeding him and spending time with him that will establish the bond.
My son is completely bottle fed and is completely healthy, smart, and of course adorable! I don’t regret my decision one bit.

Is My Baby Getting Enough Food?

2009-08-05T22:46:00.001-07:00

Written by Joanna M.
The first weeks of my daughter’s life were filled with worry. I was worried something bad would happen to her. I was worried that I didn’t have what it takes to be a good mom. And I was worried that she wasn’t getting enough food.
See, with formula, it’s a lot easier to know exactly how much your baby is drinking. For those of us who breastfeed, it’s rather difficult.
I had heard that as long as their gaining weight, they’re getting enough. But how can you tell they’re getting enough in those first critical days? It can be really scary, especially if your boobs aren’t constantly getting way bigger and way smaller.
At the time it didn’t occur to me that I could weigh her right before and after feedings to tell for sure (although a VERY accurate scale would be required), so all I could do was just have faith that my body was doing what it was supposed to. She had plenty of wet and dirty diapers, so that was another sign.
Although schedules have their advantages, one way to be sure your baby is getting enough is to feed on demand, even if it hasn’t been very long since the last feeding. This is especially important with newborns because they have tiny little tummies and often fall asleep after just a few minutes of nursing. It’s exhausting, so all you can really do sometimes is feed and nap, feed and nap!
After the first few weeks, my fears were calmed. I was able to see that she was gaining weight just by her diapers, and I’d step on the scale alone, then hold her, and the difference was her weight. Easy!
So don’t psyche yourself out and trust your body.

Store Brand Formula?

2009-08-05T22:45:00.003-07:00

Well if you are like me, you go to the store, take one huge gulp and grab that formula can off the shelf and grunt and bear the $30 price tag. At first it wasn't a big deal. My daughter was only taking like 4 or 5 ounces, so 1 can would last me almost 2 weeks. Then she started eating more and that 1 $30 can was only lasting me 5 days or so. That sure made our already tight budget, even tighter.

I couldn't help but notice while I was at Target that when I would grab the Enfamil can for $30, the Target brand version of Enfamil was just staring right back at me for $13.

So I started doing some research. I read all over the place and couldn't find anything negative about it. The ingrediants were almost identical. The only thing different was Target's was a little more powdery.

Well I decided to try it, and I have had no problems with it. My daughter took it with no issues and has not had any strange reactions to it. And boy does that $13 price tag help out!

Target has a generic brand of Enfamil and Simulac and carries all the differnt types just like Enfamil/Simulac (high iron, soy based, etc.).

Of course some people don't mind spending the extra money, I guess I'm just cheap. You can get better deals at Costco or Sam's, I just am not a member to any of those places, and was always heading up to Target to do my shopping. It has worked out really well for me at least!

I'm no nutritionist, but this is just my experience!

Simulac Formula

2009-08-05T22:45:00.001-07:00

Written by Liz L.

When my son would not breastfeed at the hospital, the nurses fed him Similac formula. When we brought him home, they loaded us up with premixed Similac and once I’d made the decision to exclusively bottle feed, it seemed only natural to me to continue using Similac.
My son Dutch is now 3 months old and continues drinking Similac Advanced (the blue can). Yes, it is expensive and I’ve asked my doctor and he assures me that the off brand formula is just as good for our little man as the Similac. We currently buy ours at Sam’s Club, where we can get the big can (38oz) for $30. I also get monthly coupons from Similac for $5 off, so it ends up being only $25 a can.

We may re-evaluate when Dutch starts consuming a can a week, but right now, we’ll stick with what works. I usually get a ‘sample’ can or two from my doctor whenever we go to his office, which, of course, isn’t much, but it still helps.

Rice Cereal??

2009-08-05T22:44:00.001-07:00

By: Destiny V.

very first time mom can't wait to start it. I'm not sure exactly why, though I was definately part of that crowd. Maybe it's the desire for your little kiddo to start doing something more than just eating a bottle. Maybe it's the fact that we get to take lots of messy face pictures. I think it really just has to do with bragging rights and spouting off what milestones your kid has reached. Regardless though, moms everywhere always want to know when the right age to feed rice cereal to your baby is.

I can only say from personal experience. I started giving my daughter rice cereal around 3-4 months old. I did it as a trick my sister told me. After dealing with a bout of my daughter waking up in the middle of the night hungry, my sister suggested that I give her rice cereal at night right before I give her the last bottle of the evening. That way her stomach is fuller and she stays asleep longer.

Well it worked for me!

At around 5-6 months, I upped her rice cereal feedings to first thing in the morning and last thing of the evening. Lyric did really well with it, but I know many kids who refuse to eat anything but bottle/nursing till at least 6 months.

I think it's a case by case basis. I'm not really sure what the doctors suggest, this is just one mom's opinion.

When To Start Feeding Your Baby Rice Cereal

2009-08-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

By: Jennifer M.

When to start rice cereal?

In my opinion, I would wait until at least 6 months and then look for developmental cues.

At the very minimum, 6 months. Prior to that, you're putting "practice food", which is low in nutrients, in place of the very important vitamins of breastmilk and/or formula. Also, starting solids before 6 months has been linked with temporary or permanent gastrointestinal problems, even if they're not revealed until months or years later. The rate of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) in this country in teens and adults is very high, and the generations that have it the most are generations of formula feeding, especially when cereal in bottles or for tiny babies was commonly recommended.*
The tongue-thrust motion is nature's way of protecting an infant. It says, "This body needs nothing but liquids, and anything else is a danger and shouldn't be in the mouth." You should NEVER attempt to feed a child anything other than breastmilk or formula while the tongue thrust motion is strong, or relevant, because then you're forcing your way around the baby's body's cues that they are NOT ready. Also, your baby needs to be able to sit up on their own, and should have a couple teeth. Generally, this is 6 months or later.
Breastfed babies actually require NO food for the entire first year, but that doesn't mean you HAVE to wait that long. Food before the 12 month mark is mostly just practice, and satiating your infant's interest in what Mommy and Daddy are eating.
Aside from waiting 6 months minimum, and following your baby’s cues, like the loss of the tongue thrust motion and gaining teeth, when you start is entirely up to you. However, if your baby isn't interested, don't force it. You're not doing them any harm by waiting, but you could possible do harm by forcing food.

In my opinion,
infant cereal is junk and best left alone.
Solids should never be introduced before six months.
Between 6-12 months, baby can be watched for solid-readiness.
The longer solids are delayed, the better.
Breastmilk is a whole food and is all that is needed for baby's first year.

Feeding Your Child Big People Food

2009-08-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

By: Destiny V.

It was definately a big question in our house... when should we start feeding our daughter table food, or how we called it, big people food.

I hate to sound like a hippy here, but I think you should follow your kiddo's lead on this one. Are they interested in what you are eating? Or are they happy with what you are giving them?

I know with my daughter, by 9 months old, she wanted to eat everything I was eating. She was very interested in it all. I started out by giving her stuff that either would dissolve easy, or just get gummy. Like small pieces of bread. Or maybe a carrot stick, stuff that she could suck on.

It also helped a lot to get those little Gerber Graduate Puffs. She learned how to feed herself with those. They are pretty awesome because they dissolve in their mouth. Beware of the wagon wheels though, they are SOOO messy! But the puffs are really nice.

So anyways, all that to say, just take it one step at a time, introducing small, easily chewable items to her and see how she does.

Even if your child isn't that interested in what you are eating, I would suggest you giving them little pieces and tastes of your food by around 10 months old. That way they start developing a taste for it and start getting interested in it. They can't eat baby food/bottle forever!

I'm no doctor or nutritionist, this is just one mom's experience!

My Baby Won't Take a Bottle

2009-08-05T22:41:00.001-07:00

This had to be one of the hardest things that I have done, trying to get my breastfed daughter to begin taking a bottle.

My 6 month old daughter was exclusively breastfed. She had taken bottles fine in the past and I even thought she preferred them. When I would go out for an evening or had to be gone for more than 3 hours, I would leave a bottle and she NEVER gave me a problem with it!

That is until I had to go back to work full time. She was 6 months old and we had just gotten back from a 3 week trip. I was scheduled to back to work full time a few days after we got home. The day before I went back to work, I decided to give her a bottle all day, just to make sure she was used to it. Well that is when it started. She would not take the bottle. She would spit it out, cry, push it away, etc. She refused to eat. I tried all day to no avail.

So then I went to work and had to leave twice to go home and feed her because my sister (who was keeping her) said she couldn't get her to eat. I tried giving her it in a sippy cup, she refused that. I had always used Advent bottles, but she wouldn't take them. I then switched to NUK bottles because she uses the NUK passy's and thought, well maye that would work. Nope. I tried Playtex bottles, nope. Finally, I was a total wreck.

I was already dealing with the guilt of having to leave my daughter 9 hours a day, but then to top it all off knowing she wasn't eating while I was gone sent me to the brinks of meltdown.

Finally, after reading forum after forum of moms who were dealing with the same thing, I found mention of a new bottle that was suposed to be very similar to a breast and so many breastfed would take it. It is called BreastFlow by First Years. It has 2 nipples. One that lets the milk out slowly, and then sort of like a shell that fills up with milk and allows the baby to sort of latch on to the outside.

At first try, Lyric took an ounce from it. On the second try, she took 3 ounces and by the third try she drank the whole bottle.

Even to this day, if I try to give her another bottle, she refuses. She likes her some BreastFlow and so do I!!!

Weaning Off the Bottle

2009-08-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

So I am weaning my 11 month old daughter off the bottle. I have one good thing in my court as she LOVES sippy cups! I am definately one step up in the right direction. On top of the weaning thing, I also want to stop feeding her babyfood and switch over to just regular food... that might be a little more challenging, just for the fact that babyfood is so much more convenient! Well, anyways, here is the plan of weaning:

March 3rd (Down to 3 bottles):
Morning: bottle, oatmeal/fruit/waffles/toast (something)
Lunch: Sandwich or something like that- no baby food and no bottle
After Nap (around 4p): Bottle and a snack
Dinner: whatever we are eating
Right before bed: Bottle

March 18th (Down to 2 bottles):
Morning: bottle, oatmeal/fruit/waffles/toast (something)
Lunch: Sandwich or something like that- no baby food and no bottle
After Nap (around 4p): A snack- No bottle
Dinner: whatever we are eating
Right before bed: Bottle

March 25th (Down to 1 bottles):
Morning: oatmeal/fruit/waffles/toast (something)- no bottle
Lunch: Sandwich or something like that- no baby food and no bottle
After Nap (around 4p): A snack- No bottle
Dinner: whatever we are eating
Right before bed: Bottle

April 8th (No More Bottles):
Morning: oatmeal/fruit/waffles/toast (something)- no bottle
Lunch: Sandwich or something like that- no baby food and no bottle
After Nap (around 4p): A snack- No bottle
Dinner: whatever we are eating
Right before bed: No Bottle

So that was my plan to get my daughter totally weaned off the bottle by 12 months. She is doing great and I am so proud of her! I hope that schedule helps someone!

Pregnancy = Swollen Crotch

2009-08-05T22:39:00.003-07:00

Location: Grand Prairie, Texas
Mother of 1

No one ever warned me about this little talked about symptom of pregnancy. I was walking around one day, in my 3rd trimester, and I honestly felt like my crotch was swollen 3 times its original size. It not only felt swollen, but it hurt and, after some inspection, I discovered that it was purplish!

I did some research on it and apparantly, YES, It's Normal!

It's has to do with the increase in hormones and most women swell inside their vagina and some on the outside too. The purple and red color is also normal. Again, it's the hormones of pregnancy that are engorging the area with blood.

I did read that if you are experiencing any itching, burning, soreness or pain in your vagina, you should consult your doctor ASAP.

The cure, like so many of these lovely pregnancy symptoms, is delivery. Also, stay off your feet as much as possible and keep your legs elevated to relieve some of the blood pooling.

This is one of those rarely talked about pregnancy things, but don't worry, it's normal!

Announcing My Pregnancy

2009-08-05T22:39:00.001-07:00

By: Destiny V.

I knew I wanted to do something funny for my husband to tell him I was pregnant. When I found out, I was at home and he was at work, I didn't want to just call him on the phone to tell him, so I put a "Bun in the Oven" with the pregnancy test sticking out of it.

He gets home and immediately plops himself on the couch. I'm all excited, that awe and brilliance of the discovery that you are now the carrier of new life! I was giggly and told him to go and check on something in the oven for me. He said no way, he just got home. I started whining and he said, okay, just a minute. I whined some more (ok, more like griped) and he was like, "Fine." He gets up and goes and looks in the oven. I am standing meside him in anticipation of his response. Ya, he just looks at it, not getting it at all. Then he said, is that a pregnancy test? Are you pregnant? I was like YES! And jumped on him. But then he said, "Well why is there a hamburger bun in the oven?" I went, "A bun in the oven, get it?" But he didn't.

It must have been lost in translation.

Is this normal? Yup.

Age: 23

Location: Grand Prairie, Texas

Pregnant with No Insurance

2009-08-05T22:38:00.001-07:00

I feel this is one of biggest issues in modern day healthcare: The fact that there is basically no way you can get affordable private healthcare that includes maternity. I'm serious, start researching it yourself and you will be extremely frustrated!

I should probably mention that, no I'm not pregnant and yes I do have insurance, but not too long ago I was in this situation.

Due to a series of unfortunate events, I found myself 3 months pregnant with no insurance, there was a major lapse in coverage (though I thought I was covered) and so the whole, "pregnancy can't be considered a pre-existing condition" thing totally went through a loop hole.
We looked into almost every option and talked with a bazillion other people, but could find absolutely no solution. Either the waiting periods were so long I wouldn't be pregnant when it was off, or the monthly premiums were so high that I could not feasibly afford to pay it (around $1000 a month).
I am what the industry has coined, a Mom in the Middle. I don't make enough to pay for outrageous private healthcare, but I also make too much to qualify for any federally or state funded insurance.

So recently I decided to do a little research on it to see if times had changed and if any progress has been made to help the Moms in the Middle. I should have known better because it hasn't.

So what are some options for moms in the middle? Unfortunately, none are ideal.

1. NASE: If you own your own business there is an association for the self employed called NASE (National Association for the Self Employed). You have to pay a sign up fee of $75 for the year then you are part or a "corporation" so you are offered health benefits like if you were employed. They do have a maternity rider because since they aren't a huge corporation ie- Starbucks they don't have the cost for maternity spread out to all employees (even males) so that the cost is lower. The rider is something like $300-400 extra per month for 12 months and then they will pay 60% of cost up to $3000. If you pay the extra $300-400 premiums for 24 months, they will cover 80% up to $7000. Obviously, this is NOT a good deal.

2. Private Healthcare with a maternity rider:
Only like 1 or 2 companies offer this. I saw that Humana offered a maternity optional coverage, which was an extra $150 a month (in addition the $250 premium for Lyric and I). Then there was a $5000 deductible. Then after you paid the deductible, for the first 2 years, they would cover up to $2500 worth of pregnancy related expenses, then 3 years they would cover $5000 and then after 4 years of paying this extra premium they would pay up to $7500 of maternity related expenses (which is the max).
Well I had a baby in a hospital with an epidural, and my delivery fees alone (not including the doctor) were $10,000. It would never be worth it.

3. CHIP (if you live in Texas)
Women who can't qualify for Medicare might be able to qualify for CHIP. They just started a program for maternity. It doesn't give a whole lot of financial wiggle room (especially if you are a 2 income family), but it's a sliding scale based on how big your family is. It might work for you, click HERE to find out the income guidlines. I think a family of 4 (they count your pregnancy- so if you just have 1 child, but you are pregnant, they count you as a family of 4) you can make up to $42,000 a year. If you can qualify, you pay like $50 every 6 months and they cover all your expenses. The only drawback is if you have a preferred doctor, they may not take CHIP, but heck, if you can qualify and aren't insured, I would make that sacrifice, or at least pay your doctor out of pocket. The most expensive part of pregnancy is the hospital/delivery anyways.

4. Part-Time Job: (if you are a Stay at Home Mom look into getting a part time job at a large corporation. HERE is a list of places that offer great benefits to part time employees. Places like Starbucks and Fed Ex will let you work just 20 hours a week and have a wide variety of hours to accommodate almost any schedule. It wouldn't be ideal, but hey, you can do anything for a short period of time right? Especially if it will save you thousands of dollars.

5. COBRA:(as long as you are with a company employing at least 15 individuals) This coverage can be carried up to 18 months after you left your company. Essentially, you would be covered under your previous employers coverage but paying your portion PLUS the portion your company was paying. This would also protect you from falling under any pre-existing clauses as you would have continued your healthcare coverage, therefore eliminating the 63 day clause (however, if you let the COBRA coverage lapse more than 63 days the the pre-existing clause comes back into play). As you can see, this once again is VERY expensive. If I paid the full healthcare bill for Lyric and I that my company pays, it would cost me almost $1000 a month. Ick!

6. State Insurance Pool: This would be good if you were already pregnant, had a major lapse in coverage, are working part time and your company doesn't offer insurance or you have a pre-existing condition of some sort. It's a little on the expensive side, but not as bad as the private healthcare. It's still has a high deductible and only covers I think 80% of the cost... here is a link to the Texas insurance pool.

7. Birthing Center- No new mom likes to hear this option as they immediately envision some overweight woman with long hair tied back into a braid wearing pioneer style clothes putting a leather strap in your mouth and telling you to push that baby out. No pain meds? However, childbirth doesn't have to be straight out of an old western. More and more women are choosing natural childbirth at either their home or a birthing center. The midwifes are all certified and very experienced. Obviously the drawback is no pain meds and doctors/surgeons in the room if there is an emergency, but they give you different coping mechanisms that you don't get to use in the hospital and should all be experienced enough to know when an emergency is presenting itself. I personally haven't done it, but know many women who have. The bright side? The cost of this is between $2000-4000. More than half of what you would pay at the hospital and most will work with you as far as payment plans go.

8. Maternity Card: I personally never used this, and had done some research on it. I've found that you either love it or you hate it. Basically you pay a monthly fee to this company and they TRY to negotiate better rates. I found that I could do this on my own, without having to pay the $50 fee, but some people find it easier to just let someone else. I can see both sides. All the research I've done on it, just seems to result in people saying it's not really worth the $50 a month. But to check it out, click HERE.

So how can we change this? Some people say we need Universal Healthcare like in Europe. I'm a bit more for what Hilary is vying for. That would be to keep private healthcare intact for those who want it, but then open up the insurance that federal employees have and then use a sliding/affordable monthly premium based on how much money you make. No pre-exisiting condition crap, it would meet you where you are and your premium works with your current lifestyle.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure, even if Hillary gets elected, if any of this will change. I'm not sure if it should, since it could most likely bankrupt our nation trying to pay for it all... but the bottom line is the healthcare situation for uninsured mothers are ridiculous.
Hundreds and thousands of women are pregnant right now and are in that "Mom in the Middle" category and they have no hope. It's not so much the fear that their normal delivery will cost too much, it's the fear of the unknown. What if they have to do an emergency c-section? What if the baby is born prematurely, what if the baby has an unknown condition and needs to go in the NICU for a few weeks? We are talking about 40-100k for complicated childbirth. Talk about a hefty bill!

Looking to the future, we can only hope that something changes and something changes soon.

Miscarriage- A Lonely Grief

2009-08-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

By: Michelle B.

Miscarriage is a very lonely grief.
I have had two miscarriages both of which were a great loss and very painful.
The hardest thing about the grief of a miscarriage is that the mom feels the presence of the child in her womb but, for most everyone one else around her it is out of sight... out of mind. I had one friend that I wanted to talk to about my loss because she had a miscarriage. Most everyone else in their effort to comfort me made things worse. Honestly, I did not want to hear things like "it must have been for the best" or "something must have been wrong with the baby." I did not understand at the time why this type of comment upset me so much. After all I knew people were just trying to help.
Now after many years I have come to realize that my baby was my baby defects and all. If there were defects in my child I still loved him and I still wanted him. I had hopes dreams and a connection the minute I knew he was in my womb. Knowing he may have been defective did not ease the pain of the loss of him. What I needed during that time was for the people the closest around me to do was simply to come along side me and acknowledge my pain and not to put a time limit on how long I should grieve.
After the initial few days of a miscarriage most will not bring it up again. For the women who lost her child the pain remains. I lost my first child 9 yrs. ago. I still think about him. I wonder what he would have looked like, I imagine kissing his soft baby skin and the love we would have shared between us. I still long for him though I have 3 wonderful children who bring me great joy. I still want him.
What I learned about miscarriage and grief in general is simple and biblical. Grieve with those who grieve, and be joyful with those who are joyful. Simply stated walk along side me be my friend and grieve with me. That is the greatest expression of love and brings much healing. This is actually much easier than trying to explain to the unexplainable.

Miscarriage

2009-08-05T22:35:00.002-07:00

By: Courtney W.

I had been married about for about 7 months when I found out I was pregnant for the first time. I was ecstatic! My husband and I had wanted to start a family right away and couldn't be more happy about the pregnancy!

I was about 12 weeks pregnant when we decided to go on vacation for a week. We went to San Antonio, Texas and spent a day at Sea World. While walking around, I felt like I needed to got to the bathroom. When I went, I looked down and saw a very unpleasant site. It was brown blood (which I later found out was old blood). I immediately freaked out, started crying in the bathroom stall and ran out to my husband! We went straight back to the hotel and called the Doctor who proceeded to tell me to put my feet up, take it easy and that he would schedule a sonogram for when I came back in town.

Our sonogram appointment was scheduled for the day we got back and we were very scared and nervous wondering what we were going to see on the screen.

My mom, and my husband went with me to the appointment and it was a totally nerve racking experience! As I laid there on the bed and watched the lights go down, my heart began to beat out of my chest. The technician began taking pictures and asking me questions like, "How far along do you think you are?" When I told her that I was supposed to be 12 weeks pregnant, she said that the baby was only measuring at 8 weeks along. It was silent for what felt like eternity. No one uttered a word! I finally asked is everything ok, the sonogram technician said to me as she turned off the machine, "Someone will come in to talk to you, I am so sorry!" When she walked out the door, all three of us began to cry!

Another lady came in later and explained that there was no heart beat and that the baby died at 8 weeks along. The strange thing was, I had not actually miscarried the baby yet. The baby had been dead for a solid month and I had not delivered him/her yet.

How devastated we were. It felt like someone was ripping my heart from my chest! The grief was indescribable!

The hardest thing was, for an entire week I had to live with the knowledge that my precious child was dead inside my body and to avoid having an D & C (where they give you something to force you body to deliver the baby) I had to walk, walk and walk until I finally miscarried the baby!

This was the worst experience of my life and what made it worse was I got pregnant again just a few months later and once again miscarried the baby at 5 weeks. There were no answers, no reasons, nothing. I was so scared that I would never have children and I was in so much pain over the loss of my babies.

I have since had 4 amazing, healthy, beautiful children, but the memory of my miscarriages and my children that I will never know will stay with me forever.

Stretch Marks

2009-08-05T22:35:00.001-07:00

By: Destiny V.

I was able to avoid stretch marks for the most part. I think that complete avoidance is almost unheard of... at least when you gain 44 pounds!

I had seen a lot of people with stretch marks on their stomach, lets, hips, etc. and I really did not want to have them. I mean, you can lose the weight, but those scars are basically there forever. I've seen moms who are skinny, but refuse to wear certain clothes because of the stretch marks and I didn't want to be like that if I could help it.

I started lubing up immediately upon finding out I was pregnant. I kept vitamin E oil in my nightstand, and every single night, before I went to bed, I would put it all over my stomach, hips, thighs and breasts.

Unfortunately, when you go from a small C to a DD cup, it's dang near impossible to not have some type of stretch marks. Those came in my 2nd trimester. Thankfully, they were on the side, so they aren't visable.

Then, the last few weeks of my pregnancy, I started geting stretch marks on my hips. I freaked out, but there is really nothing you can do. Once again, I was lucky because they were very light and now (almost a year later), they have basically disappeared.

My tip for avoiding stretch marks would be:

Put lotion/vitamin e oil on your stomach every time it gets itchy. When you feel like you need to scratch your belly, it means your skin is stretching, so soften it up with some oil or lotion.
Put it on every night when you go to bed. It's really not a paid if it's right by your bed.
Carry lotion around with you
Don't buy that expensive, no stretch mark stuff. I don't think it works any better than lotion with vitamin e oil in it, or regular vitamin e oil itself

So that's my story!

Morning Sickness

2009-08-05T22:34:00.001-07:00

By: Destiny V.

Just the fact of writing this blog makes me nauseaus.

I found out I was pregnant very early. I was just BARELY 4 weeks pregnant. I hadn't been experiencing any symptoms, so I thought I was in the clear. My sister had told me, "If you make it past 7 weeks with no sickness, you're probably in the clear."

My sister had never had morning sickness and neither had my mother, so I thought, I'll probably skip out on that one too...

Ya. No.

Right around 6 weeks I woke up one morning. I was feeling a little queasy, but just thought I needed to get food in my stomach. I was brushing my teeth and had to run to the toilet to up-chuck the glass of water and the banana I had that morning. That started the worst 8 weeks of my life.

I threw up anywhere between 4-8 times a day. I couldn't ride in the car without throwing up. I couldn't eat anything without throwing up. I remember eating food just for the mere act of eating, because I knew within 30 minutes I would be revisiting that meal. I began making smarter eating choices. Lighter foods, nothing heavy as when I puke, it always comes out my nose too.

On a particulary bad day, I remember laying on the floor of the bathroom, mascara smeared down my face, crying, not able to move, because the moment I moved, my stomach would start cramping and I would have to heave again.

Don't even get me started on when I would miss the toilet, and have to clean up my throw up, in between throwing up some more... I was really embarassed when that would happen. My husband would run in, because most of the time I would start sobbing when I threw up, and I would yell at him to not come in the bathroom till I had it all cleaned up.

People told me some awful things during that time. Like my body was trying to reject my baby. What the heck! No it wasn't! My hormones were just out of wack.

I tried everything. I had so many good helpful tips. They just never worked.

I could be dead asleep and wake up in the middle of the night running to the bathroom because my stomach was churning and I needed to throw up. It was terrible!!!

Nothing really helped, except Root Beer. I talked with my doctor about it and she said some root beers have a licquorice in it, that actually serves to soothe your stomach. But seriously, that was the only thing I could drink without puking. I ate bagel bits, because they weren't that bad coming out, and would drink root beer at all times.

The good thing is, I didn't start gaining weight till my 2nd trimester.

That was definately a dark time in my life, as I was just so sick. But right around 14-15 weeks, it all got better and the world became right again. I was actually able to be excited about my pregnancy!

Tips:

Try drinking rootbeer- it worked for me!
Try the cracker first thing in the morning. Just keep some by your bed, and as you feel yourself waking up, reach over and eat a cracker
Carry snacks around in your purse and eating small frequent snacks all day
I've heard sometimes it may be your prenatal vitamins, so switch those to test that theory
I've heard that sea sickness patch works pretty well

Again, I'm not a doctor, so talk to yours before you try anything. This is just my story.

The bottom line, the only sure fire cure for morning sickness is the delivery.

Age: 24
Location: Grand Prairie, Texas
Mother of 1

WITH an Epidural

2009-08-05T22:33:00.001-07:00

By: Destiny V.

The day I had my daughter Lyric was was a day I will never forget… but then all mothers say I will indeed forget because if I didn't really forget, I would never have any more children!

Wednesday I had my 40 week doctor's appointment. After she checked me, and told me that I was still just 1 1/2 cm and 75% effaced (the same I had been the previous 3 weeks), we decided to ahead and schedule an induction. The plan was for me to come in that night at midnight, and they would put the Prostaglandin Gel in me that some times causes labor. So I spent the day getting ready for the birth of my daughter. I kept trying to get it into my head that tomorrow would be the day that I finally get to hold my little girl in my arms... it was mind blowing!

Well we got to the hospital right at midnight and they had my room all ready and I was able to just walk right in and get comfy. My sister Courtney, my Mom and my husband Jonathan were with me and helped me get settled. I had to fill out a bunch of paperwork and hear the whole shpeel about the hospital stay. I had to take a bunch of tests and they took sooo much blood from me! Then they put the gel in me and gave me an Ambien to help me sleep. I turned on a movie and was out pretty quickly.

They had told me that the gel would cause me to start having some pretty good contractions, well by 5am, I was really hurting. I couldn't fall back asleep (I barely remember this though). So my nurse came in and said she could give me some Demerol, I of course, gladly agreed. Well, let's just say, the Demerol did the trick, a little too well! I was, what you may call, stoned.

At 7am, I still was only at 1 ½ cm so they started the Pitocin drip. All of you who have been induced know how horrible contractions are when you have Pitocin, but I was determined to wait it out as long as heavenly possible. They came in and checked me every hour or so and I was just not progressing, so they would turn it up higher and my contractions would get stronger and closer together and I would writhe in pain. Finally, they checked me again at 12pm and I was JUST BARELY at 2cm. I at that point knew I could go no further without pain medication. I mean, it had been 5 hours and I had only progressed a ½ cm, who knows how long it would take to get another 8 cm!

But, I hadn't said anything yet about wanting an epidural. So my doctor came in and said since I was at 2cm and not really progressing, she would break my water and hopefully I would progress faster. Well as she prepares to do so, my water decides just break on its own. That is such a strange feeling! It's like peeing but you can't control it. It's SOOOO much fluid too. Totally strange.

I was so excited when the doctor said there was no meconium in the water, because I had been scared about that, so that was a relief, which didn't last long, because boy then did the real fun begin. I have never felt so much pain in my life. They were so hard and so close together. I was literally crying and could not take it. At this point, I would have agreed to them cutting my baby out right then and there, but thankfully the suggestion was just an epidural, which I gladly agreed to.There were still a few people in front of me before the anesthesiologist could get to me. Those 30 minutes felt like centuries. Well he got there and said he only wanted one person to stay in there with me while he administered the epidural. I didn't think twice and said, "Mom". Which Jon was so happy about! He wanted out of there! I'm still having horribly bad contractions but I lean over with my arms around my mom and stay completely still. The epidural hurt going in, but it didn't hurt NEAR as bad as the two really hard contractions I had while he was putting that gigantic needle in me. Within 20 minutes, I was numb and couldn't have been happier. Even though I said I wanted to do it naturally, I've now realized I am a complete and total wuss and need the medicine! I don't think I could have made it on the pitocin drip without it. The strangest part was when he put in the medicine; I could literally feel it going into my spine. It didn't hurt, it was just totally freaky!
So I had gotten the epidural around 12:30-1:00pm. By 2:00pm, I was already at 3cm. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was at this point. I was smiling, I was laughing, I actually wanted to see my family! It was joyous! I think I was just so tense because of the pain, that the epidural cause me to chill out and let my body take over without me fighting it.

They checked me again at 3:00pm and now I was at 4cm. I was so happy to be moving right along. Remember people, I had only progressed ½ cm in 5 hours so this was like making me so happy! The baby's heart beat started to go down a little at this point. Nothing even near dangerous, but just enough to keep my nurse interested. I kept changing positions and stuff, but it wouldn't go up all the way. Then the nurse asked me when the last time I ate was, and I said 7:00 the night before. She said maybe I should eat something, so I got a popcicle and BANG, the baby's heart rate went right back up to normal!! She's just like her momma! She needs to eat or she gets cranky!

At 4:30 my fabulous nurse Erin (who I loved), checked me and I was at 5cm!! Oh ya, half way there baby! We all rejoiced. My whole family and some friends were in the room hanging out at this point. There was about 12 people there!

At 6:00pm, my doctor came in to check me and shocked us all when she said I was 9 ½ cm and fully effaced! I was like, WHAT THE HECK!?! That meant that in an hour and a half I dilated almost 5 cm! She said I could start pushing in the next 30 minutes. It was a scary moment in my life. I started to get so nervous. I also started to transition at this point, so my entire body was involuntarily shaking. I can't begin to describe how nervous I was. I just wanted to start crying. I was like… scared! This was it. This was when I was going to see my daughter. This was the point I have been waiting for the last 9 months… was I ready to do this?? What if something went terribly wrong?! I was so scared!!! But then I got my game face on. I could do this. I was created to do this. My daughter needed me to get her out of there.

My Mom and Jon were by the bed with me and my friend Abby and sister Courtney were off to the side, waiting with baited breath. They kept making me laugh and were totally amusing Jonathan. Jon said that when I would push they would hold their breath and push with me! My mom is the most amazing birth coach ever!

Well, I don't really know any other way to put it besides saying I pushed from 6:30 to 8:10pm (an hour and 40 minutes). I have a really narrow pelvis so she was having trouble getting under it. What finally did the trick was actually a nurse holding onto one end of a towel and me holding on to the other end and pushing while playing tug of war with the towel. It helped get me bent in the right direction and pushing the right way. It was so tiring, but I could have gone another hour and a half because I was so determined to see her. They had to turn off the epidural at the beginning because I had such dead legs. Like literally, I had no control over my legs and at one point, Jon dropped my leg and it fell off the table! I did have to have a small episiotomy, but I didn't even notice. She had given me an extra shot to make sure since the epidural was basically worn off towards the end.

Here is when it got a little scary, I finally get her out and as they pull out her head, all of a sudden I hear them say "meconium, we got meconium" and Dr. Moseley just immediately hands the baby to the nurses. They start calling the NICU people and I am sobbing because I don't know what's going on. I keep saying, "Why isn't she crying, why isn't she crying, what's going on" but no one was saying anything. I could hear them suctioning her and talking and all these other people were rushing in the room. It was seriously the scariest thing I have ever had to deal with in my life. I am like tearing up thinking about it right now because I was so scared. I was scared they were going to take her away; I was scared something was wrong. I heard them say APGAR at 1 is 1, which is really bad. That means on a scale of 1-10, on how good your baby is doing, she was a 1. Then, I hear the sound that I had been straining to hear, I heard a faint little cry. But it was overpowered by all the suctioning. I couldn't see her, but Jon turned just in time to see them shoving a tube down her throat, which completely freaked him out. He stopped watching and just leaned over me and talked to me and told me everything was going to be all right. I was balling but then I heard them say APGAR at 5 is a 9, which meant the 5 minute APGAR test she scored 9 out of 10. What they had done was not suction her out and let her breathe because she had meconium in the birth canal and they didn't want her to breathe it into her lungs. So that's why she wasn't crying. They were able to get her all cleaned out and no meconium got in her lungs. Thank you Lord!!

Then they brought her over to me and I saw my little girl. It was such a beautiful moment. I was overwhelmed and so happy that she was okay. This was the little one that I had felt move around, that had grown inside me, Jon and I created this little girl that I was looking at. I could do nothing else but just cry.My family and close friends came in after I had gotten all stitched up and everyone saw her. We all prayed together as a family, it was so amazing and peaceful and we got to dedicate her life to the Lord. My husband Jon, who is a Belgian national took her and immediately started speaking French to her and telling her how much he loved her and how glad he was that she was there. Then he just broke down. He could not stop crying. He later told me that he had been so scared that something was horribly wrong with Lyric when they were working on her, but he had to push it all down because he needed to be strong for me. When it was apparent that she was okay, his emotions just overwhelmed him. He's such a good dad already. I am so blessed to have him as the father of my little girl.

I'm sure there are a million other things that I could write about, which I'm sure I will over the next few days, but here this was the basic story of Lyric's birth!

Location: Grand Prairie, Texas
Age: 24
First Delivery

A Cool Labor and Delivery Story

2009-08-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

By Jean Weiss for MSN Health & Fitness

"Brenda Gallagher and her husband Jeff Osgood had been warned. Their first child, James, came early and quickly. The couple sped to the hospital, was stopped by police, who then escorted them the rest of the way. “I was about five weeks early and my waters broke,” Brenda says. “I had a three-hour labor, but the first hour I didn’t feel any contractions. I had about 45 minutes of difficult labor and then the baby was born. Afterwards, the nurses looked at Jeff and said, ‘Honey, you are going to be catching the next one.’”

Brenda didn’t pay too much attention, but Jeff took them seriously and listened carefully to their instructions. The biggest risk from a car birth is having the baby lose body heat, they said. Crank the heat in the car and cover the baby with something warm.

Best Laid Plans

Brenda changed doctors when she became pregnant with her second child and as she shopped around, she warned each that her labors are fast. “A lot of the doctors pooh-poohed my experience, saying you can have a fast first labor and a slow second labor, so don’t count on it,” says Brenda. “I wasn’t counting on it, but I was trying to prepare them.” Brenda eventually found a doctor that took her seriously, and her second pregnancy went well; in fact, she made it to 39 weeks before she found out on a Monday she was 4 centimeters dilated.

Three days later, on Wednesday, Brenda felt her first contractions. They lasted for 30 minutes. With plan in place to accommodate her quick labors, she and Jeff snapped into action. Jeff walked their son James down to a neighbor’s house to wait for 15 minutes until friends arrived to care for him. When he returned home, Brenda’s contractions had stopped and she didn’t want to go to the hospital just yet. He reluctantly agreed, with the stipulation that Brenda call her doctor. The doctor was out, but she talked to a nurse who said—not knowing Brenda’s history—to come in after the contractions were 10 minutes apart.

Relaxed about the decision not to go to the hospital, Brenda laid down for the rest of the night. Jeff, on the other hand, was a wreck. So the next day, Thursday, Brenda wanted to be sure it was the right time to go to the hospital before she said anything. “I didn’t want to give another false alarm,” she says. “I didn’t want to put him through the whole gut-wrenching mistake I’d made the day before.”

The morning was uneventful. In the afternoon they put James down for a nap. Jeff napped, too, while Brenda read a book. “I had pressure on my back, then nothing,” she says, wondering if the pressure was a contraction. “I thought maybe I should time it. I was thinking, ‘Well, they aren’t every 10 minutes. It was like they were 10 minutes, and then it skipped.” She woke Jeff up and said, “I think I’m having contractions.” He said, “OK, you let me know when you want to go to the hospital.” Finally, she felt a “whopping” contraction and told Jeff at about 5 p.m., “We need to go.”

That’s when everything went wrong.

The hospital was seven miles away, a 10-minute car drive in regular traffic. James was still asleep. Their friends would now need to drive up in rush-hour traffic—that would take about 30 minutes instead of 15. The neighbors who were supposed to watch him until their friends arrived weren’t home; Jeff needed to recruit someone new to come to the house to stay with James. All of their neighbors were gone except a triathlete dad two houses away who was taking care of his own girls, ages 2 and 5. Jeff called the dad. The dad was reluctant, but agreed to come over after Jeff begged. He arrived 15 minutes later.

“The contractions were really frightful by now,” Brenda says. “My water broke. I said, ‘Jeff, my water broke,’ and he said ‘OK, grab a towel’. I went upstairs, grabbed a towel; I went to the car, put the towel on a seat, and I climbed onto the front seat of the car. Jeff was standing in the yard when the guy arrived, and said ‘James is asleep, our friends are coming, we are going to the hospital, you won’t have to stay long.’ I was shouting from the garage ‘Let’s go!” So we got in the car and Jeff said ‘Can you call the delivery bay and tell them that we are on our way?’ and I said ‘No way.”

Playing Catch

Jeff made the call while he drove, warning the hospital of their arrival. They made it one mile and were at a stop light when Brenda said, “Oh my God, I’m pushing.” Jeff looked at Brenda, put his hands up, saying “No, no, no, no, no.” Brenda was wearing pregnancy overalls. She put her seat back and ripped off the lower part of her clothes. Jeff put the car in reverse, backed away from the light, and pulled onto the nearest side street.

Jeff’s recollection is that by the time he did that and pulled up the emergency break, there was a baby lying on the seat. What Brenda remembers is that she pushed, put her hands down and felt a head. “It was one push,” she says, “Then, I was kind of stunned, and I was holding her little head.” Jeff reached over, picked up the baby, and put her onto Brenda’s belly. The baby coughed. Jeff cranked the heat in the car. He reached behind him and grabbed a wool cardigan sweater from the back seat and wrapped up Brenda and the baby. “She was still attached to me and I still had to deliver the placenta but I felt an utter moment of peace and quiet and bliss,” says Brenda. “She was fine, I was fine, and from my perspective the emergency was over and everything was fine, but that wasn’t how my husband was feeling.”

Jeff still felt a rush of anxiety. He knew that they needed to get help—they had to get the baby to the hospital. “I stopped and looked at him and said, ‘She’s fine, I’m fine, we’re fine. Drive slow. Everything is fine.’”

It had been 30 minutes from the time her water broke to the time she delivered. Brenda continued to lie down in the car, holding the baby, as Jeff called the hospital to let them know, then carefully drove. For a moment she wondered if the people in cars driving by could see her lying there, baby in her arms, the passenger seat of their car a bloody mess.

They were met at the hospital by a couple of nurses and a gurney and whisked upstairs. Ironically, one of the nurses was their neighbor—the wife of the triathlete dad. Brenda and Jeff later found out that the dad took so long to come over because he was in the middle of a workout and wanted to finish.

Stuck in the Middle

When Brenda became pregnant a third time, she and Jeff decided a home birth would be simpler and safer, given her fast labors. They met with a mid-wife, but their plans were thwarted mid-pregnancy when they found out they were having twins. “The policy is that if you are having twins, you must deliver in the operating room prepped for a C-section,” Brenda says. She and Jeff realized they would have to rush to the hospital at the first sign of labor and take the kids, James and Rowan, with them instead of waiting for child care to come to their home. Brenda found a doctor who specializes in delivering twins and had experience with breech birth (which often happens with twins).

Brenda was napping at home when her waters broke six weeks early. Jeff grabbed their two kids and they all rushed to the hospital. Their midwife met them there, as did friends who took the kids. Jeff stayed with Brenda, who had her usual cycle: an hour of not feeling contractions, an hour of contractions, and then the desire to push.

Brenda had warned the nursing staff on duty that night that her labors were quick and that they should suit up for the operating room, but only Jeff and her doctor were in scrubs in time for the delivery. The hospital staff frantically wheeled Brenda’s bed from her room to the OR, but the bed got stuck halfway through the door. And that’s where Brenda delivered her twins, one head-first and the other breech—stuck in the middle of the doorway, with no possibility of having a C-section. “I said, ‘OK, I’m pushing,’ and my midwife said, ‘Go ahead and push honey,’” Brenda says. “That pissed off the nurses, but I pushed and out came Miles.” Then she pushed again, and out came her breech baby, River. Both babies were born while all the nurses were still putting on their operating room gear."

Emergency C-Section

2009-08-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

By: Sarah H.
So here we go. I won't get graphic, so safe for all ages.

Friday night I was at my friends John and Julies' house and John made me a home remedy that his mom made for Julie with all three of her boys, and it worked within 24 hours. So he whips it up I ate it, and nothing happened so we went home early cause I was really tired.

I made my husband Rick pray that she would come the next day, and we went to sleep. At about 3:45am, I woke up with a contractions and they were 30 minutes apart till about 5am. At this point I woke Rick up and told him he should start timing them. So we timed them for a couple hours, and they kept getiing closer together. I went and took a shower thinking if it were false labor then that would make them go away, but they got even closer while I was in the shower. So I dried my hair and sat in the living room, ate some breakfast and they got to 3 minutes apart.

At this point we called my mom and headed up to the hospitl at about 8 am.

When we got there, the nurse checked me and I was 75% effaced, and 2 cm dialated, but not really progressing, and my contractions slowed down alot. They said they were going to send me home, but the baby's heart rate was causing them some concern, so they were going to keep me till they got a reactive strip. well they gave me juice and popsicles, nothing helped, and her heart rate stayed down. So the nurse called the doctor on call because my doctor was out of town, and he said he was coming in to break my water, which basically committed me to labor.

They put me in a room, he broke my water, and said there was not alot of fluid, so he did a sonogram. During the sonogram he said it looks like I had been leaking fluid for at least a week, so they started me on pitocin at about 2pm, and at about 3:45pm I had had enough of Labor, so I got my epidural.

Things started going down hill from there. Piper started having decels in her heart rate, then my blood pressure started dropping really low. They put me on oxygen, and tried to get it up, but it was dropping as low as 60, which is really bad.
Well the Doctor came in and said I was dialated to a 6, and progressing really well, but he didn't want to stress her anymore and we were going to do a c-section. They wheeled me out, took me straight to the operating room.

She was born at 6:54 pm and weighed 6 lbs 9 oz, and was 21 1/4 inches long. The Doctor pulled her out and said that there was nothing wrong with her, she was just lazy. :)

He mentioned that her umbilical cord was only 12 inches long, and that would explain the heart rate dropping the further along I progressed. They took her to the NICU because her breathing was really rapid. After observing her for 6 hours, I finally got to meet her at 1:45am.

That's my story!

Age: 25

Location: Arlington, Texas
Date: December 2007
1st Delivery

Au Natural With Number 4

2009-08-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

By: Carrie B.

It all began Wednesday morning.

I had gone to the doctor and my membranes were stripped. Really unsure if it would work, I went home and waited. I went for a walk around 5 p.m. and still nothing exciting. I was watching Dancing with the Stars and then all the sudden the first of many contractions hit. Still very far apart, I thought nothing of it, and continued to watch tv. We got the kids in bed and with the contractions still coming I started to get things together just in case we were to go to the hospital. At about 10 pm they really started to come every 10 minutes, but I remained calm, still watching tv. I had to pee every 5 minutes it felt like, so I was in and out of the bathroom for about an hour. My mom called at about midnight and decided she would come over. Then out of no where, my contractions jumped from 10 minutes to every 2 minutes and they were coming with a vengeance. I immediately called my mom and told her to just go to the hospital. Once we made it to the hospital around 1 am I got to my room, and got the kids situated. My mom got there and I was in bed awaiting my examination all the while breathing calmly through each contraction. Finally I was told that I was 5 cm and 100 % effaced, so this was it, I was in labor!!! I then voiced that I wanted my epidural. I knew that I needed an IV first and at least one full bag of fluid in before I could get it, so I waited as patiently as possible.

Well then all hell broke loose, my contractions were coming harder and I started to shake. I kept saying that I wanted my epidural before it was too late. Around 3:30 am the epidural lady came in and I was relieved, phew!! Now, I have had 2 prior surgeries for scoliosis and have had 3 epidurals with no problem. But this time something went wrong, she did the epidural and it did nothing. I kept waiting for the numbness, but nothing. By this point I was 8 cm. The anesthesiologist said that it did not work, panic set in, I was going to have to do this natural. I called upon the name of Jesus to save me!!! I cursed my scoliosis and then called on Jesus again.

Nate, my mom, and the nurse were great, real encouragers. The doctor came in and checked me, broke my bag of water, and said it was time. The moment I had been waiting for, but then dreaded, I started pushing. Still calling on Jesus, I pushed so freaking hard!! He went from a 0 station to +3 in one push and that was when the burning started. My dear Lord in heaven, did it ever burn. My crotch was on fire!!! I was screaming and grunting, still calling on Jesus. Then it happened, my body completely took over and my mind shut down. I could feel every part of that baby come out in one swoosh. I was in shock!! My mom kept saying, "You did it, Carrie, you did it!!” I delivered my baby natural, feeling everything, it was unbelievable!! They put him on my tummy and I forgot about everything, he was beautiful and perfect. It was even more special because my dad was in the room too, he got to hear Wyatt's first cry. All the after birth stuff was interesting too, but who wants to hear about that. So that is it, my exciting delivery. 9 hours in all. He came in the world at 4:36 am. I am so blessed!!!

Age: 30

Location: Keller, Texas.
Date: Sept. 2007
4th Delivery

He Basically Shot Out!

2009-08-05T22:28:00.002-07:00

By: Courtney W.

My 4th child Judah's arrival into the world was quite a story to be told. I have never had an experience like it.

I had been having contractions off and on for about 3 weeks prior to me actually going into labor. I was so tired of having them that I could just die. I remember telling my mom, the day I went into labor, that I was so done being pregnant. I had been to the doctor that week and I was 3cm and 50% effaced.

So that Tuesday I had been having little contractions off and on all day but this was normal for me. I was getting ready for bed that night and told my husband Nathan that I was going to take 2 benadryl so that I could get a good night sleep. HA!!!!! That was about 11:00pm Tuesday night. Well....1:30am Wednesday morning rolls around and I woke up with this horrible pain in my stomach. I thought I must be constipated and that’s why I am hurting so bad. Then it kept getting worse and worse. I then thought " I HAVE A KIDNEY STONE"! Why did I not think that this huge stomach in front of me that was carrying a baby was making all this pain, I don't know! I just didn't believe that I was in labor. So I woke Nathan up and told him that I was in SOOOO much pain. He started timing my contractions and at this point they were 5 minutes apart. I'm still not connecting that this is labor. They contractions are getting harder and harder and I am now on all fours on the bed, rocking back and forth, trying to breathe through them.

After 45 minutes, I tell Nathan that I need to call my mom to come over and see if she thinks that I am in real labor or not. When I called her, I couldn't even talk because the contractions were so strong. It took mom about 15 or 20 minutes to get to over to the house and by that time my contractions had jumped to 2 and 3 minutes apart. My mom then was trying to figure out when we should go to the hospital because she knew that I was in active labor, but just didn't know how far along that I was. I think that Nathan was the one that said, honey I think you need to go the hospital like now.

The time was then about 3:15 am, only 1 hour and 45 min. from the time I woke up with contractions. I called my sister and told her to get over here; I got my bag and a few things other things together before we got in the car. Now my mom was going to drive me to the hospital because we decided that Nathan needed to stay back and wait for a friend who was going to stay at the house with my other 3 girls while they slept. As me and my mom were walking out to the car, my sister was walking down the street to meet us. So off the 3 of us went.

While in the car, I felt like I was having contractions after contractions. THEY HURT SOOOO BAD! I felt the most pressure "down there" that I have ever felt in my life. I kept thinking, if I could just make it to the hospital, then I can get my epidural and everything will be fine!

We pulled up to the hospital around 3:25 am. My mom suggested that I walk up to triage just to let gravity do its thing as much as it can before I am stuck in a bed for awhile. I agreed and we began to walk through the emergency room. But after only walking 2 steps at a time before I was having contractions, my sister said, "I am getting her a wheel chair." My mom totally agreed otherwise we would have never made it to triage on that pace. Once we got to triage.....the chaos began!!!!!!

The nurse who was in there took one look at the pain I was in and immediately began asking me questions. She asked as she was running around like a crazy person getting things ready, what pregnancy this was for me. I said 4 and she freaked out. "Why did you wait this long to get to the hospital", she yelled! She began stripping my clothes off right there and told me to get in the bed. I said that I had to go the bathroom. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because she said I was not going to have this baby in the toilet. We still did not know how dilated I was. She threw me up in the bed and said she needed to check me. I was having a really hard contraction and wanted her to wait till it was over. She yelled at me again and said that if we did that then we were going to have this baby right here. No way I thought, but sure enough......when she checked me I was complete. Dilated to 10cm people.

They rushed me out of the room on the bed and nurses were flying everywhere. I really don't remember a whole lot after that. I think I was having an out of body experience. All I felt was pain, pain and more pain. When I got into the room, nurses were yelling at me, "DON'T PUSH." I was not pushing, but my body was. I remember asking if I could have my epidural, and the nurses just laughed. That's a freaky feeling knowing that it's all up to you to handle the pain. I have never done it on my own before. Now Nathan was not there yet and there was no way he was going to miss the birth of our first son. I tried to breath, but all my body wanted to do was push that baby out. My sister tells me that she called Nathan and told him that he better rush or he was going to miss it.

So picture me in the bed, screaming from pain and wanting to push, nurses running around yelling at me not to push, mom trying to get me calm at my bed side and Nathan speeding in the car trying to get to the hospital. CRAZY!!!!! My Dr. was trying to get there too and that's what we were waiting on. But I was really waiting on Nathan because I knew that Judah was not waiting for the Doctor. One nurse turns me on my side and pushes my knees together to keep from me pushing. Mom tells me, "Courtney, just think about Nathan. You need to wait for him." I started saying Nathan's name over and over again just thinking, I have to wait for him.

Just then Nathan rushes in the room, breathing just as heavy as I was. He comes to my bedside and says, "Honey, I'm here. It's ok, just breathe." About 3 minutes after Nathan rushed in the room....the nurse turns me back onto my back and.....Judah shoots out. The Doctor didn't make it.

I checked in the hospital at 3:37 am and Judah was born at 3:50 am. Now that's cutting it close! Who would have thought I would have a baby in a little over 2 hours, start to finish? My water never broke. Judah was born in the water sack. So weird! The nurses said that they had never seen that with a term baby. He came through the birth canal in the water sack, and it only broke when he landed on the bed. I think that was a God thing because if my water had broken, he might have come a lot sooner and would have been born at home or even in the car. AHHHH!!!!

So that's the story of Judah's arrival! This might be a prophetic picture of his calling and destiny! Judah is wonderful! I love him so much and he is the best baby in the world! I guess he needs to be since he is the 4th.

Age: 26

Location: Grand Prairie, Texas
Date: January 2008
4th Delivery

No Pain Meds This Time!

2009-08-05T22:28:00.001-07:00

By: Abby S.

I was scheduled to be induced on Friday morning at 7am. So we had my dad spend the night and we got up at 5:30. Now let me just start by saying that I really didn't want to be induced. I wanted the excitement of going into labor on my own and laboring some at home, then going to the hospital and having a baby very quickly. BUT I was also very done being pregnant so I decided enough was enough and we were going to the hospital. So when I got up I went to the restroom and discovered the I had lost my "plug", had some bloody show, and was having some contractions, I was quite excited!

So we loaded the car up and left. On the way there I was having some painful contractions that were 6-7 minutes apart. By the time I finished filling out all the paperwork and answering the million questions they ask you I told my husband that had we not already been at the hospital we would have been going cause my contractions were getting stronger and closer together.

By 8am my nurse checked my cervix and told me that I was dialated to 4 and was 70% effaeced. She then said that she was going to give me pitocin and that my doctor would be in later to break my water. I asked her if there was anyway that I could skip out on the pitocin since I was already contracting on my own and just have my water broken instead. She asked my doctor and my doctor said yes so that's what we did.

Between 8:30 and 9am my water was broken. And my doctor told me that she was predicting the baby would be delivered around noon! Yes, noon people! I was sooooo excited. With my son, I was induced at 8am and didn't deliver till 10:06PM!!! It was the longest day ever so this was an answer to prayers!

As I was laboring on I asked my nurse, who by the way was so amazing, if I could walk around to try to get things going. She said yes so I took off around the hospital. That was pretty interesting cause I would just be walking along talking to Brad when a contraction would hit and I had to stop talking and breathe through it. Well, my husband Brad seemed to think this was funny so he would start to laugh then I would start to laugh and it would just make the contractions worse! But it made the time go by pretty fast.

However, as time began to pass, it started to get a lot more painful. I had signed the paperwork to get an epidural, but I also knew that sometimes it can slow labor down so I wanted to see if I could do this without an epidural. I had my first son with one, but I just have always wanted to try it without. So as it started getting worse, and since I had no epidural, this was the only postion that I didn't feel like I was going to DIE in. My mom and my "other" mom were on each side of me with a towel under my belly and I was on all 4's. Then when a contraction would hit, they would lift up on the towel to take pressure off my belly and my husband would push my hips together. That helped make the last hour or so bareable!

Sidenote-Before I got to this point in labor my nurse informed me that there is a point called transition and at this point you will feel like ripping your skin off!! But that it only lasts a little while and then once it's over you can push and then your done!

Well, let me tell you, I felt like ripping my skin off and lots of other stuff! It was pretty bad and I wasn't sure I could do it anymore. However we had reached the point of no return so there was no option but to finish.

I finally got the point that I couldn't have anymore contractions on all four and needed to roll over and get ready to push. So I did. This is where it gets pretty blurry. I remember at one point looking at Brad my mom and Jerri like "Shoot me just shoot me now!!!" I remember a few screams and one cuss word (sorry Jerri!) I remember FIRE down there and then she was out! The instant she came out ALL pain was gone and it was the most amazing feeling ever! I just worked my hiney off for this beautiful baby girl!! SOOOO worth it! Warning...TMI...the worst part was that I tore and she had to stitch me up and I had no pain medicine!! Ouch!!

But when it was all done I didn't have to keep an IV in, I could walk around , and I wasn't shaking uncontrollably.

I had her at 12:10. So from 11:30-12:10 I thought I was going to die. But I didn't. I survived! And now my sweet baby girl is here!

Age: 25
Location: Arlington, Texas
Date: February, 2008
2nd Delivery

The Day I Had Julia

2009-08-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

By: Joanna M.

WARNING--- THIS IS VERY LONG AND CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAILS!!!

"How many hours were you in labor?" people ask. Well, that depends on when you start counting…
So, the last couple of weeks before my daughter was born, I as well as many others began to notice that I was "dropping." There was a definite change but I didn't realize just how close I was to having my baby!
Thursday, May 31st, 2007, we went to the doctor for my 37 week visit. She checked my cervix and I was 1.5 cm dilated. I think she also stripped my membranes because she didn't just stick her fingers up there; she swished them around quite a bit! That freaked me out a little because I thought it would put me into labor quicker, but then I figured the doctor knew what she was doing, and was completely aware of the fact that I had 2 weeks left before my due date (June 19). She asked me if I was having contractions, and I told her yes, but they weren't painful or very strong. She asked how often, to which I replied, "every day…" I figured that was normal, but she didn't really express any concern. At that point I was a bit glad she had stripped me because maybe I needed a little help moving along!
Friday morning, June 1, after going pee I noticed some slimy stuff on the toilet paper. I didn't have my glasses on, so I went and put them on, came back to the toilet and before wiping the rest of it, I noticed that there was this big blob hanging out! I let it fall and realized immediately that it was my mucus plug. Oh boy! It was then that I knew for sure I wasn't going to last another 2 weeks. I called the doctor to make sure I could still continue my normal activities and asked if it meant I was within a certain number of days from delivery. They said it meant nothing, I could still have a couple weeks left, and that I could keep doing everything I was doing before…So I did!
Friday and Saturday, June 2, I spent most of my time organizing the nursery and the rest of the apartment (we had just moved). I got quite a bit done so I guess I got that famous burst of energy for nesting. I thought it was just because I lost the mucus plug; I didn't realize it was the real thing!
Saturday night around 6pm I started having stronger contractions. I thought, finally! So maybe it'll be next week. I called my husband to let him know; he was like, "Are we having a baby tonight?!" But of course I thought that we weren't; a friend of mine said if you have any doubt, you're probably not really in labor. So I assumed that when I was, I would know it for sure!
I called my mom to tell her how I was progressing, since she was planning on driving out from Abilene as soon as I went into labor. Just to let her know it would probably be sooner than we expected.
My husband's excitement throughout the evening made me wonder if I really was going to have our daughter that night, but I though, nah… it'll be a few days! Besides, I really needed her to wait as long as possible so we could get our apartment all organized! I was like, come on, can't this wait till at least Tuesday?! Please?!

I realize most pregnant women would think I was insane, as it is very normal to want that baby out of the belly by the time you get that far along! Which I did, but I had a little bit of patience if only due to my desire to get everything perfect before we brought our little one home!
I kept timing the contractions, and they were about 20 minutes apart. My husband and I talked about going to a movie, which we decided to do, since it could very well be our last night out before she was born! We packed the hospital bag (I had almost everything ready, just not in the bag yet!) and took it with us to the movies. We saw "Knocked Up". Ironic much?! It was hilarious. Yes, it was quite vulgar, unfortunately, but we got a good laugh as a lot of the story was very close to home! The whole movie we were timing my contractions: whenever I had one, I'd give my husband the paper, he'd pull out his phone that had a light and a clock, and write down the time.
By the time we got home and went to bed at 1, the average for those 7 hours was 18 minutes apart. I kept having strong, painful contractions, but didn't time them because I just wanted to get some sleep! My husband thought we were going to have her the next day, but I still wasn't convinced!
Until 3 am when I woke him up, crying from a really painful contraction. It was then that I agreed that we probably were indeed going to have her that day.

Sunday, June 3: My husband was supposed to work that day, so I felt bad because he would have to call in and not be able to go, and the weekends are the busiest time for his job. But, he had already let them know I was pregnant and would have to take off a few days whenever the baby came.
So at 5:45 we decided to start timing the contractions again. My husband got up and ready and took the car seat base to the fire station to make sure it was installed correctly. Talk about last minute! He's usually a pretty heavy sleeper, but this time he was so full of adrenaline, it was pretty cool…
I took a nice hot bath, shaved my legs and took a shower, while still watching the clock. The bath was grrrreat, it really made the contractions hurt less. Too bad I couldn't have one of those at the hospital. Not that I wanted to give birth in the tub, just sit in it for a while.
We left for the hospital around 7:30 and got there around 8. We called my mom to let her know, she was a bit surprised, but said she'd get dressed and be on her way! I was also planning on visiting my dad that day, so I called him to let him know I probably wouldn't make it! We signed some papers and went to triage where I had to pee in a cup, change into a gown and get all strapped up to a machine so they could monitor the baby and my contractions.
The nurse checked me and I was dilated to a measly 2.5 cm. I thought, great, they're going to send me home! She said they would keep me another hour or two to see how much I progress, and that I had to be 4 cm before they would admit me. I seriously thought we were going to end up having to come back later. NOOOO!!!!! The contractions were getting really bad and they wouldn't let me have anything but ice chips. Thankfully I knew this would be the case before we left the house, so I had a bowl of cereal.
Anyways, the nurse came back, checked me and I was 3-3.5 cm. They went ahead and admitted me since I had progressed that much in only an hour. We were gonna have a baby!!!
They wheeled me upstairs, while my husband went back to the car to bring in all the stuff. I got all set up in the bed where I would eventually deliver our little girl. I got hooked up to an IV for fluid hydration (which was great, it made my contractions less painful… I guess I was dehydrated) and antibiotics for group B strep so the baby wouldn't get it. They took some blood, did my blood pressure, etc. I had to sign a bunch of other consent forms and they asked me about pain medication, if I wanted an epidural and so forth. I said, no, I'd like to try to do without it. She asked if I wanted to leave it open for option later and I said yes. I guess that was so I didn't have to sign it later if and when I asked for one.
She said a different doctor would be delivering me since mine wasn't on call (which was okay), and that he wanted to start me on Pitocin to speed up the delivery. I wasn't too crazy about that, but didn't want to be difficult so I agreed.
Once I got all hooked up to the machines again, we just sat there and breathed through the contractions. My husband went down the call list to let people know I was in labor and slowly people started showing up. My best friend, my sister, my dad, my mom, another friend and her daughter… I can't remember who else.
My contractions were getting worse and worse. The nurses said the goal was to get them 2 minutes apart and that made me pretty upset. So basically half the time I spent there in the bed was in sheer pain, and the other half was trying to recover from each wave of misery.
The doctor wanted to break my bag of water, which I also wasn't thrilled about, so I asked a bunch of questions and finally agreed. I didn't really want to get out of bed anyway. I thought it was going to be really painful, but I couldn't even feel when he did it.
I asked about IV pain medication, and both the doctor and nurses encouraged me to get the epidural instead, because the IV meds were narcotics and would make the baby sleepy. So I continued without either.
It was weird going through all that pain with everyone watching me. I kept thinking, are they bored? How does this make them feel? I wasn't embarrassed or upset at them there, I just thought, my poor family and friends just have to stand here and watch me lie here in pain… how awful! But of course they all just felt sorry for me. I got some great massages though, and many encouraging words. My nurses were really helpful and friendly too. They answered all my questions and explained everything to me pretty clearly.
Around 1:30 or 2, I was in really bad pain and wasn't sure how much more I could take. They checked me again and I was only at 5.5 cm. I decided, being barely over halfway dilated I wasn't going to handle the rest of it very well without some pain medication. Give me the epidural! As previously instructed, my husband discouraged me from getting it, but was supportive after making sure I wasn't going to be mad at him later for "letting" me get it.
I didn't realize it was going to take so long after asking for the epidural that I would finally get it. They said I had to finish off the bag of IV fluids, then call the anesthesiologist, then prep me for the procedure, yada yada… it was awful. I had gone as long as I thought I could go, finally decided to forgo a natural birth and was then forced to wait even longer!
So, the anesthesiologist finally came in and I was ready for some relief! I sat on the edge of the bed, the cleaned my back up, stuck the needle in, which I barely noticed considering my contractions were so painful! I didn't even see her face until after the procedure was done. They say it's really hard to sit through the contractions to get the epidural, but I wanted it so bad I was perfectly still! I just leaned up against my husband who stood in front of me. I threw up right after they put it in, but they said that was a good sign. Huh? I guess because your body goes into detox mode when you're in labor.
I expected the epidural to alleviate the pain within 15 minutes which was really long enough to wait, but none of the pain went away for at least a good 30-45 minutes. My legs were starting to go numb but I could still move them. My back was killing me. Every contraction was piercing. It was awful. I kept saying, "It's not working!" and was scared and crying. They kept telling me it would kick in soon, and pumped some more through the catheter.
I started to feel a little better around 3pm and they came to check me again. "You're complete!" she said. I couldn't believe it. All this time I've suffered and could've had a much better time going through labor, and now that I feel better you tell me I'm almost done?!
It was insane. I was pretty nervous, knowing that I was about to start pushing. My husband had earlier predicted that she would be born at 3:30, which I didn't believe but then realized he just might be close!
The nurses kicked everybody out except my mom and husband, then called the doctor and got me all ready to start pushing. I pulled my husband aside and said, "I can't feel my vagina!" As numb as I was down there, I seriously didn't know how I was going to push her out. The nurses assured me that I would be able to, I just had to pretend like I was going poop. Which I did a little bit, by the way, so my husband says. That's okay, most women do a little and the staff is totally used to it and not grossed out.
The doctor could see that I was already starting to tear on the inside so he did an episiotomy, which I couldn't really feel but knew I would later! So at 3:20 I started pushing, they instructed me to push with each contraction. I did a couple pushes with each of 3 contractions, and at 3:31 she came out! I was completely amazed. They had put a mirror in front of me so I could see her being born. That was pretty cool.
It didn't really hurt to push her out; actually I hardly felt anything. I didn't feel like I was pushing at all. But apparently I was, because she came all the way down and was born! So my husband was only one minute off, crazy huh?
Well, they let my husband cut the cord after she was born, and it sprinkled a little bit of blood in the air. Good thing the doctor was wearing a mask! Then they put her on my tummy and wiped her off. I was watching, thinking they were being really rough with her but I guess that's how it's done! When I looked at her I thought, uh, she doesn't look like either one of us! Not that she didn't look like a real human baby or anything, it was just weird. She had dark curly hair, like jerry curl!
I can't remember but I'm sure I cried. I was so relieved that it was over and kept thinking, if I'd known I was going to end up needing the epidural I would've got it a lot sooner and not suffered all that time! My husband has a theory though: go natural as long as you can and by the time you get the epidural, your body just relaxes and the baby doesn't spend a lot of time in the birth canal- and you get a baby with a perfectly round head. Whatever. Next time I'm getting it as soon as I'm admitted.
So they let me breastfeed for a little while and let everybody come back in. By that time, a lot more people had shown up, so my baby got passed around quite a bit! Then they took her away to do tests and weigh her and all that.
The doctor sewed me up, which didn't hurt but I could feel him tugging down there. I wasn't looking forward to the medication wearing off! Every woman that I know had warned me how bad that incision hurts while it's healing. It's true.
I stayed in that room until about 7:30 and got some rest while my best friend and my husband called everybody to let them know I'd delivered. Then they wheeled me up to the postpartum floor. My baby didn't come back until around 8 or so and I thought she was probably starving by then! So I fed her of course.
My mom stayed with me both nights at the hospital and we had several visitors the next day. It was so nice to have her there. We don't get to see each other very often so I'm really glad we got to share this special time together. I’m so glad she was able to come all the way out on such short notice!
I felt wonderful the whole time during recovery. Better than I had in several weeks! Even though I felt tired, I still had energy. It was strange. Nurses came in every 5 minutes it seemed to check on me or give me instructions or medication or leave paperwork for me to read or sign. It didn't really bother me though. I'm a light sleeper.
I decided to take advantage of the nursery at night, and just had them bring Julia in for feedings so I could rest up before I had to go home and take care of her full-time!
By the time we checked out, my baby had only lost 6 ounces, which is within normal range. She gained it back within a week!

So that’s my story!

Location: Grand Prairie, Texas
Age: 26
First Delivery

Pampers, Pampers, Pampers!

2009-08-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

Joanna M.

They may not be the cheapest, but they work great!

Most of the diapers I received from my baby shower were Pampers brand. I loved them! After I ran out, a lady from my old church gave me Huggies diapers for free. What a blessing! Except with my baby (at least until she started solids), EVERY time she pooped, it stained her clothes. Yeah, she still had enough clothes to cover all the children in Africa but come on! I just thought it was diarrhea or something, but then after a few months I finally broke down decided to just go out and buy a package of Pampers.
If only I had done it sooner! It kept the poop in, watery as it was! Not to mention they are quite noticeably softer, so if I was a baby, I can only imagine how much more comfortable I would be in them.
I haven’t tried any other brands, but I really am satisfied with Pampers and highly recommend you try them out and see for yourself the difference they make! Plus, I just found out there are “Gifts to Grow” codes inside each package that you can get points for on the Pampers website, and redeem them for prizes. Yay for free stuff!

The Nursing Cape

2009-08-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

By: Destiny V.

Call it what you will. A nursing cape, a hooter hider, nursing cover, whatever, but I love the cape!

I would totally recommend it to anyone who is nursing. You put it in your diaper bag, baby gets hungry and boom! No awkwardness. You just put the straps over your neck, pull up the shirt and slip the baby under the cape and you got yourself inconspicious nursing, without having to leave the room. I used my sisters all the time when I had my daughter and felt it was a lifesaver. I however, lost it (or I didn't LOSE it, I just misplaced it) so when she had her 4th child, I was given a Hooter Hider and passed it on to her.

I'm telling you, don't buy the ones from Target or BabieRUs. They suck as they resemble more like a cape that you wear when you get your hair done and aren't very practical. The best one I've found is the Hooter Hider. You can buy them at most any online shop and even Ebay. Here is one http://www.bebeaulait.com/ They come in a bunch of really cute colors and patterns. The cool thing about the Hooter Hider is that it has this band at the top, that kind of makes it stick up, which is nice, because it gives you (and you only) a view of what's going on under there.

So, if you haven't gotten one and are nursing/will be nursing, I would definately recommend it!

The Pacifier Drawback

2009-08-05T22:23:00.001-07:00

By: Destiny V.

Before I even had my daughter Lyric, I knew. I just KNEW that I would be giving her a pacifier. Call it what you want, a binky, a plug, Nuk, dummy, etc. I wanted Lyric to love it! I had seen my sister give her oldest a passy and then saw the next 2 without passy's and I quickly realized, I think I like a passy baby better.

However, one problem that I did not know of until my child was deep into the pseudo sucking, is what we will call the case of the lost passy, aka- losing the passy at night when she sleeps.

Ya, not fun. It started when she was just a month or so old. She could start moving her head from side to side and the pacifier would fall out. She would immediately wake up and start crying. I tried to find those flatter pacifiers that didn't have so much of a ball at the end, in hopes that they would stay in longer, and that worked to an extent, but not great.

Then she gets a little older, around 4 months, and could scoot around in her crib, ya, that passy would just scoot right our of her mouth, once again, que the crying and waking up.

So then she can start grabbing at it with her hands and would start pulling it out right after I would put it back in... not good.

Then it got a little better, because around 7 or 8 months, she would be able to find it when it fell out and put it back in her mouth, but then what if she couldn't find it? Then she would wake up fully, crying till one of us went back in there to give it to her.

Which is where we still are now! At 10 months, the passy is still keeping us up. Every few nights or so, we are awoken by her cries, based soley on the fact that she can't find her passy. For example, 2 nights ago. My daughter (as I can see through the video monitor), is having a very rough night sleep. She was just tossing and turning, etc. Well every few hours or so I was awaken by her cries, and would look at the monitor, and sure enough, she had crawled out from under her covers and was feeling around for a passy, which I could see was on top of her covers. I would have to get my deep sleep'd butt out of bed and go put in her passy, which would immediately cause her to go back to sleep. However, that happened about 3 times that night. Ick.

Here is the only solution I can come up with, which I know is not a novel idea. Basically, you just start filling the crib with passy's because you figure, she'll have to find one of them. My friend's son likes to sleep with one in each hand as well as the one in his mouth. Currently, I'm not looking into weaning her off the passy, because even though it wakes me up a few nights a week, the passy is still my friend.

So is this normal? Yup.

Not a Paci Baby

2009-08-05T22:21:00.001-07:00

By: Liz L.
From the day he was born, Dutch would not take a paci.
I’ve tried all the brands – Avent, Nuk, Soothie, off brands… you name it, we have it in the closet, but our kid just isn’t interested.
I don’t consider this a problem as I don’t have to search for one to help him go to sleep at night, I don’t have remember to pack one when we go somewhere, or worry that it’s been dropped on the restaurant floor and wonder what kind of germs he is ingesting.
The only minor inconvenience is when we are in public and he starts to cry. I’ve had women come up to me and suggest I give him a paci, and when I tell them that he won’t take one, they respond with ‘oh, honey, all babies take pacifiers’. Um, no, no they don’t.
My baby is not ‘all babies’ and yours may not be either, and that is perfectly normal.

Not a Paci Baby

2009-08-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

From the day he was born, Dutch would not take a paci.
I’ve tried all the brands – Avent, Nuk, Soothie, off brands… you name it, we have it in the closet, but our kid just isn’t interested.
I don’t consider this a problem as I don’t have to search for one to help him go to sleep at night, I don’t have remember to pack one when we go somewhere, or worry that it’s been dropped on the restaurant floor and wonder what kind of germs he is ingesting.
The only minor inconvenience is when we are in public and he starts to cry. I’ve had women come up to me and suggest I give him a paci, and when I tell them that he won’t take one, they respond with ‘oh, honey, all babies take pacifiers’. Um, no, no they don’t.
My baby is not ‘all babies’ and yours may not be either, and that is perfectly normal.

About

2009-01-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

Yes It's Normal was started by sisters Courtney and Destiny.

Both mothers with 6 kids between them, they learned quickly that they weren't crazy and that the things that were going on with them and their kids were, indeed, normal.

This was started to be a place where mom's can share their stories and find comfort that they are not alone in this world.

Obviously, we still have a lot to go before this site meets our expectations, but until we find the time to post more stories, enjoy what we have so far!

Destiny's Blog:
www.belgexan.com
www.readwithdee.com

Courtney's Blog:
www.birthcontrolchalleneged.blogspot.com

you can contact us at yesitsnormal@gmail.com

Baby Gear

2009-01-05T14:16:00.000-08:00

Click on one of the following links to see the related blog posts:

The Pacifier
Diapers/Wipes
Gear

Post-Pregnancy

2009-01-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

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Post-Pregnancy
Birth Control

Pregnancy

2009-01-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

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Pregnancy
Labor and Delivery Stories
Miscarriage
Morning Sickness
Stretch Marks

Sickness

2009-01-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

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Sickness
Teething
Vaccinations

Feeding:

2009-01-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

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Feeding
Breastfeeding
Bottle
Baby Food

Baby Care

2009-01-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

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Milestones with your baby
Sleep Habits
Discipline
Potty Training
Schedule