Baby Corner

[Anna C. 4]

Jona sleeps in his bed now, but if he ever gets scared or so later on, he can come back into ours. He slept with us for 14 months before he moved and he needs it really quiet to sleep, so for now he is doing better in his room... I slept very often in my parents' bed as a kid, I had many, many nightmares. My older sisters telling me stories about being abducted by aliens and evil ghosts didn't really help you know (I was like 4-7, and they got a kick out of scaring me).

Cosleeping has been shown to be very beneficial, and I really dont know why so many people speak adamantly against it. Let the family decide what's right for them.

@ Chnst: I didnt even see the spider, but we have plenty little ones and MIL could identify the bite right away, she went through the same thing. Luckily one Claritin took care of it. But baeh, spiders are just toooooo ugly and useless. Out of my backyard with you guys!!!

[chnst 6]

I'm not against co-sleeping it just doesn't work with a kid who doesn't ever sleep in the first place. He falls out of the bed a lot, he moves and crawls around all night. Of course its ok if he wants to come sleep with us if he gets scared at night or has a nightmare, but I just don't want to make it a habit for him, he is the size of a 4 year old and he is taking over our bed! Plus we are not getting sufficient sleep. If it works out for other parents that's great, but for us it's not working out. we need our privacy and sleep (and a sheet would be nice too). But I will try the footboard (thanks Evi) and move him down tonight.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Stef, Zaid sleeps upside down at the footboard as well, he rolls, but we have a king size bed so we all fit pretty well. I guess my biggest concern is Zaid never wanting to leave our bed. If Zaid was waking up several times a night I would probably want him in his own bed too. I would be a wreck if I was woken up many times during the night.

Im feeling much better this week! Not too much nausea at all and my breasts are much less tender. I hate that my doctors appt is still more than 2 weeks away. Will be 8 weeks this weekend! Yay

[Fandango 1,439]

Hey, so has anyone here banked her baby's cord blood?

[Anna C. 4]

@ Happy Bunny: Nope and won't do it this time either. It is expensive and it makes it impossible to delay cord clamping, which is super important to us. So we opted against it.

[Fandango 1,439]

@ Happy Bunny: Nope and won't do it this time either. It is expensive and it makes it impossible to delay cord clamping, which is super important to us. So we opted against it.

I'm just starting to look into it. Didn't even know about delayed cord clamping....

[tnh9479 1]

I looked into cord blood banking (because of the high incidence of cancer in our family), but it is SUPER expensive.

We are beginning to run into sleeping issues with Zak as well. They have slept in their own cribs in their own room from 8 weeks old on. They usually sleep 12.5 hours a night and maybe take a 1.5 hour afternoon nap. Zak, lately, won't go to sleep until 10-11 pm, wakes up at 8 am and won't take any naps during the day. I am a horrible sleeper and am hoping he is not picking up my bad habits.

[Fandango 1,439]

I don't mind for the cost, yes, it seems expensive, but in the grand scheme of life, how much is a few grand? Especially if it can save your child's life down the road? That's my rationale.

I just didn't have a clue about this practice of delayed cord clamping, so now I'm confused. Argh.

[Nessa 23]

Hey, so has anyone here banked her baby's cord blood?

i thought about it but you have to pay, I'm not paying to donate something.

[Fandango 1,439]

i thought about it but you have to pay, I'm not paying to donate something.

Yeah, I saw that and was surprised. But I meant to say at a private bank, for your baby's future use, God forbid (s)he ever need it.

[chnst 6]

Hey, so has anyone here banked her baby's cord blood?

yes. my only concern is - if our child -god forbid- ends up with cancer or any other diesease- who is actually going to retrieve the stem cells, send them to the appropriate instition and "make" it into an infusion? The lady i called at the cord blood bank didn't have an answer to that when Ben was born. Yet, I absolutely think stem cells are imperative in treating cancer and so many other diseases and with cancer numbers going up, we are definitley doing it. Yes it is a little expensive but its only a small price to pay in the event that your child or a relative need it. Getting umbilicsl stem cells is a once in a lifetime chance, if I wouldn't do it I would also consider donating. Our friends son was diagnosed with end stage liver cancer at 8 months and they really regretted it to have opted out of stem cell harvesting. He now has a liver transplant, but is still battling cancer.

Anna: just out of curiosity- what is the concept behind delayed cord clamping?

Edited June 25, 2010 by chnst

[Staashi 371]

yes. my only concern is - if our child -god forbid- ends up with cancer or any other diesease- who is actually going to retrieve the stem cells, send them to the appropriate instition and "make" it into an infusion? The lady i called at the cord blood bank didn't have an answer to that when Ben was born. Yet, I absolutely think stem cells are imperative in treating cancer and so many other diseases and with cancer numbers going up, we are definitley doing it. Yes it is a little expensive but its only a small price to pay in the event that your child or a relative need it. Getting umbilicsl stem cells is a once in a lifetime chance, if I wouldn't do it I would also consider donating. Our friends son was diagnosed with end stage liver cancer at 8 months and they really regretted it to have opted out of stem cell harvesting. He now has a liver transplant, but is still battling cancer.

Anna: just out of curiosity- what is the concept behind delayed cord clamping?

They say there are some vital nutrients that need to be passed on to the baby and to let the cord discontinue pulsing before cutting it. It contains oxygen and stemcells.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070816193328.htm

Edited June 25, 2010 by Staashi

[chnst 6]

what's the time frame US doctors clamp the cord? I remember in Germany it was done 2 minutes after the baby was fully born. I thought she meant leaving the umibilcal cord and placenta attached to the Baby for days until it falls off naturally, I remember a mother in Germany doing that. It was a little gross to think that they carried the placenta and the baby around for a few days. I think it only takes a few minutes for the cord to stop pulsing but you cannot clamp too early either to risk hypovlemia or anemia.

[anya-D 8]

Hi ladies

So finally some update from me.. He finally came!! My baby arrived Monday June 21th at 8.58 pm - it's the first day of summer! (we were hoping for Father's day gift). I was in labor since Sunday early morning 4 am and waited at home until 6pm but got sent home becasue I was only 2 cms. That night was the worse night, contractions got so bad I yelled and screemed and forget all the breathing! I finally got atmitted to the hospital on Monday morning around 6.30 am. I decided it's time for the epi coz I was too tired to deal with the pain. It was a really hard and long labor and around 6 pm I got a fever and I wasnt fully dialted yet and the situation was not very clear if they would need to give me the emergency c-section or not. By around 8.40 pm my midwife decided to have me try to push (still about 9 cms)and about 5 pushes later (about 20 mins) Sammie decided to come see the world! He weight in at 9 lbs and 21 inches long. Thanks to my lovely husband, my sweet friend / doula Brooke and my midwife!! He is a sweet heart!! (oh and I got 2nd degree.. not that bad for such a big boy, my midwife tld me to stop pushing but his head came out anyway lol)

Now I'm pretty miserable with no sleep at night. Sam wont sleep on his back and have bad gas - we put him on his tummy but then we have to watch him closely so that didnt help much (but Sam got his nap and I got a little down time) my milk just came in yesterday and today my breasts hurt

I love Sammie to death though.. with all the aches and pains - he's so worth it

[Anna C. 4]

@ chnst: You are describing a lotus birth, then they wait til the cord dries up by itself before getting rid of the placenta. i think very little people do that....

Anyways, delayed cord clamping has been shown in a bizillion studies to be highly beneficial to all newborns, preemies and even csection babies (yes, they can let the cord pulsate too for a while during csections). Most of the blood that is still in the placenta is pumped through the cord into baby in the first 3 minutes after birth. Most American (and European for that matter) obgyns clamp right away, literally as soon as the baby emerges from the birth canal (go watch a couple episodes of Baby Story on TLC, or go meet my old obgyn who tried to tell me it is dangerous for the babies if the cord isnt cut right away). You have to specifically tell them to not clamp nor cut the cord if that is your wish. Most studies suggest waiting until after the cord stops pulsating before clamping and cutting it (usually between 2-10 minutes after birth, most placentas are naturally expelled within 15 minutes after baby). There are very many benefits to this, plus I feel it is the natural way God intended it to be (or nature, whatever you believe). There are some misconceptions, like the practice I saw for my pregnancy this time said baby has to be lower than the placenta which is untrue, all studies showed that it is quicker that way, but placing baby on mom's chest works just as well and is much, much better for bonding (plus baby can start to nurse which releases oxytocin which makes your uterus contract naturally and clamp down, to expel the placenta and clamp down the blood vessels to minimize bleeding)...

We talked about cord banking and apart from many variables that are unclear (like what they told chnst, basically fishy even, as most banks leave the option open to use your baby's blood for research, with which I'm personally not comfy), they have to collect a certain amount of the cord blood, a rather large amount. If the cord stops pulsating, no more blood is moving in there, it basically has very little to offer, too little for cord blood banking. When they collect it, they do it immediately after birth...

Edited June 25, 2010 by Anna C.