British Bun in the Oven

[Empress of Groovy 373]

I had a baby girl last night at 11:29 MST!!! My husband claims she is on GMT. Six pounds eleven ounces at 2.5 weeks early!!!

She is doing well and loves to cry. APGARs were 9 and 10. The midwife I had attend my homebirth was shocked that I had such minimal bleeding. We are thrilled, but sleep deprived after a week of having false labor every single night.

Congratulations, Jewel! I was wondering how you were doing and if the wee one had arrived.

[Fandango 1,440]

Yay Jewel!!! What is her name?

Can't wait to see the pics!

[TracyTN 237]

I'm so sorry I've not been around much, ladies. My best friend found her father dead on Monday night. It's been a very trying week as you can imagine. I was basically off work all week until today, and I still feel zombie like. And I have to work tonight. Joy joy.

Empress - sorry the vomiting has returned. UGH!!! I know that has to be so frustrating to not really know when to expect it (or have a real cause for why she does it).

I'm impressed with Nick's 'steps', Lisa!!! Emily still isn't there, though we are catching her standing on her own more and more so I'd say it's not far behind. She is saying 'uh oh' with aplomb these days. She will even preemptively say it prior to dropping something on the floor. Her version of sarcasm I guess.

Susan&Daniel - I am SO sorry to hear this. Like Jewel, I was wondering how severe it was - did they tell you?

Jewel - what is her name? Congratulations, girlfriend! I bet she is beautiful!!!!!!!!!! I know it's hard to get pictures up in those first few days, so we are content to be patient.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Tracy, I'm sorry to hear about your friend's dad, how awful. How is she holding up?

Madeleine seems to be doing a lot better. She is over whatever virus she had. Fingers crossed that she'll actually be well for a few weeks! She started daycare full time this week. I have an editing project I need to finish up, and then I start a new job August 15. A real job! With a paycheck and benefits and everything!

When did your little ones start self-feeding? The daycare ladies suggested that I bring in some of the "crawler" snacks for Madeleine, like the Gerber yogurt melts and cheese puffs. Madeleine isn't terribly interested in self-feeding yet. She likes to play with the snacks, but almost none of them make it into her mouth. The few times she's tried to eat something by "chewing," she ended up salivating up a storm, gagging, and grimacing. This even happens with those Mum Mum baby rice snack thingies, which are basically air and dissolve quickly. The daycare ladies said this is normal. Taylor is only three weeks older and is basically scarfing down whatever is put in front of him. I'm not concerned at all about the timing, because I know that it takes a while for babies to get the chewing/swallowing coordination down, but the gagging thing does have me a bit worried because of Mad-Ag's history. The set-up at daycare is pretty cute. They have a table with little seats built into it, and they'll feed the kids snacks at the same time, like they're sharing a meal together.

[TracyTN 237]

She seems to be doing as ok as can be expected. I think her brother and his family are going to move into her dad's house (which is on the same acreage of land as hers) so I think that will help her a lot. But I'm sure it's a day to day thing.

Em didn't really start feeding herself until 10 months. It took her a bit to get the dexterity down pat. Even after she fed herself once, it was another few days before she was doing it with regularity. Sounds to me like they're pushing Mad a little bit just to conform with the others in her day care. But she's probably getting close to it.

FWIW - Em always hated those mum mum things. They made her gag and she's not a heavy gagger. We started with those Gerber yogurt melts. They were slightly bigger for her fingers than some of the puff things.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

She seems to be doing as ok as can be expected. I think her brother and his family are going to move into her dad's house (which is on the same acreage of land as hers) so I think that will help her a lot. But I'm sure it's a day to day thing.

Em didn't really start feeding herself until 10 months. It took her a bit to get the dexterity down pat. Even after she fed herself once, it was another few days before she was doing it with regularity. Sounds to me like they're pushing Mad a little bit just to conform with the others in her day care. But she's probably getting close to it.

FWIW - Em always hated those mum mum things. They made her gag and she's not a heavy gagger. We started with those Gerber yogurt melts. They were slightly bigger for her fingers than some of the puff things.

I think the daycare ladies just want her to have something to play with while the other kids are snacking...it's sort of a social thing as much as a feeding thing. At home, I'll just put some of the snacks on her high chair tray. Within minutes, all of them are either on the floor or her lap. They suggested that having her handle the snacks is good practice and that eventually she'll start feeding herself. I think we're probably at least a few weeks away proper self-feeding.

I like the yogurt melts myself.

[TracyTN 237]

Well that's good - it sounds like she'll definitely have something to play with while the others eat - her own snacks! LOL!!

I think Em is having some weird separation stuff right now, meaning she will NOT nap in her crib. She grabs at your collar or screams in distress if you leave her there for a nap. She finally had one on my lap last night at 7:45 but only because she was so drop dead tired, she couldn't fight it anymore.

Sunday was the hardest day I've had with her in quite some time. NOTHING I did satisfied her. She'd cry to get in my lap and then sit there and sob while she was. I tried food, checked diaper, play, walked around - but she fussed and cried almost the entire day. I had to figure out how to do laundry with her on my hip as well as fix my food and hers. Chas finally got up around 2 pm because I could not stop her crying. He came out and I swear I just bawled from exhaustion and frustration. Not a good mommy day. Honestly it's days like that which make me sure I could not go through this again. I'm too old for this s*it.

BTW We took Em swimming again Sunday though. She loves it!!! That was the only time she was happy all day. LOL

[Jewel-8 21]

Awww, it's so much fun reading about your kids. The crying is no fun. Roslyn was born in water and normally those babies are the calmest and barely whimper when they are brought out - ours screamed for 30 minutes straight and I couldn't get her to stop. Then the next 4 days until my milk came in were a nightmare. Now she has mellowed out and I hope she stays this way.

Hope this picture shows up! It was taken by my 9 year old son and I think it is one of the cutest ever from those we took when she was 4 days old.

[TracyTN 237]

She is ADORABLE Jewel - that dark hair!!!

How's new mommyhood going? I remember those days well. I was a hormonal mess for at least the first 2 months! LOL

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Aw, what a cutie! I'm glad she's mellowed out. Congratulations again, Jewel!

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Hi, ladies

I hope everyone is well.

I survived my first trip without the baby. I went to Boston for four days by myself to visit family & friends, and the impetus was my 20-year high school reunion. I probably wouldn't have even considered going, but Jon insisted (and even covered my ticket) because I haven't left AZ in over a year. I wonder if he started to fear that I was going nuts? Anyway, the trip went by quickly, and Jon sent me a couple of pics each day on the iPhone. Mad-Ag did great in my absence, and in fact was better than she'd been before I left! Hummmph! I did miss her terribly, but I stayed busy (and kinda buzzed) much of the time. She was happy to see me and gave me a big smile when I returned. Of course, at various points during the trip, I was being completely irrational and thinking, "What if she forgets all about me?"

I got to meet my stepsister's 4-month-old and have a baby cuddle, so that helped.

In baby development news, Mad-Ag is doing much better with table foods and mashing things with her gums/teeth. She's now eating Cheerios, bits of cheese, avocado, blueberries, pasta, and some other stuff. Also, I think an eye tooth on the top is coming in already. This would be tooth #9.

[TracyTN 237]

Awww I'm glad you had fun though - you deserve a little time away! I'm going to be away for a long weekend in October to see one of my best friends in Chicago. While I'm looking forward to the 'girl time', I know I will miss my dear husband and child. But I don't have a feeling like she'll 'forget me'.

9 teeth - that is tripping me OUT! Em is just cutting her 4th right now! LOL!!!

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Awww I'm glad you had fun though - you deserve a little time away! I'm going to be away for a long weekend in October to see one of my best friends in Chicago. While I'm looking forward to the 'girl time', I know I will miss my dear husband and child. But I don't have a feeling like she'll 'forget me'.

9 teeth - that is tripping me OUT! Em is just cutting her 4th right now! LOL!!!

Yeah, I don't know what's up with all these teeth! I can't see a ninth yet, but she's been drooling and fussing a lot, and her gums look whitish in some areas. Still only 8 confirmed!

Has Em taken any steps?

[TracyTN 237]

Em has taken a few steps when she wasn't aware of it. But as soon as she realizes she isn't leaning on or holding on to something, she'll drop to her butt. She HATES us taking her hands and trying to get her to walk so that's a no go. She'll walk behind her push toy only if we prompt her to do so. I guess she's just going to be one of those babies who is a bit slower with the walking...! Must not seem worth it to her yet. LOL!!

[TracyTN 237]

SO - we've learned that Emily is not a fan of sleeping away from home! LOL. We were in a hotel room Friday night. She was dead tired when we got back there (10:30) so we laid her down right away but she wouldn't stop chattering or (at times) flat out bawling. We checked diaper, tried food and drink - no thank you. Chas walked with her in his arms, sat with her - nothing. Out of desperation, he took her for a walk around 12:30 am. He came back around 1, laid down with her and she fell asleep on his chest 10 mins later.

He got up to pee at 4:30 and laid her down - she was right back at it again for 30 minutes. I tried picking her up and rocking her - no deal. Finally we gave up, packed our stuff and had checked out by 6 am. I'm sure our hotel neighbors were appreciative.

I dunno if it was being in a 'strange place' or teething or both. But last night she actually threw up after a nap in her crib - it was everywhere! I hear cutting molars can cause them to vomit but who knows. She was over it by the time I went to bed at 10 though. SIGH - what a weekend!!!