What a good idea - I wish this board was more active (but lets face it, we are busy, tired and there aren't a lot of us), maybe this thread will help.

Trey is 6 weeks old today and in that time we obviously gave birth (horrible labor and C-section) - A week after going home my incision was infected and I was miserable. Around this time hubby's new boss laid into him yet again about what a disappointment he was and how he didn't work enough (this guy turned into a class A A-hole about 4 times since hubby started working for him and his son). Hubby decided he wasn't gonna take it anymore so he found us another place to live back up North where we had just moved from back in Oct. So at about 4 weeks post partum - I was given a weeks notice that we were moving 250 miles back home. Luckily a lot of our stuff was already packed and hubby had some great friends come help us and we moved. The day after the move I got the most horrible flu EVER. Once again we had some great friends and strangers from a local church to come help clean out the new house (the previous tenants were slobby pigs). We are now in the house and about half unpacked and no longer employed. :) Hubby is actually venturing out on his own, he's always been a cattle rancher but never on his own, so now we have the cows and a semi to haul gravel/cow feed, hopefully we'll be able to make enough money to survive.

Trey seems to have a bit of a snotty nose today and doesn't want to sleep, but not super sick. We are breastfeeding but I kinda struggle with it because I can't SEE how much he is actually getting. He's pooping a lot, gaining weight and chubby, so obviously it's just a mental thing for me. But I do know that with the infection and flu that my milk production has not been steady and so I question how much he really gets. But hopefully with both of those behind me and him still gaining weight, I can simmer down.

He is a really good baby and some nights even lets me sleep 5-6 hours. And he's happy. He's awake for longer periods and likes to interact. Can't wait to have some toys for him to enjoy, hold, entertain himself with.

Man seems like a lot of drama for me but we are still doing great for the most part. The best is yet to be.

Oh man...moving right now sounds awful. DH and I were talking about moving but our only compelling reason would be space and right now that's not enough motivation for me. :) hopefully the new business will go well...at least he won't have a crazy boss.

I'm a little jealous of your sleep right now lol. I know it'll change and hopefully get better for little man soon. The whole bf'ing thing can be hard bc you can't see it. You could try pumping one side at a time to see. We've pumped a few times bc my right breast has been cracked and sore (and all sorts of other loveliness) and two weeks ago I was getting about an oz and now I'm getting just over 1.5. I'm thinking I might go to our local BF group to weigh him to see how he's doing.

Great idea jmommy!
So glad to hear things are going fairly well for both of you!
A little update on us:
Brenna turned 3 months old last week and I honestly don't have alot to complain about. She's mainly a happy baby- growing well (long and slim- have no clue where she got that from!). She recently got over her first cold- fairly quickly, about 3 days. I love her so much. She's at the point where she will stay awake most of the day. She will take a couple cat naps here and there. She's babbling away and just yesterday has started to laugh!
We are exclusively breastfeeding at this point. Things are going fairly well. She nurses like a champ but, since returning to work 2 weeks ago, I can tell you.... pumping is a pain in the ass. I hate it. It's so much easier to pop her on the boob, let her do her thing and be done. Pumping stresses me so much because I'm always worried about how much I will get. Ugh!
I can't complain- she's a great sleeper. We usually nurse between 7:30-8:30, story time after that, and then she goes right down in her crib. She doesn't get up until I wake her in the AM, usually between 5:30-6:30.
I have to say, things between my husband and I have definitely changed though. It's rough and so much more difficult than I thought it would be. I kind of resent him at times because I feel like alot falls on my shoulders. I plan/schedule around her feedings so it's frustrating at times. We have yet to have sex since having her. Sorry for TMI. But I'm absolutely terrified since having a 3rd degree tear. I mean, I'm not in pain and things seem to have healed well but it just doesn't sound appetizing to me and I'm scared it'll hurt. So yeah, that's all for us!

jmommy - I do pump sometimes and am usually pleased with what I get - but still doubt my production when I don't "feel" milk in my boobs. When I wake up at night they are sometimes engorged, so I KNOW that they are producing, but other times they are normal so I don't think there's anything in there/getting produced. But Trey is FAT so I need to just relax. But I do notice that he seems to be hungry/unsatisfied in the evenings no matter how long he's been on the boobie - so I usually top him off with some formula. From the looks of him and his thighs, he prob doesn't need it and I should try to wean him off it cuz we are about out of formula. I wish I had the motivation to try and pump a little more and store some in freezer - maybe when life settles down a little.

We now all have a cold and that it not making for happy times. It's not horrible but Trey doesn't want to sleep unless he's sleeping on me and I'm tired and crabby - but I think it's on it's way out, so that will be good.

My mom is coming to visit tomorrow, hopefully it will be a good visit. We used to have a REALLY good relationship but now it's a bit rocky. But I'm excited to have some help so that I can finish unpacking and get some cleaning done. I'm tired of living out of boxes.

ANB - I TOTALLY understand the resentment towards your DH. There are times when I'm up nursing during the night or trying to get something done and Trey's crying and all I can think about is wringing my husbands neck. The hospital warned us about getting frustrated with the baby and about shaken baby syndrome - I have complete patience with Trey but am afraid I'll lose it on Andrew and have shaken husband syndrome. :)

And I kind of understand the sex thing - I didn't have a tear but after having the C-section and then it getting infected and then having that horrible flu, the last thing I want it sex. Plus if we do it missionary I was afraid that it would put too much pressure on my tummy/incision. But we did it anyways - it's hard to say no to DH, he whines a lot. It wasn't that bad, but I could live without it for now. I will say to maybe invest in a little lube - that should help.

I think we are getting to a point where we need a better sleep plan. Trey is not one where I can put him in his crib and he will fall asleep. It's mostly my fault, he slept so much on me when he was under 3 weeks old that now if he's not on a boob, he doesn't usually fall asleep. But I was so limited in what I could do and how well I could move that I didn't have a whole lot of choices. He will sometimes fall asleep in his swing or bouncy chair but I have yet to use his crib much. And life is so hectic with the move and being unsettled. I need to put my excuses away and really try to get him used to sleeping in there. Is Brenna already asleep when U put her in?

HAHA! Shaken husband syndrome- I love it, seriously! I am the same way. Complete patience with Brenna but I lose it with Bryan. I should be more thankful because he does help out alot as far as housework, laundry, etc. I think it's just the pressure of always being the one to feed her and schedule my life around her. I'm sorry- I know I sound whiny and ungrateful. I'm not- I love her to pieces but it's alot more stressful then I ever imagined.

Brenna was a horrible sleeper for the first 6 weeks. We had her in a cradle in our room since she was nursing so often and she barely slept. Finally, at 8 weeks, we decided to move her into her own room/crib. She's been great! I do nurse her before putting her down. She falls asleep at the breast but then she wakes up for story time. I still hold her in the cradle position, though... So she's nice and cozy and relaxed. I pop the binky in her mouth at this point and then put her in the crib after reading to her. So, no, she's not fast asleep.

Her pediatrician said to try not to nurse her to sleep since that is what she will rely on all the time then. It would work the same way if she woke up over night- then she'd always be looking to nurse to soothe herself to sleep.

My Jocelyn is 4 months old now and growing like a weed. She's "talking" and is very strong. She's rolling over both ways, sitting up almost on her own, and can bear all her weight on her legs. Which is quite a feat because she is quite the chunkers lol Her acid reflux is pretty much gone now (Thank God!) and her colic isn't so bad now either. She had a bout of RSV which gave us quite the scare, but she's been recovered fully now. She's still breast fed, but gets formula too. She's happy and healthy and I couldn't ask for anything more! :)

Although Trey is used to falling asleep on the boobie - I don't think it's a requirement. But I think he likes some sort of soothing stimulant, like the rocking of a swing or the vibration of his bouncy chair - but that doesn't seem to be necessary either. I don't know if I just don't use the crib enough or what. I did put him in it at about 6:30 AM this morning after a feeding and he was asleep when I put him in it, he slept for about 2 hours and my mom said he woke up all smiley, not scared or mad that he was in a different place - so maybe it won't be all that hard to get him used to it if I really make a go of it. It's just hard to be structured, disciplined, etc when we've had to pack/move, I've been so sick, tired etc. And to be honest, even if we hadn't of had all that drama - I just don't handle being tired very well, so I might have just slept with him on my chest from day one anyways, who knows. I think it'll be too hard to build new habits while my mom is here - too much going on, so I'll wait till she's gone and then try to get him used to his crib.

Trey was 7 weeks yesterday and he has one of those mats that lays on the floor and he lays on the mat and has toys suspended over him, well this one also has a little piano for him to kick. I put him on it Mon night for the first time and it took him all of about 20 seconds to figure out the piano. I know I'm the mom, but I think that was really kind of quick for him to catch on. He seems to be a bright little sucker - he has also held his legs in the air for me to change his diapers from about 1-2 weeks of age.

On a brighter note I am starting to learn his cues better - I have figured out his "I'm tired" cry and I think I'm figuring out his "I have to poop" cry. He isn't always uncomfortable when he has gas/poop, but sometimes he is, so it's good to know when that is an issue so I can just sooth him, understand his problem and not freak out as to why I can't sooth my baby. I can't quite always discern the difference between the "poop" cry and the "I am hungry" cry, so we struggle with that a bit, but usually with the hungry cry, he also has his hand in his mouth.

And it seems my milk is satisfying him more, so maybe I'm producing more and more. Some days I still top him off before bedtime with a bottle, but that's usually just 2 oz. And this AM DH let me sleep and he gave him a 4 oz bottle, but that just meant I pumped when I woke up and we'll stockpile that for a day when we are running errands or if he's with a babysitter.

I might actually leave him with my mom while I go to town tomorrow. I have my 6 week postpartum visit, the joyful pap smear (YUCK) and have some other errands, so thought it would be easier on everyone if I just left him home. We'll see how that goes. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Whoa motek - 4 months! Time is flying :) I'm glad things are going well and that you got past the colic and reflux stage.

Poly...how is the visit going with your mom? Something I observed with older DS and other kids around me is that the first 8-12 weeks of life don't indicate how well or poorly they'll sleep for you in the future...so don't feel like you have ruined his ability to sleep on his own by sleeping with him. Sleeping on top of me and DH is the only way we survived DS's first three months because he would not be alone and we needed to sleep. he became a champion sleeper at 9 mos and has been ever since. Samuel sleeps part of the night on top of me now too and the rest of his stretches in his bassinet. If I could only get him to sleep longer than 2.5 hrs now :) at some point I'll need to transition him into DS's room as they'll be sharing. Just not sure how or when I'm going to do that.

Samuel exclusively BF and I've been having a really hard time with him keeping up with the flow on my right side. It goes so fast. He swallows so much air and chokes on the milk and sometimes aspirates it so he is singing at night (that airy hum when he breathes)...it freaks me out especially in the middle of the night. I try pumping it off a bit and that helps, but is hard to do as an ongoing solution 24hrs a day and I take him off when I hear him swallow bubbles and that creates a big mess of milk and an angry baby who wants to keep eating. I just worry that he is going to have an issue breathing while I'm sleeping and I'm not going to wake up :(

Other than that things are going well. DS is adjusting really well to Samuel so I'm very thankful for that. I have my 6wk check today too...DH I pretty excited about it...

Things are going pretty good with my mom. But HOLY MOLY that woman can talk. I am used to living VERY rurally, BY MYSELF, only seeing my DH for a couple hours a day and half of those hours he spends on the computer or on the phone. So basically I don't talk to anyone, don't have anyone talk to me, just do my own thing, ALONE. So to have her in the house talking NON-STOP is ALOT for me to handle. And she can't just say something with minimal words, she has to describe it and say the same thing multiple different ways. I'm more of a get to the point kind of person. And she can't sit still and just BE. So it's a bit overwhelming for me. Not to mention trying to get over this cold and not get full night sleep because of having an infant to take care of. But I'm trying to be patient and take some time to myself when I need it. I do love her but it's a lot to take.

I guess I'm being a little hard on myself about the sleeping thing. I feel like I should "do it by the book". Yet the book wasn't written by someone who had an infected C-section scar, had to move 250 miles 3 weeks post partum, had to check her cows that were calving in case they had trouble, etc. Our lifestyle requires us to be flexible, so we are gonna raise our kids to fit that lifestyle and eventually he'll sleep in his crib. I have put him in it at about 6 AM the past few mornings and gone back to bed. That seems to be working, so we'll stick with that for now. Whatever it takes to get momma some sleep. :)

Had my 6 wk appt at 7 wks 2 days and the doc thinks I'm about to ovulate. WTH??? I wanted to be one of those BF women that didn't get their period back for 6-8 months, but it doesn't seem like that will be the case. And speaking of BF, I swear my milk supply is still all over the place. Sometimes it seems like I have some, sometimes it feels like there is nothing there. I don't always feel the "letdown", so that is frustrating. Sometimes he is satisfied and other times he is not. I don't know what to think. We'll keep at it.

Joey is 1 week old today and she is such a relaxed baby...the only time she is fussy is diaper changes and when she wants to eat which is directly after a diaper change......she eats about every 2-3 hours during the day and I pretty much stick to that...I wake her up to change and feed her but at night I let her call the shots. I just dont want to wake a sleeping baby at night because getting sleep is hard for all us. The other night she did go 5+ hours without waking to eat so I did wake her then but other than that I let her decide at night ....she only woke up 2 times last night ..some may say I am wrong but that's ok..i would rather get her sleeping through the night.....she eats plenty thru the day to make up for it and her weight has been going up so I think it's fine.

She is rarely awake...mainly sleeps all the time until i wake her with a diaper change...she was wide awake for about 2 hours this morning after we got up....she is napping now...

we have taken her out a few times..tomorrow we ventured to church and it turned into an epic fail lol...thank god they have a "cry room" there for mommas to go with fussy babies or to nurse them...they have a big tv in there with the church service playing live so u can still partake in church. well anyways i tried to change her after she ate and she peed and i picked her up quick because i forgot to put an extra outfit in the diaper bag so the pee well all over me and the couch we were sitting on and her onesie was wet so i had to strip her down and scrub the couch lol.

today we may venture up to the mall to get some outfits for her newborn photo shoot. our mall is like the worst mall in the world..no one ever shops there so it will be safe to take her there without freaks trying to touch her and there will be no crowds.

Nia is one week old today. Still getting used to feeding her. We do it about every three hours.. Breastfeeding isn't really working out, so I mostly formula feed and then pump and give her breast milk when I can. Though it's not much. I still can't believe she's here. We still haven't completely organized her bedroom. ... We fell a little behind. But she sleeps in our room, so we have time.

So happy to hear from all of you ladies!
Kate- I can't believe Joey is a week already- time flies! I will say outings with a baby are always an adventure. We've taken Brenna to church and for breakfast on the weekends.
We've tried shopping a couple times as well. She's a very good baby but I still feel really self conscious nursing in public. I always end up huddled in the backseat of our car to feed her!

I have nursed at our truck dealership twice and at the local starbucks (located in Target). I have my little udder cover and I sit in a corner. But quite a few times I have nursed in the backseat of our truck just cuz it's more convenient. Have y'all heard of "The Leaky Boob" on Facebook?? They give support on breastfeeding and really help build confidence about breastfeeding in public. I will NEVER be as bold as they are but I do like some of their suggestions/help.

Ya im not really down with breastfeeding in public nor is my hubby down with me doing it either....I am uncomfortable and he is uneducated when it comes to breastfeeding lol.....i got a lot of advice like using a dressing room if at the mall and such.....lastnight we went somewhere and i stood in a private bathroom to nurse here...thank god it was just a snack she wanted as opposed to a meal lol.

My little guy Nolan is two months old. He's growing so fast. 50% for weight and 90% for height. I've been exclusively formula feeding since he was a month old. My breast milk never produced much of anything. And I tried just about everything aside from medical procedures to get it in. Nolan is a good baby, he loves to have outings and never fusses when out and about, but he hates bedtime/nap time. Like he knows he's tired and just fusses and fights to stay awake. He really likes baths in the bath tub where he can float and kick so when he has those he tends to go to sleep very well. It's just not ideal to do those every night.
This Saturday I go back to work. It's causing me major anxiety. I work 12 hours from 6pm till 6am. And it's an hour commute. I really fear how exhaustion my take over my life. My mom will be our primary daycare when my husband is also working, so we have good daycare. I think I just really wish I could stay home.
Yep...really wish I could stay home.... My job sucks!
Any ideas on how to fight the going back to work blues?
Oh and one scary thing that happened: just before his two month check up ...Nolan was sleeping in the rock-n-play sleeper and I was on the couch. I heard him making a high pitch squeaking shrieking noise, when I stepped over by him he was just turning a grayish blue (could see it mostly in his lips). He looked panicked..and when I grabbed him he gasped and cried. I'm guessing he choked on spit up or reflux, and panicked and forgot to breath. It was so so scary..and all I can think about is what if I hadn't been right next to him. The doc said to keep him in our bed for sleeping so we are close at all time and to bring him back in if it happens again. It just makes me soo soo aware how fast things can go wrong. :(