I think I just heard my son just say, "You broke my shit!" but he won't repeat it and I don't want to reinforce it.

11/14/2007 7:45:17 PM

When my niece was a toddler I distinctly remember standing outside her bedroom listening to her try to put a puzzle together saying, "Damnit!" with all the passion in the world.

11/15/2007 10:36:35 AM

T-minus 4 weeks +/- and counting till my daughter's born

11/16/2007 12:52:07 PM

Quote :

"that's why I prefer to have her at a center over in someone's home where no one else is watching."

interesting.

bobby, your kid is going to be overdue like a week. i bet $1. i dunno how much easier girls are to raise, but my son has been pretty low maint. plus she'll always be a daddies girl.

have you asked her parents and yours about how you were when very young? it usually is pretty similar for your kids.

get ready for no sleep after delivery, feedings every 1-3 hours, colic... rollercoaster of fun!

also be sure to take lots of pictures. it's hard to have a camera around all the time, but who else will record the good times? i've got cameras all over the house. you never know when something cute will happen.

[Edited on November 16, 2007 at 1:01 PM. Reason : and a cigar.]

11/16/2007 12:53:59 PM

^ actually the official due date was jan 1. Due to being a high risk pregnancy, we're gonna have a scheduled induction at around 37 weeks.

My wife was a perfect little well behaved girl, and I was basically nightmare kid. So, I'm hoping for something closer to the wife than me.

11/16/2007 2:17:18 PM

it seems that there are a lot of high risk pregnancies as of late. i find that a tad disconcerting.

11/16/2007 3:06:36 PM

There are so many different things that can make a pregnancy "high risk" that it probably isn't really any different than it has ever been, there's just a lot more early testing and diagnostics that can be done than before.

For instance, my pregnancy is 'high risk' because I was born with a rare birth defect that most doctors today aren't even terribly familiar with and my child has a cleft palate and cleft lip that would have never been detected prior to birth back 25 years ago.

I have less than 8 weeks to go with my pregnancy. I cannot wait for this to be over.

11/16/2007 3:40:28 PM

I'm now a parent!

Madison was born on 12-13 at 12:20 am
9 pounds 7 ounces! (much bigger then expected!)
22 1/2 inches

They induced me Wednesday (low on amniotic fluid) and I had her 7 hrs later. I was a week overdue. Labor and delivery went fine. I had the epidural after a few hrs of contractions. It worked great until the end when I felt everything!
She's perfect - healthy and happy. not very fussy at all.
I'm doing fine - just sleep deprived - trying to sleep when she sleeps



[Edited on December 16, 2007 at 11:17 PM. Reason : picture]

12/16/2007 11:12:50 PM

congratulations!

12/16/2007 11:16:23 PM

Hooray! I'm so glad that they went ahead and induced you instead of making you wait a whole other week. I know it's got to be so exciting to finally have her outside instead of inside.

12/16/2007 11:41:51 PM

She's just beautiful!

12/16/2007 11:43:13 PM

Quote :

"I was a week overdue."

i called it

12/17/2007 12:06:03 AM

Quote :

"it seems that there are a lot of high risk pregnancies as of late. i find that a tad disconcerting."

yeah, thankfully everything turned out fine. she was 3lbs 12 oz, but she's doing great, eating like there's no tomorrow and growing fast.

12/17/2007 7:34:24 AM

Congratulations! Madison is gorgeous.

12/17/2007 10:34:56 AM

Our little girl is at 3 weeks now. She is doing good! Mommy started back in classes tonight so I had her for the first bottle feeding. She seemd to take to it good, so hopefully I did everything right!. I was sure glad when she got back from class though.

Anyway she was born 12/22/2007 at 1:52 a.m. 6lbs 11.5 Oz, 20 inches long.

Looks like a lot of you are doing quite well as parents. Congrats!

1/14/2008 9:43:33 PM

Congratulations to all the new parent's. Now you'll know how I feel/felt.

1/15/2008 1:49:25 AM

^ It's great!

I'm dreading going back to work next week... but my mother in law is moving in with us to be Madisons nanny so I'll have peace of mind that she'll have great care.

1/15/2008 10:17:47 AM

http://www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/

I mostly agree with these.

1/24/2008 8:45:05 PM

Little Amy flys well. She's been to Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, and Salt Lake City in the last two weeks, and after we get back from SLC on saturday, heading to NYC on Sunday. Apparently this is pretty normal... I never realized how well newborns do with flying.

Also, I learned this the hard way:

1/24/2008 9:10:14 PM

I had Silas on the 8th by C-section. He is such a happy little baby despite spending all of his time in the hospital. Silas has DiGeorge Syndrome, but Duke Children's actually specializes in treating it. Silas will be getting a new thymus soon so that he can start making T-cells and be a normal little boy.

But jeebis, I had no idea how frustrating it could be just to add a tiny little baby to your insurance policy in a timely manner.

1/25/2008 12:38:55 PM

^ I love the name!

Madison is 6 weeks now. almost 13 lbs. she's in the 99nth % on the charts. She's wonderful. No problems. She is such a happy baby, only fussy when she's hungry and sleeps well at night already. It's amazing how fast they change.

we're still waiting on her soc sec card so we can get an insurance plan for her. It's actually cheaper for her to have her own plan rather than be added to ours...

1/26/2008 10:20:59 AM

^ what kind of insurance do you have where it's cheaper to have a separate plan than to add someone onto yours? also is it through your work?

1/26/2008 11:00:35 AM

Quote :

" never realized how well newborns do with flying."

yes. newborns are so easy to fly with. most of the time they just sleep. 1.5 - 2.5 year olds are a fucking nightmare. the trick is to be prepared. have shit for them to play with on the plane, snacks, etc. plan for every possible contingency.

1/26/2008 12:30:33 PM

BCBS state plan

$500/month to add a dependent



[Edited on January 26, 2008 at 12:33 PM. Reason : n]

1/26/2008 12:32:23 PM

Quote :

"plan for every possible contingency."

what works is to purchase 'just add water' creatures. then all you need to do is ask for a cup of water and bam! instant playtime.

1/26/2008 1:07:25 PM

bttt

6/30/2008 11:11:28 AM

mine are keeping me up at night, but they are just 4 months old so its to be expected

they travel very well

6/30/2008 11:13:21 AM

i tried to bttt but it didn't work..

lock mine (ok thanks)


Our daughter is 6.5 months old now. crawling everywhere, babbling. She's great.

Question - can anyone recommend a good babysitter?
Must have experience with infants.
My brother in law or good friends usually watch her but we'd like to have someone else to call.

If so please pm me.

thanks


[Edited on June 30, 2008 at 11:16 AM. Reason : good]

6/30/2008 11:15:48 AM

Mine is 10 months old now and he has his two bottom teeth. He has shown no interest in walking yet, but he stood on his own for 15 seconds on Saturday. He has been sleeping very well lately, thank God.

6/30/2008 11:58:01 AM

Madison didn't start sleeping through the night until 2 weeks ago (nice Fathers Day gift).

before then it was only 3-4 hrs at a time. Now it's 6-8 hrs. I'd forgotten what a full night's sleep was like.

6/30/2008 12:04:38 PM

Does yours still sleep in the same room with you? We have ours in a crib next to the bed and he has a crib in his room, too. He sleeps from about 8 PM to 1 AM, wakes up a couple times to nurse and falls back asleep. It's just easier to keep him in our room right now, but he stays in his room 2-3 times/week.

6/30/2008 12:12:39 PM

We're in the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Duke Children's on our day of rest after three days of ATG. Tomorrow he is going to surgery for a thymus transplant. And he'll turn six months old a week later!

It's actually kinda nice being in the hospital because someone else does a lot of the little things that become tedious like night time diaper changes, fixing bottles, med preparation. I actually miss getting to sleep with the little guy. This is the first time in months that he's slept some where besides in the bed with me.

We were lucky with Silas, he came into this world sleeping through the night.

PS. If Silas weren't so sick, I would offer to babysit. Prior to having Silas, I was a professional live-out nanny.

[Edited on June 30, 2008 at 12:24 PM. Reason : .]

6/30/2008 12:20:52 PM

She's in her own room now. It's across the hall from our room.
We did have the basinet in the room until she was 3 months old. She only took short naps in it though.

I'm guilty of letting her sleep with me. It worked well for us, especially since I went back to work fulltime when she was 6 wks old. Sharing sleep really strengthened our bond and she slept so much better next to me. I was nursing so it was also so much more convenient. As soon as I was out of work for the summer (teacher) we started to move her into her crib. Took a few weeks but it worked.

6/30/2008 12:26:24 PM

I wouldn't feel bad about her sleeping with you. My wife justifies it by saying that he'll be sleeping in his own room for the rest of his life, and she only gets to have him little for a couple more months.

6/30/2008 12:34:27 PM

My daughter will be 7 months old on the 4th, and other than having gone through two ear infections, a sinus infection, and now a cold all in the last month, she's doing great.

My wife just started residency at UNC, so with her leaving for work at 530a.m. and getting back after 7p.m., i'm the primary caretaker. Well, actually, I guess her daycare is the primary caretaker, but outside of that, I do everything now. It's pretty tough sometimes, but there's nothing else I'd rather be doing.

I used to work 70 hours a week, but I peace out no later than 5p.m. now.

Why would I want to stare at a computer screen any longer than I have to when I can go home to her?

6/30/2008 12:51:09 PM

There is nothing wrong with letting your little one sleep in the bed with you as long as you do it safely. There are numerous studies out there cited by practitioners of attachment parenting who are huge advocates of cosleeping that support the practice. My husband and I plan on having our little one in the bed with us until he decides that he is ready to go to his own room. (or we need to make room for another baby)

6/30/2008 1:25:27 PM

I hope i don't jinx/scare anybody, but what do you guys think about all this autism-scare stuff? is it being overlyhyped? Are you doing research on theories of causes and such? from vaccinations to polycarbonate.. wtf knows, eh?


My coworker gets charged $5/min for every minute his son stays at daycare past 5:30. unfreaking believable.

6/30/2008 1:34:51 PM

I did a lot of reading/research on sharing sleep/cosleeping etc.. I am an advocate of the attachment style of parenting. I've read many of Dr. Sears books on parenting. They are only little once and I loved it. I did it safely and am a light sleeper in the first place.

My husband never really liked the idea but dealt with it. Our agreement was that as soon as I was home for the summer and/or we felt she was ready we'd move her to her crib. She's always napped in her crib during the day so the transition was easy (easier than I thought).

I had a lot of family members (his side) try and argue with me about it. "It's dangerous!/She'll never leave the bed/It'll ruin your relationship with your husband/etc.." I usually ignored them and told them I was doing what felt right.

/about that.


Anyways, I'm truly enjoying spending my days with her right now. We're going to parks, the zoo, museums, etc... We went swimming last night - she loves the water!

6/30/2008 1:37:35 PM

Quote :

"I hope i don't jinx/scare anybody, but what do you guys think about all this autism-scare stuff? is it being overlyhyped? Are you doing research on theories of causes and such? from vaccinations to polycarbonate.. wtf knows, eh?"

The BPA thing is still a huge question mark, but to be safe, we switched to all BPA-free baby bottles. The vaccination fear is a load of crap that's perpetuated by busybody housewives and batshit crazy vegan type people. No study has ever proved a link between autism and vaccinations. But history has shown that the diseases that children can get if NOT vaccinated are likely to kill them.

Quote :

"My coworker gets charged $5/min for every minute his son stays at daycare past 5:30. unfreaking believable."

yeah, our daycare is the same, except the cutoff time is 6:30, but i think that's a more than reasonable time.

6/30/2008 1:58:37 PM

I'm not looking forward to putting her in daycare. She has only been sick once.. and it was just a little cough and runny nose.


I did some reading on the autism/vaccination link and feel that there is far too greater a risk of NOT vaccinating to consider not vaccinating her.

6/30/2008 2:04:53 PM

^^ omg your daughter is like SO gorgeous (i mean all the kids in this thread are cute but i've seen most of their pics before)

6/30/2008 2:16:06 PM

thanks

6/30/2008 2:21:48 PM

Yeah, what ethnicity is she? Mine is 1/2 white, 1/2 AZN.

BTW, I think Dr. Sears has a vaccine book cleverly titled "The Vaccine Book". It was hard to find but my wife read it and got a lot of good info from it.

6/30/2008 3:13:30 PM

i can finally post in here - our son John was born on 6/18 at 9lb-6oz and 21" long... what an awesome experience it was...

the adjustment has been a little tougher than expected, but that's partially due to my personality (i like routine, which has greatly changed)... my wife's handled it very well thus far and does a great job of taking care of him during the night so i can function at work...

6/30/2008 4:10:51 PM

Sean is 25 months now, he's on vaca with his mom. He knows no fear. That makes any outing an adventure. I took him to ride on trains when he was 12mos and back again when he was 24mos. He loved it. Get ready for thomas the tank engine (train), dora & diego, CARS (or whatever disney/pixar movie is out), etc...

Quote :

"My coworker gets charged $5/min for every minute his son stays at daycare past 5:30. unfreaking believable."

most if not all daycares will call CPS/police on you if you are even a min late to pick them up (past curfew).

think about that. your coworker is getting off easy. they knew what the deal was, they signed.

6/30/2008 4:21:29 PM

Someone mentioned something earlier about flying on planes.... My 10 month-old has flown cross-country four times now, each trip has gotten progressively worse (though not bad by any means), as he is more mobile and talkative. It was easier when he was 4 months than 9 months, as he squirms more now. He does fine on the flights, though.

6/30/2008 4:28:21 PM

Quote :

"most if not all daycares will call CPS/police on you if you are even a min late to pick them up (past curfew)."

What the hell?

I understand encouraging parents to pick their kids up on time, but calling the authorities is a gross waste of their time, and certainly isn't helping alleviate the too much work/not enough resources problem!

6/30/2008 4:59:28 PM

If you are stuck in traffic, running late, you should give them the courtesy of a 15 second phone call. If a parent can't understand that, they deserve to have CPS called. (Although one minute is a little harsh)

6/30/2008 5:02:48 PM

I don't know whether or not they allow for things like that.

Nonetheless, it's inappropriate to be calling the authorities because you're late (whether you've called or not. I agree that calling is the right and polite thing to do.)

Protective services are ...for protection. Kids in daycare for a few extra minutes are not in grevious and immediate danger, like, say, the kids of a crackhead, abusive/neglectful parent, etc. The dept of social services is TERRIBLY short on manpower and money. DSS employees desperately need to be working with/for kids who actually in harm's way, and a daycare is only adding to their load by having policies like that.

Which is inappropriate.

I'm not a parent, but the angle from which I am coming is from that as a kid who lived with kids in DSS care and in placements full of DSS kids.

6/30/2008 5:07:37 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, what ethnicity is she? Mine is 1/2 white, 1/2 AZN."

half indian, and half white.

Quote :

"most if not all daycares will call CPS/police on you if you are even a min late to pick them up (past curfew)."

that's fucking retarded, and I honestly don't believe it. We've had Amy at two daycares, and neither of them had that as a policy, although both had the per-minute fines as a rule. As ambrosia said, that would be a complete abuse of the CPS system for being a few minutes late.

6/30/2008 5:10:43 PM