May Chatty Thread

[LauraH]

Thanks for all your kind words & support. It's just so frustrating!! It helps to know that there is support from all of you & family and friends...we'll get through it. I'm glad we are breaking new ground for gay & lesbian families in the future.

Care - Caleb got weighed at the urologists office. 3months old & a whopping 17 lbs! He's already in some 6 month clothes Unfortunately we are finding out the old wives tale about fatter babies sleeping through the night sooner is not true!
-

[robin7361]

hematite: that is really good information! we're in PA, not NY and i bet the lengthy legal battle would be just as long and expensive (if not moreso) than going through the second parent adoption. we're gonna longshot it, though, and as the hospital to put DP's name on the birth certificate anyway. we'll show 'em our MA marriage license. maybe we'll slip through the cracks!

[Care75]

Happy Mother's Day everybody!!

Laura- 17 pounds wow!!! What a big boy! We don't go until next week, but my guess is about 10.5 pounds or so for Harper and Jackson. I'm guessing by looks that Harper will be a few ounces bigger.

I'm sorry he's not sleeping through the night. Harper and Jackson finally are. They sleep until about 6 a.m. every morning (last feeding between 7:30 and 10:00). Horray!!! I heard somewhere that biologically a baby is ready to sleep through the night at 11 pounds. However, of course, they don't always cooperate!!!

I completely understand about the legal stuff. It's not fair at all. It really pi$$es me off especially because it cost us over $25K to have them in the first place. Now we have to spend even more money so that Susan can legally be a mother! Uggh! Our lawyer has been so slow... we sent him our court cost and birth certificate checks over 2 months ago and we still don't have a court date. He said he'd find out on Tuesday, we'll see...

Robin- I hope with the marriage license that it's as easy as just putting your wife's name on the birth certificate!!

Well, my brother and sister-in-law just bought the Bob jogging stroller for their bun-in-the-oven. This is the one I really want. This has convinced DP to at least look at it. Before she said no way even though I keep saying we can probably use it until they are 4-5 years old. Now that they've got it though DP is considering it! Especially since my mom said she'd help pay for it for Mother's Day! Of course, REI has them on sale through TODAY. We'll see if we get that far!!

[Care75]

Oh, I forgot to mention- we bought the "RED" onesies on clearance in like December or January so I don't think they sell them anymore.

We do have matching red "InspiRED" ones that we bought too in 3-6 months so they'll be sporting them soon.

[swell22]

Happy Mother's Day ladies!!!!

I have a breast feeding/pumping question. We are TRYING so hard to do our registry and have managed to flub our way through most of it (we think) but are getting kind of hung up on whether or not to register for a pump (I want to pump because I want Alicia to be able to feed the baby too.) and then what kind of bottles to get. We are confused about the whole thing. Do you pump into a bottle, or bag or does it depend? And I have big boobs to begin with (sorry, maybe tmi) and I am worried about pumps working well or fitting properly. I guess I just don't know what do do or get or anything like that. Do any of you have any advice?

Hope you all are having a good Mother's Day.

[Care75]

Swell- You've come to the right place. At least a few of us are pumping experts! And I had the same questions at the beginning.

I have the Medela double pump (Double Pump in Style, I think). It works great. I used the hospital grade one and other than mine being louder- it's pretty comparable. The pump itself comes with two bottles that you can pump into. Then, the hospital gave us a free kit that had an additional accessory pack with more bottles, shields, valves, etc. So if your hospital gives this (lots do), you'll end up with two sets which is great because then you don't have to wash between each time. I actually have four sets because my aunt gave me hers from the hospital and when Harper was hospitalize they let me use a pump and gave me a new kit too!

I would pump into the bottles that came with at first. Then, as I started to get more at each session I would attach an Evenflo 8 ounce bottle to the pump so that I could get more at once without switching the bottle (now remember, I didn't bring them to the breast after the first two weeks so you may never get so much). But any standard size bottle will fit on.

Then, I stored the milk in the fridge for use or if I'm going to use it right away- within 4 hours- I just leave it at room temperature. Any milk that I put in the fridge I label by date- it can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days- but usually I used it in a couple of days.

We have a deep freezer full in the garage. I'd transfer the milk to the bags after I pumped and sometimes after it's sat in the fridge. It just can't sit in the fridge more than 24 hours to be frozen. I'd usually freeze in 8 oz. amounts now (wait until I have an 8 oz. amount in a bottle in a day) but at the beginning I'd freeze less. I never bought the Medela bags. I'd just buy the other brands. They are cheaper and you can get them at BRU or Target.

They also have different size shields for your breasts that you can buy at BRU. I have larger breasts too. I tried the extra large ones (30) and the large ones (27). I ended up liking the regular ones (24) best but they aren't very expensive to try.

We ended up using Evenflo bottles without BPA. They work great and fit on the pump too.

[WannaBMom74]

Just wanted to say Happy Mothers Day to all of you hope you all had a great day!!

[swell22]

Care - OMIGOSH! Thank you so much! Your info was so helpful that I am printing it out! School will be out in just a couple weeks, so I will be hanging around more! I can't wait to get back in the swing of things with you girls!