• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

ParentGaf OT: Birth, Bib and Beyond

All kids are different.. My daughter is 3 months now and sleeps 8-10 hours a night. She doesn't cry without proper reasons (either hungry or sleepy) but really loves to be carried around during the day.

Who knows, maybe my next one will have colic and be a complete nightmare.

My daughter used to sleep through the night. Now she is teething.

She doesn't sleep through the night any more. Luckily, she still goes back down pretty quickly but I'm not looking forward to the day when we try to pull the bottle from the crib. That will be bad.
 
My wife went in to her weekly doctor appt for a stress test, and was sent to the hospital.. now we are in a labor room awaiting an emergency c section. Her BP is high. Preeclampsia, our twins will be here very soon. Im nervous as fuck.
 
My sons Jacob and Andrew arrived at 11:04 and 11:05 CST tonight! So far they are ok, they will have to spend time in the nicu for a month or so. Pics soon!
 
My sons Jacob and Andrew arrived at 11:04 and 11:05 CST tonight! So far they are ok, they will have to spend time in the nicu for a month or so. Pics soon!

Congratulations, glad to hear your partner and twins are good. My son will be in the nicu until at least Christmas. You will be worried at first by all of the different alarms and monitors flashing, but listen to the nurses and everything will be fine. You'll have ups and downs but they'll be home before you know it.
 
My sons Jacob and Andrew arrived at 11:04 and 11:05 CST tonight! So far they are ok, they will have to spend time in the nicu for a month or so. Pics soon!
Congratulations!

Also, thanks to those of you who gave me some feedback on my problem a week or two ago. I decided it's probably best to not ask my MIL to stay at a hotel..especially since this is her first grandchild (I don't want deprive her of any experience since she doesn't live near us)

But I have another question for you veterans:
Is taking care of a newborn really that exhausting or are people exaggerating?
This will be my first child, but I have worked in a daycare for over a year. There has been days were my boss has left me with 10 kids (all under 18mo) by myself (which is definitely not legal btw)..and believe me that was stressful. But I dunno my sister and everyone else is like "you don't know what you're in for" or "you've never experienced the exhaustion of a newborn"..etc.

So what's been your experience? Is it really as exhausting as they say? Do you really not have time to even take a shower, etc?
 
Just got home from the hospital, my wife finally got moved to Postpartum. We got to see the boys finally face to face in the NICU around midnight. They are doing great so far, so tiny! They should be out around Christmas or a little bit afterwards.
 
Hi everyone, just an update, my wife went home yesterday finally after getting her BP down to an acceptable level. Post-partum preecclampsia was no picnic. The kids are doing great, they are off of their oxygen and still in incubators but are growing great. Andrew is having his legs treated currently since he was crushed up against my wife's cervix for most of the pregnancy, but they anticipate he won't need surgery to fix them up at all and that he will grow out of it naturally with the tape that they are applying to his legs.

Overall I'm relieved eveything is progressing well, and hoping both of them will be home before Christmas.
 

Cat

Member
Hi everyone, just an update, my wife went home yesterday finally after getting her BP down to an acceptable level. Post-partum preecclampsia was no picnic. The kids are doing great, they are off of their oxygen and still in incubators but are growing great. Andrew is having his legs treated currently since he was crushed up against my wife's cervix for most of the pregnancy, but they anticipate he won't need surgery to fix them up at all and that he will grow out of it naturally with the tape that they are applying to his legs.

Overall I'm relieved eveything is progressing well, and hoping both of them will be home before Christmas.

Thanks for the update, best wishes for your family.
 

Goodlife

Member
Currently arranging our eldest's 5th birthday.
She wants a superhero party....

Being a parent is great fun at times..... Just finished her invites

2015_11_25_13_50_39.jpg
 
Just got the call from an orthopedic surgeon, Andrew has club feet. :( They said they will be placing his legs in casts and rods when he gets out, but at the moment my wife and I arent taking the news very well.
 

Ayumi

Member
I'm seven weeks pregnant tomorrow and it doesn't feel real. Nothing has changed other than sore boobs.

Congrats! Not much happens in the start for a lot of women.. I didn't really have any symptoms (aside from huge boobs) until the second trimester, and didn't show until I was about 6 months along. :v

You'll get there! The end is tough..
 
I'm seven weeks pregnant tomorrow and it doesn't feel real. Nothing has changed other than sore boobs.

You may start getting morning sickness sometime soon. Some women don't though. But I know I did, and it was miserable. Best thing is to stay hydrated as much as possible. Saltine crackers and ginger ale are your best friend. Also, gatorade helps if you feel you can't drink water easily.
 
. My best advice I give to all new moms: SLEEP WHEN THE BABY DOES. Let someone else do the chores, put off that tv show for when you are up and nursing and the baby is awake. Sleep when the baby does. At least for the first few weeks, don't feel obligated to be anything other than a zombie :p

Thanks! Will do! I feel like a zombie now. It's so difficult for me to get any sleep. There's been times (more often than not) where I've stayed up til 9 am because I can't sleep. Then when I finally do sleep *usually from crashing* I sleep for hours and hours.
 
My son will be coming home on Monday from the neonatal unit. It's been the longest seven weeks of my life, it has totally wiped us out for money having to travel back and forth and getting food and dog sitters. At long last though it's almost finally over.

I can't wait for him to be with us but it's also incredibly scary. He will still need tube feeding, which we have been trained to do as he is still not feeding 100% from the breast, so any problems with that we'll have to go back to the hospital or have the outreach team do a home visit.

It was all worth it though, he's amazing. I never knew what unconditional love was until he was born. We just have to get our house move out of the way next (on the 29th of Dec) then we can relax. Finally!
 
My son will be coming home on Monday from the neonatal unit. It's been the longest seven weeks of my life, it has totally wiped us out for money having to travel back and forth and getting food and dog sitters. At long last though it's almost finally over.

I can't wait for him to be with us but it's also incredibly scary. He will still need tube feeding, which we have been trained to do as he is still not feeding 100% from the breast, so any problems with that we'll have to go back to the hospital or have the outreach team do a home visit.

It was all worth it though, he's amazing. I never knew what unconditional love was until he was born. We just have to get our house move out of the way next (on the 29th of Dec) then we can relax. Finally!

Good stuff. I'm glad to hear he's doing so well. Our kiddos are still in the nicu at this point but they are doing fantastic. No word on when they are scheduled to come home though, but at 35 weeks they are growing, up to 3 bottle feeds a day and have to hit 8 before they can go.
 

Keri

Member
I'm seven weeks pregnant tomorrow and it doesn't feel real. Nothing has changed other than sore boobs.

I'm 7 weeks and 3 days and I've had morning sickness since just before the 6 week mark. I feel mostly OK during the day (thankfully), but after I get home from work, in the evenings, it seems to amp up. It's weird feeling sick so much, but knowing its not going away for...5-6 more weeks.

Still super happy to be pregnant, though.
.

You may start getting morning sickness sometime soon. Some women don't though. But I know I did, and it was miserable. Best thing is to stay hydrated as much as possible. Saltine crackers and ginger ale are your best friend. Also, gatorade helps if you feel you can't drink water easily.

Thanks for this. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm starting to get so sick of water. I know I have to keep drinking it, but as I've started getting more and more nauseous, it's getting harder to force myself to drink as much as I know I should. I'd rather drink almost anything else.
 

choodi

Banned
My five month old is starting to crawl, and I'm getting worried about child proofing. I bought 100 outlet covers. I'm looking for non-destructive cupboard and drawer locks, so I don't pull paint off with adhesive. Oven lock, sliding door lock, maybe some covers for power strips. Our TVs are wall mounted so no worries about those toppling over, but I bought a set of straps for my in-laws. I might need to get a few baby gates. I don't need all these things right away but I have a feeling he's going to be waking early... He's been hitting some of these milestones early, I think because he is sort of skinny (3rd percentile weight for his height) and better able to support himself than other babies his age. I want to be prepared. Did I miss anything in my childproofing plan?

We never bothered with much child-proofing for either of our kids. No problems except for a couple of tumbles down a few steps (carpeted and only a small staircase).

Do it if it makes you feel safer, but you don't need it.
 

choodi

Banned
My brothers and I have have battle scars from a home that wasn't child proofed. My little brother very nearly burned his own penis off having access to an open oven. It's in our genes to make poor decisions and get into everything, and I'm expecting the same from my son :p

LOL. Definitely invest in loads of baby proofing then!

All the baby proofing in the world wouldn't have stopped my eldest from the one semi-serious injury she caused herself. She ran into the door frame when she was excited about having a bath and split her forehead open.

I've been convinced my 18 month old son is going to lose a finger sooner or later because he loves opening and closing sliding doors and kitchen drawers. But he's never even caught his finger.

The best gates ever are the kind that swing open. More pricey than the ones you have to step over, but trust me: They are worth it. Constantly stepping over those bloody things hurts eventually.

This. Plus, if they have hinges or anything protruding from the top, they can cause some serious pain in uncomfortable places. Trust me.
 

Browny

Banned
Currently in the hospital, my partner is going through induction, 13 days over today. Our first was 14 + 3, full induction plus hormone drip, over 3 days - so hoping that things will be a little quicker this time!
 

choodi

Banned
Currently in the hospital, my partner is going through induction, 13 days over today. Our first was 14 + 3, full induction plus hormone drip, over 3 days - so hoping that things will be a little quicker this time!

Good luck. Here's hoping for a quick and safe delivery.
 

Elbereth

Member
I never imagined that my first post to GAF would be about parenthood considering that I've been a lurker for years...lol

We are due 1/7, but the doctor told us today that we may have to be induced for an early delivery. Perhaps after Christmas.

My wife and I are pretty excited.
 

Goodlife

Member
Currently in the hospital, my partner is going through induction, 13 days over today. Our first was 14 + 3, full induction plus hormone drip, over 3 days - so hoping that things will be a little quicker this time!
Good luck!

Pretty much the same with us with our first 2....

But, sorry to tell you, things weren't quicker the second time round (they were a lot longer and more complicated.... But won't go into that now.... :) )
 

Halcyon

Member
My fiance is due in April.

We had an ultrasound the other week and for some reason the paper happened to be doing a story on the place that does it, and we ended up being a headline story.

So my daughter was on the front page of the newspaper and me and my fiance were inside. It was neat. I framed the cover story to put in her room.

It is kinda sad that the main headline deals with a mass shooter, but maybe it will be a reminder of the type of world she was brought into and hopefully by the time she's old enough to read it won't be such an issue.

 

Icefire1424

Member
My brothers and I have have battle scars from a home that wasn't child proofed. My little brother very nearly burned his own penis off having access to an open oven. It's in our genes to make poor decisions and get into everything, and I'm expecting the same from my son :p

Wait...what? I mean...how? Burning your hands is one thing, but...what??!?!
 
Wife is 30 weeks, been spending the past month or so putting together my son's room. Getting close now. Room is looking good, maybe its all the Animal Crossing I've played.
 
Eh it always hit me like, a week before. :p

I got nothin'. Zero urges. Maybe later like you, then? It just seems like a strange little passenger. And sometimes it does creepy things like rake its tiny paws against my ribs. -_-


Heh, I'm a project manager so my job is to have my shit together.

I'm...also a project manager. Or was. I get to be a cog right now, though, so I'll just blame it on that. And pregnancy brain. Yep.
 
I'm...also a project manager. Or was. I get to be a cog right now, though, so I'll just blame it on that. And pregnancy brain. Yep.

Well, luckily I don't have to worry about pregnancy brain :). I just keep telling my wife the later it gets the less she'll want to do and if she doesn't give her input now she's going to end up hating whatever I do on my own.
 

Icefire1424

Member
My wife nested early. Well, "nested" as in at least two months before kiddo was born she got a bit crazy about me finishing up the nursery. Had the crib, changing table, dresser and everything else set up waaaaaaaay before our daughter got here.
 

Soulfire

Member
My wife nested early. Well, "nested" as in at least two months before kiddo was born she got a bit crazy about me finishing up the nursery. Had the crib, changing table, dresser and everything else set up waaaaaaaay before our daughter got here.
This was my kind of nesting
 

Icefire1424

Member
Tangentially related, but curious of the thoughts of the other parents out there.

After kiddo arrived and the initial system shock of reduced sleep and figuring out what to do had mitigated somewhat, did anyone else experience a dramatic change in your relationship with the significant other? I still feel exactly the same way about my wife as I always have - feeling are even stronger now that we've shared this experience together, but it's really obvious her feelings towards me aren't nearly the same anymore. We've talked about it many times, but any passion we might have had beforehand is just...gone. Problem is, I can't keep putting myself out there anymore. Hurts way too much. Genuinely curious if this is something fairly common that improves over time, or something potentially requiring intervention.

Apologies if this thread isn't the best place to ask, but I suspect there may be some insight with the group here, since we've all gone through this experience. Thanks.
 
Top Bottom