Chaz Moms and Moms-to-Be Chat (everyone welcome)

Yeah maybe you shouldn't let her babysit.

In other news, Falon woke herself up this afternoon by snorting milk out her nose. Babies are super fun.

did I mention she just bought herself a diaper bag so she "wouldn't have to take mine"?

Take mine where, exactly??

To be fair, arms and legs can be an issue between crib slats. Hannah was always getting upset about that. We got mesh bumpers. Kept everything that needed to be kept IN and if her face got up there they were very breathable.

And a friend of mine has an infant with acid reflux... So bad that tey were sent to a childrens hospital for over a week with breathing issues and other problems and it was determined that as rare as the symptoms were, it was acid reflux. She is much better now under control of meds but she throws up A LOT. She is put to sleep at night on her stomach because she throws up a lot in her sleep and is unable to sleep any other way.

Sometimes you gotta go against everything you've ever know to be true. BUT you MUST lay the hammer down if she is ever to watch your child.

Hah. Yeah that wouldn't work well, especially if you're breastfeeding.

Okay, for the past 3-4 weeks, rolling from one side to the other while laying in bed has become increasingly difficult. Now it's almost unbearably painful to where if I wake up on my left side and want to turn because my left side hurts, I will just deal with it rather than feel how bad it hurts to turn over. It's like this sharp pain that comes out of my hips and tightens all the muscles in my abdomen. It sucks. Is this normal?

Yes, and it gets worse the bigger you get. Rolling over always gets BH contractions going, which wake me up, so sleep has been really broken for me for the past few months.

MM, my mom also argues with the back sleeping thing, arguing that if baby vomits, she will choke on her vomit.

And if we use a bumper, it will also be the mesh one. Some kids need them, some don't.

Annddd...my official due date is tomorrow! So, baby, let's get this show on the road! I have a midwife appointment today. Super hopeful that I'm dilated enough for them to do a stretch and sweep. Fingers crossed!

I'm sure they could choke. But the only times I've seen Falon spit up enough fluid to really choke it also went up and out, projectile style. She chokes more when she's nursing than any other time.

Also, if the baby is in the same room you will hear them if they're choking. Its pretty obvious.

ETA: Having just watched Falon spit up a whole lot very slowly on the changing table, I think babies are designed not to choke on it. It all leaked out one side of her mouth, even flat on her back with her head not turned.

We have always used breathable bumpers and they accomplish the same thing without the suffocation risk. It is nice to have them to keep arms and legs in better as well as paci's and other lovies/dolls etc as they get older from falling out. But I refused to ever use a regular bumper.

Has anyone who's had a baby (or is about to) dealt with being kind of a minimalist or being stressed out by stuff and a lot of clutter?

I mean, I'm not leading any kind of hardcore minimalist lifestyle. I have plenty of stuff. But I try really hard not to accumulate stuff I don't use or too many "extras". I'm the kind of person who, if I lived on my own, wouldn't have a TV or a microwave, and tries to donate an equal amount of clothing every time I get something new. I strongly believe having too many belongings is bad for a person's mental health and lifestyle - if you have less STUFF, it's easier to focus more on and value things like friendships, experiences, etc.

My unborn child has over 20 stuffed animals already. I bought the material to make a moby wrap. My mom thought that was ridiculous, and bought me another carrier. It was a different style carrier....so fine. But she just bought me a THIRD infant carrier, because "it's like the one you made but nicer". She insisted I NEEDED a rocking chair, and when I refused she bought herself a rocking chair to put in our living room, and then kept bugging me about and eventually bought ANOTHER rocking chair for my bedroom. She's now convinced the baby needs a second baby swing (because I won't want to have to move the one 7 lb, completely portable swing we already have), a bassinet (on top of the travel crib with bassinet attachment I have AND the crib) and that I need a changing table because the (built in) dresser I have set up with the changing pad is inadequate.

People have been really, really generous, and I appreciate that a lot...but now I have 15 infant hats. And 7 quilts. And 15 swaddling blankets. And 5 sets of infant bath towels. And two diaper bags. My mom keeps ripping the tags off of stuff I get because "you're going to NEED it". And a lot of the stuff I'd feel bad returning because they're nice, thoughtful gifts from people that are important to me, anyway.

Clarissa had major digestive issues so while the swaddle and back sleeping worked minimally for the first few weeks, it didn't last long. We switched to co sleeping with her on our chest. It was the only way she could sleep for the longest time. She is just hitting the three month mark now and is getting too big for chest sleeping so we are starting to transition her to a crib. I'm still putting her on her stomach as its the only way she will sleep. She's strong enough now to turn her head etc so I'm not too worried about it. She does sleep in her swing sometimes but that's not a permanent sleep solution either. My doula who has 3 kids and tons of experience and training actually promotes stomach sleeping, especially for digestion. Sometimes you just have to do what works for your baby and trust your instincts.

And yeah the BH while rolling over in bed sucked. I got them a lot in the car too. Hope your little girl makes an appearance soon Allison!

I'm sure there are some situations, especially if there's a medical issue going on, where an infant is better off in another sleeping position.

My mom's reason for putting me to sleep on my back was that I kept bending my knees and it looked uncomfortable for me to be in the fetal position on my back.

Appointment today was good. I gained another half pound and measure 41. Cervix was dilated but WAS soft enough that my midwife was able to do a sweep, which she said was pretty good for a first timer. She also hinted at the size of the baby. ("There is really no more room in there!") LOL

So plan tonight was to walk, bounce, somehow seduce my husband and drink my raspberry leaf tea but I'm too tired to do all of them so I will stick with the last two. Hoping baby shows up tomorrow, not holding my breath.

Allison, every time you post these days I'm hoping it's "having contractions, heading to the hospital soon!", :rofl1:.

Good luck!

The end is so tough! Waiting for the arrival is hard but before you know it baby will be here.

Briggs was diagnosed today as autistic as well as having an intellectual disability.

That must be a plateful of information for you to balance today. How are you feeling about it?

The diagnosis is really surprising to me. What sort of professional diagnosed him? I know in public schools, we are really hesitant to put a label on any child before 2nd grade, because there is such a wide range of "normal". I'm not doubting your experience at all (and I'm hardly an early childhood expert), I'm just surprised that they would label him intellectually disabled at such a young age. What sort of tests did they perform, if you don't mind sharing?

Three did. Two through Sunny Hill (a pedi and speech pathologist) as well as a psychologist at West Coast Child Development. The intellectual disability part I was told is going to have to be re-evaluated once he gets in school because it is more than likely not going to reflect him in the long run. He scores really low in the range of being intellectually disabled. He says he sees lots of kids who with proper help DO grow out of that label.

I knew I was going to hear autism spectrum disorder today. I don't agree with being intellectually disabled. Briggs is brilliant. He just has a very selective window of interests.

Paige, I am sorry to hear the news but I know it is also a relief to finally have a diagnosis to be able to move forward with. I hope from here you guys will be able to get the support you will need

As for public school labels, I don't believe schools should be the ones labelling children. Give input and feedback about areas they struggle with... Yes but labels? NO. Public school officials aren't trained to diagnose and should not be labelling children on their own.

I am glad to hear they think the intellectual disability won't be a problem later on. With a good plan of action families can really come a long way with autism and such with early intervention. My SIL's son was diagnosed with autism and he is really thriving with early intervention.

It was a hard thing to hear. I think my son is a little genius (as I am sure all parents think about their kids) so to hear they think of him as being that behind? Yeah. In some of his development he isn't much ahead of his 7 month old brother but in other things he just blows my mind with.

What a hard day Paige but if I've learned anything about you in this thread, it's that it's only going to help you and Briggs going forward. Hugs.

Sorry to hear that, Paige. At least with a diagnosis you'll be able to get more help for him. And like I've said before...I know quite a few parents who were told their children would never talk or be verbal, never go to "regular" school, never do this, never do that, and they do.

Plus, he's so young...he has so much intellectual developing to do. He might not at this point in time before "normal" for his age, but that can definitely change, especially with intervention, and especially if the test results are impacted by any emotional or sensory disorders.

I scored way above average on intellect tests as a child. I had an extremely high IQ for my age group and a photographic memory. Neither one of those things lasted into adulthood, so I don't put much faith in analyzing how intellectual a toddler is, especially if there's other stuff going on that could affect it.