Congrats, singersmom07. DIL also had a long labor, but was able to deliver vaginally - they did consider a c-section along the way.
2.5 weeks until we get to see and hold our granddaughter. Can’t wait.
Congratulations! @Singersmom07, Happy to hear your GS2 arrived safely. A red head - fun!
Having grandchildren is the best thing ever! I’ve been a grandma for 7+ years now and another grandbaby will arrive in the next couple of weeks. We are just as excited with this one as we were with the first. So much love to give! We are very lucky to have all of them in the same city. This one will be ~4 hours drive away but we’ll spend a lot of time there. We will hit the road as soon as we hear she’s in labor. They, sadly, will be raising their family without family close by, like my H and I did, and which I don’t recommend to anyone. The whole family will all be together at Christmas, as usual, and that will be great fun with a new baby to love!
Such great news, everyone! And ours rolled over to her back during “tummy time” thee times today! At 10 weeks. Her parents dont know whether to be thrilled or terrified 
She may be more mobile soon…
I’m still getting used to the term “tummy time”. When our kids were babies, they slept on their stomachs, so most of their time was tummy time. With them sleeping on their backs now, parents have to schedule tummy time.
Yup, shellfell. Had to think about that too. And get used to the swaddle and the big sleep thing that looks like the Michelin man or a snowman.
Well, both our kids were rolling over from one position to another from when they were newborns in the hospital nursery so there was no point in worrying what position you put them down in because they would move to the position they preferred, even if swaddled. I could never leave either of them at any height or unattended because they wriggled so much. Changing them was a busy experience.
S2 was readmitted to the hospital at three days old (bilirubin – no biggie) and the nurse put him in an isolette. As she was putting him in, I asked where the locks were since I would be doing most of his care and I got the “Oh, you inexperienced moms…” glare – as he rolled over and out of the isolette. She had to catch him.
Both my kids were on their stomachs and not swaddled from the get-go. S1 was swaddled by the hospital nursery and by the time DH wheeled his crib down the hall to me, S had gagged and turned blue.
All that said, I now make bigger baby quilts realizing that they will be either used on the floor or when they are older and bigger toddlers.
IMNHSO, the best place for a baby to nap is on my chest in a big recliner! Those were delicious days, one in each arm.
Still in waiting mode here. I talked to my D today and she’s ready. I said, ‘tell that to the baby!’. My bag is packed and ready to go as soon as we get the word.
@alwaysamom, please update us and let us know when your grandbaby arrived!
Bumping this to ask for the wisdom of this group. I have a 12-week-old (adorable) grandson who fights taking a bottle, even though it’s breastmilk. His mom, my d1, went back to work last Thursday. I’m caring for the baby until mid-January.
We had a rocky 2 days last week. He supposedly received a bottle every day or two after the first month, though I think that was honored more in the breach than in the observance. Kiddo was not happy last week and I was more frazzled than usual. And my daughter worked from home last week, so she could nurse him at least once during the day. Tomorrow I have to get through 10 hours solo.
None of us (me, d, SIL) have recently gotten him to take more than 1.5 ounces from the bottle at a time. After struggling with that - he either wails and tries to twist away, or gums and complains about it - I’ve given him another ounce or so by medicine dropper. He loves this and is very social and charming during the 20 minutes or so it takes to dribble an ounce into the little guy. It really doesn’t seem practical as a continuing solution, though.
He seems to have developed a case of nipple confusion because it’s now harder for my daughter to get him to latch on to the breast. He’s a big baby, her second, and nursing has gone well up to this point. He has his first cold and a lot of nasal congestion. We’ve experimented with 3 different types of nipples and have found one he (barely) tolerates better than the rest. Any thoughts or words of encouragement?
I’m not a grandma yet, but I am a mom of 5, so I have plenty of nursing experience. The nasal congestion and cold are probably contributing to the problem. He may be having difficulty breathing with his mouth on the nipple of the bottle and taking it through a medicine dropper is easier because he can breathe. The problem with that is he will want the dropper to continue after his cold is gone because it’s more fun.
I have another thought, because this happened with my oldest. As it turned out, he was allergic to both breast milk and the formula I tried instead. He would scream, wail, fuss, etc. when he had a bottle. At the suggestion of a friend who is a NICU nurse, I switched him to soy formula and the fussiness subsided. Maybe your little grandson has a sensitivity as well. I wound up using soy formula for all of the rest of the kids when I stopped nursing.
One last thing, that I was told by a lactation consultant, was that if the baby was showing nipple confusion, I should try a few (as you did) and then go with the one that bothers him the least and get rid of the others. Ditto on bottle styles. Trying too many is problematic. Also, I was told that I shouldn’t be in the house when he was being bottle fed until he was completely weaned.
My favorite pediatrician, of blessed memory, told me that a baby, no matter how fussy, will usually eat when s/he is hungry enough. Most babies are equipped with survival skills that will let them get enough to get by.
@frazzled1 - It may be easier when your D is not at home. My GS somehow knew when D was in the house.
I found great success taking him in the nursery and having the lights low and the sound machine on when giving GS a bottle. He also liked holding my hair in his fist. He loves D’s hair, too.
The other thing I did was practice ‘paced bottle feeding’ so GS would not prefer the bottle. There are many articles and there is a YouTube video that shows how to do it.
You are such a blessing to your D and GS and family. I’ll be thinking about you tomorrow and sending a cyber ((HUG)) your way.
@alwaysamom, do you have news?
This is just the kind of information I was hoping for - thanks so much, @techmom99 and @hrh19! The “paced bottle feeding” makes a lot of sense and I’m going to try it tomorrow. I agree about the need not to offer a variety of nipples. I think we’ve found the one he’s most willing to tolerate and we’re going to stick with that.
My kids didn’t have bottles and I’m very aware of my lack of expertise here. My oldest grandson resisted bottles too (now there was a learning curve) but once you got him to take it, he’d drink more than 1.5 ounces. On Friday, my newest grandson only had, at most, 5 ounces over an 8-hour period. I’m worried that he isn’t taking in enough fluid, especially with a cold. He can nurse around the clock once his mom is home, I know, but I hate to think of the little guy being unsatisfied all day
Good luck!
Adding to @techmom99’s post. There was some concern that GS was sensitive to dairy, so D gave up all dairy until GS was about eight months old. When she reintroduced it to her diet, there wasn’t a problem, so that may not have been an issue. Who knows?!
We were invited to go with D, SIL, and GS to see Santa today. It was so much fun.
When I went back to work when S was only 3 months old, he resolutely refused bottles and H (or mom when she was watching S on Wednesdays) had to bring S to my workplace to nurse over lunch because he’d refuse all bottles and cry except when I nursed him. He wait until he came for lunch and then latch onto me as soon as I got home from work and stay up all night nursing. I quit for good after 6 weeks of this. We never could find a nipple/bottle that S liked and D was equally stubborn.
I’m glad others have found solutions that were less drastic than ours.
S2 reacted to the dairy products I ate. Cut them out and that helped. He would not take a bottle if I was around. I had to leave the house if DH was feeding him. S2 would smell me and breastmilk, and hold out for that.
Yes, I have news! My new grandson arrived last week. I haven’t been on CC because I’ve been up with them! Such fun and he’s darling and good, so far. My poor D had 48 hours of labor and ended up with a C section because that little devil just wouldn’t come out. We’ll be back there, with the entire family for Christmas. My D and SIL will share a year of parental leave, with a month overlap with leftover vacation time from 2017. They are very fortunate to live in Canada, I realize every time a friend’s D or S in the U.S. has a baby and has to return to work so quickly.
Congrats,@alwaysamom!
GS2 was premature, 5 weeks. He got a cold and it went rapidly to RSV, very serious and potentially deadly for a newborn, escpciallly a preemie. Spent 12 days in ICU and is home and fine now. Sending donatiions to the children’s hospital. We just got back from a trip south so we have to wait to see him to wait out any incubation period for any illness we might have gotten on our travels. 6 more days and counting. And we are pretty much staying away from any crowds.
Singersmom07, glad to hear your GS is doing better. What a scary time for the parents!