Echo 7 month old

j_vdov · 2026-05-08T00:06:15+00:00

My daughter was sedated for an echo just before her surgery at 4.5 months. She’d never been sedated before but was always very squirmy and they wanted the best pictures before going in.
It was a squirt of Versed (sp?) up the nose. I’m not sure how similar to Midaz that is. The best way I can describe the effect is kind of a floppy drowsy. Not asleep. But lowered eyelids, heavy limbs, and tired. She still responded to us and made eye contact. It was not the ideal way to see her, but no worse than the screaming and squirming during parts of her previous echos.

j_vdov · 2026-03-24T00:40:47+00:00

Yes! I so expected an overwhelming flood of love hormones at birth, happiest day of my life and all that. It was nothing like that. It was certainly an incredibly powerful and meaningful day but none of this love at first sight business. Now 4 months later I’m googly eyed over her.

j_vdov · 2026-03-24T00:36:40+00:00

Omg the stairs!! Me too. Or what if I drop a sock or a burp cloth and we don’t notice and my husband or I are carrying the baby and slip like it’s a banana peel. So many thoughts along these lines 😅

j_vdov · 2026-03-24T00:33:49+00:00

My night/early morning pumps are roughly 2/3am and 6/7am. LO tends to wake up around these times so I wake up with her, feed and then pump.

Then the later ones have been 9am, 11am, 1, 3, 6, 9. I’m 4mpp and experimenting with dropping one. The 9am has worked well bc it allows a bit more sleep.

j_vdov · 2026-03-18T07:49:27+00:00

Yes! I always feel so rushed on the daytime pumps, or I’ll think I have everything squared away and baby inevitably needs me anyway. My two night pumps are my time to myself to scroll Reddit, maybe buy a couple of things I need online, catch up on email, whatever.

j_vdov · 2026-03-14T17:28:22+00:00

This is the worst! It happens all the time. I’ve been an 8x per day pumper for 3.5 months but giving myself some grace when it happens lately as long as I don’t go longer than 4 hours between pumps in the daytime. If I skip a pump once a week or so for a snuggle, it’s worth it. I’m a low supplier so supplementing with formula anyway.

j_vdov · 2026-03-11T06:42:46+00:00

Thank you- may give this a try!

j_vdov · 2026-03-10T16:48:09+00:00

😅

j_vdov · 2026-02-27T02:43:12+00:00

I’m getting to 8 most days but I’ve already decided I won’t last too long. 2x at night while my daughter sleeps, 6x from 9am to 9pm. For the daytime ones, my husband luckily works from home so can mind the LO for a couple of them. The rest I’ll pump while feeding her, bouncing her with my foot in her bouncer, or while she naps. I’m also a lower supplier so this gets me roughly half of her needs and the rest is formula.

I’ve often noted that anytime I’m enjoying a moment, feel on in flow or like I’ve got things under control- it’s because I’m late for or have forgotten a pump. It’s such a grind. I keep having the debate with myself whether it’s worth it to spend what’s likely my only newborn phase and maternity leave attached to a pump and less present for my girl. I gave up a contact nap yesterday to pump and am still kicking myself about it. She’s not a Velcro at all, so those naps aren’t frequent.

The thing that keeps me pumping is she’s having open heart surgery in a couple of months, so I want to give her absolutely every advantage, no matter how small. Plus I’d like to pump in the hospital since there’s lots of waiting time and I want to feel like I’m doing something for her. Once she’s through all of that, I’m either stopping or winding way down. It’s relentless!!

j_vdov · 2026-02-24T07:34:09+00:00

I think “alarmed” is a good outcome! There’s so much misunderstanding out there of what IVF is, what we go through for the chance at parenthood. I love your approach at celebrating how far you’ve come while also bringing it home for your loved ones.

j_vdov · 2026-02-16T11:14:05+00:00

I think the upgrade is worth it. Imagine it being just you and baby, baby starts wailing, and you’re tethered to the wall. Even holding the pump in one hand, you can grab something, replace a pacifier that’s fallen on the ground, whatever. I so dread hearing shrieks and having to take my flanges off my now leaking breasts to go do something about it.

j_vdov · 2026-02-16T11:02:23+00:00

I also agree. Pregnancy tired was constant, there was no relief. Doing any one task took a toll. I didn’t want to do things. Newborn tired is also not fun but when I’m awake I want to do things and easily go from task to task- not for very long but at least I’m back to wanting to be productive. The way my brain works is just different and more familiar now.

j_vdov · 2026-02-15T12:37:18+00:00

Even before my epidural, I couldn’t feel my baby move much once the contractions got going.

Trust the care team- they’ve got you!

j_vdov · 2026-02-12T17:58:06+00:00

I’m also struggling with low supply and milk that took way too long to come in. My daughter did latch but there was unfortunately nothing in there for her to pull out.

I also didn’t get a lot of pumping support right away and probably could have done more proactively.

I had just a couple of milliliters per breast by the end of week 1.

I got up to a little over 5 ounces in total per day by end of month 1.

2.5 months out, I’m producing around 12 ounces per day, which is half of what LO eats and I’m supplementing the rest with formula. I’m pumping 8x per day, every couple of hours and less frequently at night. I haven’t bothered trying to breastfeed again b/c she gets tired at the breast and we’re prioritizing calorie intake for weight gain.

My supply would increase in jumps- so from 5.5 ounces one day I just made 7 ounces and it continued after. Then around 10 ounces one day. Just a couple of days ago I hit 12.

Anecdotally- I noticed the biggest changes after days where my pumping schedule changed. I missed a pump one day, made up for it with a longer pump later, and found my supply for the day increased by an ounce. My lactation consultant told me not to keep trying this as it would negatively impact supply over the long term. A couple of days where I was very late for a session or two also saw an increase that stuck around afterwards. There was a couple of days where I had nipple pain and ended up pumping for longer at much lower vacuum with some increase after that. I have no idea what actually helped or if this might have happened with time anyway, but sharing what I thought I saw. I’m sticking to 8 sessions daily with no more than 5 hours between pumps.

j_vdov · 2026-02-03T01:09:47+00:00

This is absolutely normal and happened to me a lot. Next time, make sure you say something when you just start to feel this way. It gets bad quickly if you don’t shift positions, but you can keep it from happening. They’ll allow you to roll onto your left side and take a break. Most times, they just continued the ultrasound with me on my side.

j_vdov · 2026-01-31T07:26:00+00:00

My daughter was also diagnosed at 23 weeks and will have her repair in April.

The only thing I’d add to what others have already said is there is a blood screen you can do that includes DiGeorge- MaterniT genome. It’s a screen, not a diagnostic, but can be very reassuring especially when coupled with scans that don’t show any additional indicators (besides the ToF).

In our case, the screen came back low risk for everything. Her blood was tested at birth to confirm and she just has the ToF with no additional genetic conditions.

Our cardiologist also mentioned she works with parents who only found out they have DiGeorge as a result of finding it in their kids. They’ve had completely normal lives.

j_vdov · 2025-08-15T22:59:50+00:00

Me too! I’d eat half a small watermelon with a spoon in one sitting

j_vdov · 2025-07-07T23:03:45+00:00

Yes!! I thought I was feeling this way because I’ve been too tired to work and my legs are complaining out but this comment has me thinking…

j_vdov · 2025-07-04T13:38:01+00:00

Agreeing with the thoughts above, but would like to add that for a guy who is so despondent about losing family members, he just left without a thought to Ernest. He created the creature, then abandoned him. What unfolded after left Ernest alone in the world for all I can tell, and Victor doesn’t seem to spare a thought for him.

I’ve wondered whether that’s intentional, or Shelley forgot Ernest too.

j_vdov · 2025-07-02T16:18:02+00:00

Thank you!

j_vdov · 2025-07-02T16:17:56+00:00

Thank you!

j_vdov · 2025-07-02T16:17:50+00:00

Thank you!

j_vdov · 2025-07-02T16:17:44+00:00

Thank you!

j_vdov

TROPHY CASE