TTC a 2012 baby - THE GRADUATES!! Pt 2

[ghosteditor]

Here's the new thread ladies!!!

May this one bring some BABIES!!!

Your poor ds, babybrain! That must be awful. I haven't had chickenpox either and had a few close calls during my pregnancy. Shingles runs in my family too. I recall reading that it's not as dangerous as you think during pregnancy and there are higher risk periods (possibly 2nd trimester, can't remember). Of course, I hope you don't catch it as it must be hard enough to look after an ill child without being poorly yourself!

Ladies! Hello from my mum's sofa.... still It was such a lovely rest at first, but 5 weeks in, I want to go home! Not helped by builder telling me I could move us back yesterday... HA! Still, got the baby show on Sunday at Excel with my darling best friend so that is keeping my drifter spirits raised slightly. Anybody not going who wants any info on anything, let me know soon and I will write a list.

Babybrain, that's awful. Hope your poor ds feels better soon and that you are totally immune. But how lovely of your dd being so excited! Long may all those symptoms continue. Preferably the better ones, but the not so great if needs be.

carlita, sounds like you are speeding along with the renovations not jealous not jealous not jealous not jealous not jealous Really thrilled its young so well for you, but I second not over doing it, there's no point in injuring yourself now!

David (its my phone's autocorrect, but I kinda like it... sorry!) I am so excited! These symptoms sound very hopeful! Gah, its like ttc all over again! Ttl - trying to labour. Think it'll take? [Hopeful]

Yes, so the only things of interest in my life currently would be ds hitting the ripe old age of 3 on Friday (need to make a cake!) and the house. It's been going on since November now, we have added a downstairs wc, updated the kitchen, added a ground floor extension to the front and rear and joined our loo room to the rest of the bathroom upstairs. We are tantalizingly close to finishing but seem unable to actually move forward until the builders and subs are finished and they are now dragging their heels. I may kick them. Yes, well, that's me caught up... I hope, I think. I'm not, am I?

Hi Babybrain sorry about the shingles It must be awful for both of you. Your DD sounds lovely - but you're probably right in that the whole world will now know!

How's things?

Hi fools - I figured I was an autocorrect victim Gotta love the iPhone! And I like the Ttl too (although my autocorrect changed it to Tyler - go figure ). But I'm pretty much destined to go into labour tonight, as tomorrow is my last day in the office so I've left my laptop at the office to save me lugging it home & back But I've got my blackberry so I can always let the boss know if so. Happy birthday for your DS for Friday! Mmmmm cake - we went to a party on Sat for my friends 2yo and it was cowboy themed with a horse cake - twas fab! Sorry to hear about your house frustrations. It sounds like you've had LOADS done to it. It will be fabulous when you eventually move back in And a good kick always helps

I'm now on a train feeling really uncomfy Baby is definitely engaged as I'm walking like a cowboy and have loads of pains down there. So glad I only have one more day left to do as I've clearly done too much walking today - oops. On the plus side I bought some gorgeous little babygros from Next. They are white but have lovely bright patterns on them of stripes, elephants and spots - I'll link if they do them online and I can find them.

Ooh I love babygrow shopping! DD looks fab in bright colours so my favourite outfit so far is the tea pot sleep suit from this pack. I had it in newborn but loved it so much I've just bought it again in 0-3 months. It has those handy little mitts to prevent scratching too!

I hope everyone is well.

I have sinusitis(sp) and tonsilitis. I have been given anti biotics and strong painkillers. I am feeling very very sorry for myself. My nose is completely blocked and I am struggling to clear it.

I am trying to get as much rest and sleep as possible but it's not easy with the school run etc.

Hi all! Just a quick check-in

Sorry your DS is ill baby, hope he recovers soon and you don't have to stay away from him, must be horrible!

Carlita sounds very exciting! and tiring! Hope your PGP is behaving itself.

Great to hear from you fools! Gosh you must be desperate to get home by now! Hope you are soon. I think you are well within your rights to kick them, yes. Happy birthday to your DS for Friday my DS is 3 next month, such a tiring lovely age

Urgh kayzr sounds miserable! so sorry to hear that. Hope you're better soon!

Ghost fantastic that you're doing so well! I was the same after having DS, very active. Am only just starting to be able to do any proper walking since having Lilly, gosh, that bruising was something else! How's Jools doing?

Everything going well here. DD has put on weight well, and is still feeding too often. DS is besotted with her, lots of hugs and kisses, letting her borrow his beloved blue blanket (BIG deal) and yesterday he was making her smile - gooey proud mum moment there!
We've had a couple of consultants/paediatric surgeons appointments since I was last on and they're all happy with how Lilly's getting on. As long as there's no problems we don't have to go back until June for another scan to monitor the cyst.

It's been a long day today, DS has come down with a bug so he's been very clingy, so that on top of having a 4week old means I've not been able to get much done. So, I'm off to eat mini rolls and jelly babies instead of catching up with housework How I've lost 2st 10lbs since having Lilly I don't know!!! breastfeeding is apparently the ultimate diet plan!

Speaking of breastfeeding, I have finally found a brand of breast pads I like! Exciting, I know! So, if you're interested, Linsinoh are the way to go! They stay in place, are really thin, don't show under clothes and don't leak. Have tried Boots own brand, Johnson's and Tommee Tippee and they weren't as good, imo.

Ok this might not work as it's taking me to the mobile site but here's the link

m.next.co.uk/mt/www.next.co.uk/x492886s6%23814796x49

The colours don't look like the actual ones though, as they are more primary colours really, and much nicer in real life. Love the teapots though ghost - shame they are unavailable I may have to see if they have any in store

Oh Kayzr you poor thing Sending lots of get well vibes and some in a pretty feeble attempt to make you feel better

Cross post Bun - glad to hear things are going well for you!

LOVE those elephants! We have Babar posters in Jools's room so elephants are a bit of a theme for us.

kayzr poor you. I've had a horrid cold, as has DH, and I've had tonsillitis so many times, it's awful. You deserve ice cream or sorbet!

bun it sounds like your family is doing so well! Your ds sounds like a treasure. I've also lost over 2 stone but still have a lot to go, and my hands are still puffy. Most of what I lost was water weight and went almost instantly, so I'm not sure if breastfeeding is doing much for my weight loss! Jools has been gaining weight steadily though and has been feeding like crazy for the last few days. Tonight she's been good as gold, which is a relief after the last few weeks of colicky evenings. She's a good little baby though and she tends to sleep in 3-4 hour bursts at night, so I can't complain.

Re breast pads - I've tried a few and like my washable ones the most. I loved my lily pads but they stopped sticking after only a few days, which is not on for £15 a pair! I have the lanisoh ones too but they seem to wrinkle a bit. I don't leak much though so tend to use pads in the day only for comfort.

We're trying out reusable nappies at the moment ...

Wow, busy here for once! sorry you're ill kayzr hope you get better soon! good to hear your updates bun and ghost, glad the girls are getting on so well and at your weight loss! bet that doesn't hope that happens for me! Why the face about the nappies ghost? Anything I can help with?
Glad your first RLT tablet didn't cause labour to start davina

part two, memory not up to it...sorry about your DS babybrain, poor thing. When do you find out if you are immune and how exactly do they propose you stay away from him?!
fools sounds like you've done very very well yourself on the renovations, we've only stripped some wallpaper and made some decisions so far! It's been fun though. Thanks for the concern too, PGP is still causing lots of pain particularly at night but isn't getting any worse. I'm trying to sit down whilst stripping paper as often as I can and I have the wood paint now so can sit at the table and paint etc. I'm really not cut out for sitting around doing nothing so am pleased to have a project! DH is looking after me and insisting I have rests etc!

Thanks Carlita - the wobbly face at nappies was because we're unsure about them - are they really cheaper in the long run, better for DD, better for the environment etc? With all the washing and drying I just don't know, and DH is unconvinced. We have the Bumgenius flip system which seems great and a good fit and contained a huge poo yesterday. But should we wet pail, dry pail, rinse and wash, wash and rinse etc? They didn't really come with instructions! We spent £40 on two wraps and six inserts plus a pack of disposable inserts. It's all so confusing!

Thanks for your concern for ds everyone, DP took a pic of his rash last night so I could see it-it looks so sore it's very difficult staying away from him, especially when all I want to do is give him lots of cuddles... Poor thing.

My blood test is today, but I don't think I get the results for a few days

Babybrain, sounds awful! Maybe you could explain the situation to the nurse/GP and ask them to put a rush on the results? It's always worth asking...

Hi Ghost. I've ordered Bumgenius and Tots Bots Bamboozle cloth nappies. The Tots bots arrived last week and i'm so impressed with them. My mum was very encouraging about it as she had me in Terry Towelling squares with safety pins when i was a baby. Having mentioned cloth nappies on FB a lot of people have come forward saying they did it and managed perfectly fine. I'd say just give it a good go and if it doesn't work out then there is the alternative of disposables. I had a quote from the Nappy Lady and for a child in nappies for 3 years (seems a bit long to me) the disposables came out almost 4 times more expensive than cloth. Many local councils also give 'rewards' if your health visitor person can confirm that you are using cloth. It's not loads (£30 for me) but still something. It's recommended that you don't tumbledry on high plus it's very expensive to do so, so if you can, then get them drying outside of dangling from something in the house. A load every 2 days will economically work out very well for you. I'm going to have disposable liners to catch the poop then stick the wet nappy in a bin with a couple of drops of lavender oil. Our you could have a muslin with a few drops of lavender oil on it and just place it on top of the used nappies. I'm not going to be wet pailing mine, It sounds way to yucky!

If i were you i'd just complete the form on the Nappy Lady site and get the free recommendation from that. Within it is basically a full on user guide on using cloth nappies. She's got loads of videos on youtube too showing how to do things with them and also caring for the nappies.

Even my DP who was so against the idea to begin with has compeltely changed his tune and is so up for it now.

My update is that i'm 25 weeks tomorrow. Baby is carrying on with it's hyperactivity. Last night it was raving it up in my belly and we could see if moving around. Must have been the sugar dinner from pancake day.

At the weekend I had a horrendous bout of norovirus. I don't know if i've ever been so ill. Thankfully we'd already read online that it doesn't hurt the baby so i was just worrying about how rancid I was. Anyway, all better now.

Every day at work this woman comments on my bump. I don't think i'm massive by any stretch of the imagination, and it's not really grown for about 2-3 weeks. It's definitely there though and I'm a lot bigger than the other lady who's due a day after me. Anyway, she says every single day that I'm getting bigger. It's really starting to grate on me because I'M NOT! Even when my bump had shrunk a bit at the weekend with the d&v apparently i'd "definitely got bigger". ANNOYING!

Ho hum, back to work........

Thanks mamma. We're going to give them a go at least! These quotes are always very interesting - do they include the water and electricity for washing and drying? We don't have a tumble dryer but we have a heated airer which seems to be up most of the time anyway!

Our council unfortunately doesn't offer financial incentives, just a test pack which we are responsible for picking up and returning within two weeks, and there's no local nappy person so we'd have to use one from another borough.

I'm keen and instantly felt that I preferred the reusable idea, but DH is very analytical and wants the hard facts, which I just can't provide. And if he's not on board then we're going to waste a lot of money on using both disposable and reusable!

Hello!!!!!!!

Right - not a snowflakes hope in hell of me doing a proper catch up - so will just respond to stuff that was directed at me and then catch up from my last post (kinda...) Sorry if I miss anyone out!!

davina it's not clear to me exactly why my rheumatologist is losing her general rheumatology patients. She works free of charge for the NHS so the only cost to them is her room in the clinic! As far as I can tell it's politics between her and the other consultants. She is the most popular consultant as she spends lots of time with her patients (and consequently runs late all the time) and if she doesn't know something she goes away and finds out for you. Basically, she makes the other consultants look bad! She is fighting losing her patients, both internally and through solicitors, but it doesn't look like she's going to win... :( I'm absolutely gutted as she's amazing and I really hate the idea of some other rheumatologist getting to decide my treatment if things don't go smoothly with the birth (for example, if I have a c-section i'll have to come off some of my meds and how/when I go back on is a bit of a judgement call...) I'm being transferred to the head of the rheumatology dept and will be meeting him for the first time in mid march - just got to hope that fuzzy doesn't come early!!

carlita no worries about the dungarees pattern - you've got plenty else on your plate right now!! Plus, my house is such a tip that there isn't really space anywhere to use the sewing machine anyway! The book of boys clothes patterns looks good - thanks for the link! :)

davina DP has been trying to get me to use ocado for the shopping, we sat and did a big order, went to finalise it and it came up with a stack of substitutions that ruined all our planned meals! So I gave up and went to the supermarket instead! Am doing a couple of days worth at each trip so it isn't too heavy, but not sure how much longer I'll be able to do that! Fortunately the SPD/arthritis back pains have almost completely subsided, so managing the trolley is easier - am only really getting pain when I sit down/lie down at night now so am fairly sure it's just the arthritis grumbling, which i'm used to and find easier to cope with!

carlita HUGE congratulations on moving!! Welcome to the south coast - it's awesome living by the sea! Am so impressed with how much you've been doing on the new place - I feel so sloth like by comparison!!

ghost glad all is going well! Jools sounds lovely - how great that she sleeps so well!
I have to say, I'm very (very very very) jealous of you getting back to your hockey practise!! I am desperately missing proper exercise and itching to get back to it!! I can only hope I bounce back even half as well as you have!!

Davina oooh! So exciting, loving the mental image of the cowboy walking!! (Doesn't sound much fun though)... So exciting that we could get another birth on the thread soon!

I too wanted to get something to wear in case of C-section as my PJs are all low slung ones that would catch on the scar/incision. I ended up buying a huge button up nightie instead of PJs - got this one in a size several times larger than I normally wear (to allow for bust/still reducing bump!) I figure it'll be stupidly warm on the ward so i'm unlikely to get cold legs (and I doubt i'll care about anyone seeing my hairy pins at that point!!)

babybrain - oh how awful with the shingles! That really sucks :( Hope you come back immune in the test results! Lovely that your DD is so excited about the baby though!! :)

Fools Hello!! 5 weeks with parents - wow - you're a better person than me, i'd have killed mine and buried them under the patio by now!! Fingers crossed you'll be home soon! You shall have to post some photos of the finished extension/s - it sounds amazing! How was the baby show?

Bun hurrah for Lilly doing so well! Wonderful news!! How lovely that your DS is so smitten with her - he sounds like a great big brother!!

Can't believe how much weight you've lost - is amazing!!

Pleased that you recommend the lansinoh pads - I read a load of threads on MN as research and bought those exact ones in preparation!! I'm feeling all smug now!!

Davina I have those exact babygrows from next as well!! They're lovely aren't they! Really nice soft fabric too! We also got the turtle top as well! I really like the fleecy top with little ears too and may yet crack and go and buy that as well!

mamma - oh the norovirus sounds awful - glad you're feeling better!

Kayzr hope you get well soon too!

As to me & fuzzy... I am 33 weeks today (hurrah!) and getting really quite big now!! I have quite the waddle!! I had my fortnightly scan on Monday and following some pretty major bump growth was expecting a good result - and WOW was I right! Fuzzy is now estimated to weigh a massive 4lbs 12oz!! His abdominal circumference has got steaming up the centile chart to around the 80th centile! My family are now convinced that he's going to come early as otherwise he's liable to be ENORMOUS! Am very pleased though! The other awesome thing from the scan was that the sonographer pointed out that his head was all white and fuzzy around the edge - it's hair!! Fuzzy appears to have quite the head of hair already!! He also stuck his tongue out at us during the scan - very cute! He's taking practise breaths (hence the sudden tendency to get hiccups lots!) and is generally doing just brilliantly!

I'm getting loads and loads of braxton hicks too - they don't entirely fit the description in my pregnancy book (they get worse if I try and walk/move through them, not better) but as they've been like this since I first started getting them i'm not worried. I do have to be very careful to not overdo it though; if I try and carry anything heavy/push a heavy shopping trolley/walk for too long I get near constant braxton hicks and have to rest!! Good excuse for taking so the sofa though!

I'm also on ranitidine for the heartburn at night - as it was getting worse again (waking up retching with a mouth full of acid) and so far it seems to be helping loads! Now if I could just not need to constantly wee!!

I'll try and get some scan photos up on my profile, but last time I tried I didn't seem to be able to reconnect my profile to my name following my xmas namechange ... will have another attempt though!

We too are planning on using washable nappies - we have these ones. My sister gave us a stack of the size 1 ones and we bought the pack linked in size 2 so we have basically got a birth to potty set for £100!! So from a cost point of view, I'm pretty confident that it will work out cheaper than using disposables. (We have an A rated washer/drier and will line dry in the spring/summer, which will also help).

The biggest thing for me about going down the washable route, was avoiding the stacks of nappies going to landfill - not just the energy involved in making/transporting/washing etc. Even the supposedly better "biodegradable" nappies don't actual break down properly in landfill. There's a wired article here that's quite interesting on this. We already try and recycle as much as we can of our rubbish, so to suddenly start chucking lots of nappies in the bin when we have a child just felt very wrong to us.

I'm also very sceptical about the report that came out claiming that washables weren't much better (if at all) than disposables. There's a guardian article here that outlines some of the issues with it. For example, ironing nappies? Er, no, won't be doing that! (Although in a fit of PFB-ness I have ironed the newly washed muslins I bought... they looked all creased after being washed!! Bet they never see an iron ever again!!)

We will be dry pailing - everything i've seen says it's better for modern washables. Instead of having a bucket we're trying a wet bag (we have a small house with very limited floor space - the wet bag can hang on our back door, right by the washing machine, much more easily than a bucket can fit anywhere in the house). The plan is to chuck any poo into the toilet straight away, so there is minimum stink in the bag itself, then wash them each time we have a full bag. Will probably put some lavender oil or similar into the bag as well, just to help offset any smells! Will let you all know how we get on with it!!

I initially planned on getting a few disposables just in case we didn't get on with the washables when fuzzy was born, but I figured that if the washables are all we've got, we're more likely to persevere with them! Given that I used to do my younger sister's terry nappies (squares, with whopping great scary nappy pins!) I figure I will cope fine with the lovely, shaped, easy to use washables I've got for fuzzy! (ooh, famous last words, feel free to mock me when I come on the post natal thread whining about nappies and how much washing I have to do!!)

I've pre-washed the size ones 4 times so far, am aiming to do another 4 washes if I can, so they will be as absorbant as possible!

I do agree that there is a lack of info on the basics of using washables though - the kit I got from Lollipop came with nothing, for example. Fortunately my sister has provided lots of info for me, plus i've been lucky enough to have lots of time to spend googling/researching online! I do feel a bit nervous about it, it is definitely more complex than bunging on a disposable! But I figure it'll be one of those things that I very quickly look back on and wonder what on earth I worried about! Compared to the whole raising a child thing I suspect it'll be easy!

There has been a big crash outside my house. The driver has had a heart attack and crashed into a wall and caused other crashes. Both Yorkshire Air Ambulances have been here and the road closed. There are police everywhere.

The driver has died and as I left to get DS2 from playschool they were putting the body in the ambulance in a bag.

Feeling very very shaken up by it all.

Oh my word kayzr what a shock for you. Have a cup of tea and a sit down. [hugs]

Thanks for your thoughts about reusables! We gave it a month with disposables so that we didn't have to worry about washing - i'm glad as I never would have made it work with the week in hospital. Plus we've had dozens of visitors and I would have been a bit precious about having nappies drying everywhere! I also read that newborns can be a bit too small and the nappies might leak more, causing more work! So you're braver than me!

So I guess the consensus is for dry pailing then? One word of warning - I doubt you'll be able to dispose of newborn poo if bfing - it's very liquid and seeps through liners.

Poor you kayzr
Totally agree with trope's post re reusables in cost and research, when you take it all in to account - manufacture, transportation, washing, drying, landfill etc. washables win hands down, no doubt in my mind. It's hard though to get good data/stats as the disposables companies are the ones with the money for research so it's usually biased, flawed and doesn't take all aspects in to account. I also don't like the thought of all those chemicals against my little baby's bum so would have to buy the Eco disposables if I was going down that route with are even more costly. As I ebayed mine and used the London nappy incentive (£52) I spent a total of £20 from birth to potty. If you do decide not to use them though ghost, I'll buy your flip wraps, I've been really impressed with them (the twins have them). The twin's nappies did leak a bit when they were in the newborn wraps but they were very skinny and the disposables leaked too. I have bought one pack of the naturacare disposables just in case we have to go in to hospital for a few days. My sister wet pails the nappies with tea tree oil, as does my friend, not icky at all.. Interesting you're all going with dry Pauling though, I'll look in to it.
I also love the big bum cloth nappied babies have, so cute! I have tons of furry animal print wraps so he's going to look very cute I think!

Oh and yes, can't flush the newborn poo but the liners do catch some of it and are good for stopping wee soaking back against the skin, I'd recommend the bambino mio liners (from boots or mothercare) as they're very soft webbing.

I have the bambino mio liners!

Would tea tree oil be ok in the wet/dry pail do you think, as it's antiseptic?

The other thing is that we have two types of liner - one sort of microfiber pad, and another foldable organic cotton insert. The latter needs folding over at the back for girls and as we have the nappy on its smallest setting it's MASSIVE and very bulky. That won't hurt her back or anything, will it?

Thanks for the offer carlita - will see how we get on and let you know, they do seem very good.

Tea tree is one of the recommended oils to use. The bulkiness won't hurt her, don't worry. Microfibre is not recommended for use against the skin though (okay with cotton or something in between) as some babies are allergic to it and will get a rash. (prob very rare though) I will see how good my wraps are but have been so impressed by the flip I am considering getting a few if mine are at all leaky once he's 8lb or so.

Thanks Carlita - all good on the tea tree front then! The organic cotton insert (foldable) has been on for over four hours now and she's still not complaining, so it seems v absorbent! The stay dry inserts are sort of microfiber backed but the bit next to her skin is a different material that's ok, I think. We've had not even the tiniest sign of nappy rash yet so I'll look out for it with the stay dry inserts. I've heard really good things about the organic cotton one though.

Thanks ladies, I feel more positive about all this now!