June 2013 - thread 9 - not many babies left to arrive now :-)

[MrsBri]

New thread as we appear to be talking a fair bit!

Lets hope we've all given birth by the end of this one :-)

Eh? Your friend rang a heavily pregnant woman at midnight because you didnt reply to a text?? Even if you were in labour did she expect you to be giving her a minute by minute update? Flipping nora Curious!

Anyway i'd just like to thank whoever it was that recommended Ewan the dream sheep ages ago. He's so magic Lily has just done her first nocturnal stint in the moses basket. Even if she now screams all night it is a step in the right direction. Of course DH and i are now thinking we'll need to get a second one for us when we finally move her out of the bedroom. Not sure how we'll sleep again without the sound of Ewans heartbeat.

I feel your pain ami, we also suffer the curse of the downstairs toilet. Those last few weeks of traipsing downstairs five times every night were awful.

Congrats, Steff :-) I saw Ethan's photo on Facebook posted by your DP and he's gorgeous!

I wish I could say my silence meant I had a baby but it doesn't :-( DH had the last couple of days off unexpectedly (no supplies to allow them to work) so we've been spending time together while we still can as a twosome. The weather has been amazing too. He's off til Monday now so we really need baby to arrive before then!

40 weeks today by scan. I'm still hoping he appears by his real due date of Sunday though!

And I have elephant ankles :-( I swelled yesterday. My bloody fingers are massive too. Hoping it is just late pregnancy. I'm not seeing a midwife again until Tuesday for a sweep, so hopefully it's not blood pressure.

Bored of waiting now.

So who else has a toddler and a newborn and how are you coping? I'm finding this hard. DS having been fairly angelic (compared to other similar aged kids) started being more toddlerish a week or so before dd was born. Now I feel like I'm having to spend all day telling him no. All his behaviours are typical toddler so I can't work out how much is him being upset by the new arrival versus just him being a toddler. So I don't know how much to try to discipline him and correct behaviours versus making allowances. Arrgh. He's suddenly turned into this bossy ("mummy don't do that") little boy, who ignores any instructions, gets into everything, gets really frustrated/angry if we say no, and even physically tries to pull things away from us if we tell him he can't have something. At least he's sweet with his sister, but man is it exhausting! Also now feeling bad for neglecting the newbie, as I feel like all I can do is feed her, and put her down to have to attend to her older brother. Any tips???!

Morning! MrsBri, was convinced you'd beaten me to it! My sweep not til Wed - the race is on . Nothing to report hear but at least I'll make DS1's class assembly this morning.

Sunny, so glad to hear that Ewan the sheep is helping! Mine is still in the box waiting!

Aloha, sounds like completely normal behaviour to be honest. Plus he's got all the moving vibes/stress to deal with, in top of new baby. Are you able to keep any of his routine the same, ie nursery/child minder? I think the second baby does get a bit ignored though really as they do just need you for food in the beginning! It will get better .

Although I don't have another one, when I was at midwife last there was a lady who I am guessing was in for her 6 week check. She was trying to breastfeeding little one and her toddler kept trying to grab the baby off her and telling her to stop it. When I was leaving they were coming out toddler decided to lie on the floor in that classic tantrum banging floor with hands and feet screaming sort of way. Mum was coping really well with it but I remember feeling like I wanted to give her a big cuddle.

I do want more than one, but Jesus. This is hard enough with one! Sending you some massive hugs!

Oh dear. Had a massive row about not a lot with DH. A full week of no sleep and being trapped in a house is starting to take its toll I think...

Mawg, at least ds doesn't have tantrums (yet). Not looking forward to that scenario!

Learner - sadly of all weeks his Childminder has been on holiday this week, so its just been us. I think I just find it hard as I want to make allowances for him having a hard time but don't want to end up being too lenient then subsequently have to try and correct lots of bad behaviours iyswim. I sometimes wonder if I expect too much, partly because he is so good at talking you tend to assume he has the comprehension and emotional maturity to match. But he is only two, just a baby really.

iam and pep- crazy we all have our appts next thursday. dont no about you but dont fancy still being pregnant then 40+2 sounds to far for me im so inpatiant. im from nottingham and have heard people getting sweeps from 38-42 weeks but my mw was not entertaing my idea of a sweep yesterday :(
are you having boys or girls? im have a girl.

Girl here babybe- although I still dont think I'll truly believe it until I see her! I'm really hoping that having the appt already booked will tempt my body into going before! Fingers crossed for us all!

Aloha our sons sound very similar. DS is big for his age and his language skills are really good. I do think that sometimes I forget that he's still only a baby really at 2.5. He's been so placid and so well behaved since birth pretty much ( I think it's to make up for the birth!) and I'm really not sure how he's going to cope and how I'm going to cope with how he copes if that makes sense?!

Mrsbri- could you pop to practice nurse at your gp or a lloyd's/boots pharmacy and ask them to check your blood pressure just to be on the safe side? I'm convinced its to do with the combination of general end of pregnancy/ crazy changes in air pressure with the delightful British weather but can't hurt to check. It's nice that your DH has some time off do you can make the most of some time for the two of you before the madness!

I need to get a Ewan! Maybe I'll hint to my sis in case she doesn't know what present to buy!

And I think that sleep deprived arguments are perfectly normal. I know that DH and I had quite a few in the early days. It came as a shock as we never used to argue really but really helped to talk about our sleep deprived state at better moments so that we could cut each other some slack.

Sunny - yes, how ridiculous is that?? My DH wasn't best pleased...

I'm so happy to hear good reviews of Ewan! I've got mine ready in the crib and am hoping it will be the miracle it promises to be

I'm going in for pre c section bloods today in preparation for Tuesday! I haven't told anyone in RL that I've been given a date (except for my parents who are going to look after DD and our dog) so hopefully I'll get some time with just the baby and DH before everyone starts messaging me!

Aloha - I'm not there yet but my friend went through a little rough patch with her DS1 when DS2 was born and now at about 8 weeks in he is just besotted with him, things are a lot better, and she says she feels a lot less guilty and uses naptimes to be with the other child.

AmI, I have to call the hospital anyway in a bit as while Baby B is moving he isn't as active as normal, so I imagine I'll end up going in to see what he's up to. If not, I'll look at having my blood pressure taken.

My fingers are so fat I can't even get DH's wedding ring on! I'm glad that I took my rings off even though I miss them!

Learner, the race is really on, isn't it? Really want baby now, it has to be said.

I'm having a girl too babybe

Top marks for Ewan here as well. Polly loves him and he really settles her and I like it as well. DH made me laugh the other day. Ewan was on and he said ''Polly must have turned him on'. Yes. 13 days old with no control over hands and head and she managed to crawl down the bed and turn him on. Do you think it's more likely that I turned him on?!

aloha - I've only violet but have heard others say having a 'special' box of toys for older dc that comes out only when feeding/needing to do something with baby can be really helpful - but has to be put away when not feeding etc.
I'm sure it is just toddler behaviour and exploring boundaries and adjusting to everything. maybe with the move and changes focusing on the good behaviour may be the route go take. DO what ever feels right for you.

As for dp's and biting their heads off...it's ok, mine hasn't been Home a week yet and I've had to bite my tongue on several occasions... and when he moans he's tired I have to resist picking up closest heavy object and it making contact with him and resist reminding him he's sleeping thru the night just fine!

We're tempted to buy the tommee tippee perfect prep machine as getting so much conflicting advice about bottles and don't fancy spending hours over one in the middle of the night! Trouble is I found out today it had been on offer for £69.99 and now it's back to £99 so am loathed to buy it as it had been so much cheaper!

Not relevant at all but very pleased with my 8oz expressed this morning

No other DCs here either so can't help I'm afraid but I'm sure it will get better

Good tactic curious! It should buy you some time. Unfortunate side effect will be 'those' texts but I reckon the pay off is worth it!

Good luck with hospital mrsbri!

Gina I've heard about that thing and it does look very clever but isn't something if ever manage to convince DH is worth the investment unfortunately. We found last time that buying the ready made cartons of formula was a life saver! It was a bit more pricy but worth every penny. ( I also think that the smaller costs spread over time were easier for DH to accept than a big outlay in one go!)

I'd not if!

Well done pink!

AmI - yes we had priced up the cartons and thought about doing that for first couple of weeks, we worked them out to be double the cost of powder formula. Hubby thinks just go for perfect prep, could probably sell on afterwards and get about half of the money back so price perhaps work out the same as if had just used cartons, I would go for it if I could find one for £70 - hate when thugs have been on offer you just don't want to pay full price then!

When we opened the Ewan box it said 'say goodbye to sleepless nights'. DH and I laughed uproariously at this and wondered if we could ask for our money back when it didn't work. Well I'm now sat downstairs having breakfast with the dog in silence while DH and Lily sleep upstairs each in their respective beds. I feel AMAZING!! Think I might buy shares in the company.

Definitely getting a Ewan - in fact may take a walk with DS into the shops and spend some of my lovely gift tokens :)

Ps 8oz is LOADS pink... I've never managed more than 2.5!

Wow am jealous of how much you can express. Mi e is rubbish. That said she's on the boob A LOT. Even upped the formula intake yesterday and was still hungry. She won't be put down much do expressing opportunities are rather limited. Have heard that the amount you express doesn't reflect how much baby is getting but I can't help worrying esp as her weight gain is sooooooo slow. Got my nct girls coming for lunch, should be interesting to see how I can prepare anything with baby who just wants to eat and decided yesterday she no longer liked her sling! Little pickle!

I get about 2.5 maybe 3 on the rest of my expressions during the day but the morning one... Even I impressed myself