Thread 13. TTC #1 Grads. Some of us still remember that thing called "a full nights sleep" for most, it's a mere memory.

[AudreyBradshaw]

Behold, the wonder of birth! Members from 6 weeks bfp to post-partum wonder Mamas! No question to grotty or minging.

We've come full circle from obsessing about cervical mucus to now obsessing if it's our vagina baby plug going! What larks!

Lots of talk about poo, ours and now babies too! Baby brain is REAL! From morning sickness in the first trimester to the third trimester struggle of getting out of bed ( "walrus-ing"in our house), to actual real babies who are growing so fast! Discussion on the merits of sleepyhead and Ewan the dream sheep.

Sooo many gorgeous babies now! And equally lovely Mummy's! We are amazing! What a year! Can you believe it's been a year since our first tentative TTC thread!? Look how far we've come!

Roll up, literally, in my case, cause I'm practically rotund! for TTC #1 Grads!

Miley sounds like teething, definitely a possibility at this age. We have a drooly fist chewer here but no red cheeks or upset yet.
You sound a hilarious drunk

Eek due date imminent Stardrey so excited. I vote boy.

Canters that is such a lovely post.

Co5mo and Miley. I've been drinking for a while, I'll have one or two glasses of prosecco a few of nights a week or a G& T/spiced rum and ginger. The amount of alcohol that gets into your milk is so tiny. I would never get drunk though as need to be able to hold him to feed him.

Indi don't try formula yet if she's ebf and your wanting to keep her that way. They say never give up on a bad day. Have you kept her upright for 20mins after a feed? Does her breath smell acidic? You may get prescribed infant gaviscon for her. Which they will say mix with water but you can mix with expressed breast milk. I hope it eases for you both.

Thanks bunch/nev!
Nev maybe it isn't reflux then maybe she is just greedy and over eating. She eats a LOT and never fusses when on the boob, the only symptom she has is being sick after feeds.
Bunch I've been holding her upright after feeds but she can still be sick basically straight after them which is why I'm now thinking she's overfilling herself.
Maybe it's just because she's going through her first leap developmentally and she's fussing and probably suffering with a bit of colic. She's having a sleep now and seems pretty content. Her breath doesn't smell great after being sick obviously but it just smells sicky not acidic as such.
I'm thinking it may be more towards colic as it's the late afternoons/evenings that she is the worst. Anyone use anything for colic? I have some infracol in which I haven't used for a few weeks so may get her back on that.
Parenting is hard, you just want to make them better and do everything right for them. Sorry for having a whinge, just feel a bit helpless.

Oh and Cosmo/miley/bunch I've had a few drinks too. I think 2 drinks are fine if BF, I had 3 proseccos one night and just fed her pre-expressed bottle and then by the time she needed her next feed it was middle of the night so the alcohol would be out of my system. Enjoy your drinks ladies!! I feel like I
May need a large one tonight

Indi it's horrible feeling helpless but you're doing amazing.
Infracol may help with the colic and the late afternoon early evening thing does sound colic like. Also you can get granules -chamomila I think for colic,I think weleda does them. Boob comforts them during a leap so it would make sense she's taking more than usual (and then being sick) if she's going through a leap. Keep doing what you're doing. It's horrible to see and hear but you'll get through it. We're currently in leap four and it can apparently last 4-5 weeks . The app really helps though as you realise it's normal for them to be fussy/upset/ not themselves. I've got the book too.

indi Harrison's reflux is much like nev described. If I see him chewing I pop a dummy in then smell it to see if it smells acidic. He seems to be outgrowing it luckily. Hope you get sorted with Autumn!

bunch I like to think I'm funny But not the morning after! Never the morning after.

Anyone else have a little one who seems all for them? I'm apparently the only one who can calm Harrison down and settle him to sleep despite OH and his mums best efforts!! He's fine with my mum and dad usually though - how bizarre!

Will catch up when I'm in the bath with a glass of prosecco

....noticing Audrey is quiet today. Could it be???

Potato do you pop Arya's Sophie toy in the steriliser?! Ours has arrived today and I am not sure whether I need to

Feefs almost 12 weeks. He has woke at 4.30/4.45 last few nights which I strangely find more tiring as I don't really go back to sleep after

God that's flown by nev trying to think how long it'll be till we get one/two wake ups per night!!! I'm better at getting back to sleep early in he morning and usually scuppered if I wake at 12/1am I'm awake for ages.

Bunch did you find all your batch cooking useful in the end? Might start some this week. My parents are coming 13th Dec till 3rd January so hopefully they will do most of the cooking then so it would be for (???) 3 weeks old onwards.

I wish miley I am painy and sore in the underside of my bump where it's done an epic drop and the skin is stretched. And I'm suuuuper hormonal. Swinine between laughing, crying and stressing. So hopefully it's going to be soon because this not knowing is doing my head in now.

Hope everyone with poorly or colicky babies are ok and get some good sleep.

Oh Audrey I was hoping things were starting off with you. Not long now you're nearly there and your little baby will soon be in your arms.

Miley/ bunch/nev thank you for your words of wisdom today. Im now pretty sure it's not reflux now after hearing about your babies symptoms, autumn's only symptom was being sick quite a bit but none of the fussiness with feeding etc. So I think it's just colic, which is terrible as she gets so upset but I guess I can try to help her by giving her infracol etc. She's been on the infracol today and no crying at all!! Yay!! DH settled her before bed and she's been sleeping soundly since 8.30pm-ish

DH is away with work from Wednesday-Saturday and even though my mum is still staying with me, I get nervous when he is away. He helps mostly by settling her and just holding her while I get stuff done round the house but he's also there just to support me when I feel completely helpless if she's crying. Anyway, I'm sure I'll manage and I'll just keep up with the infracol and hope
For the best.

Hope you enjoyed your bath and proseccos miley! Sounds like bliss

Indi glad Autumn is showing an improvement. Bods is sometimes sick for no apparent reason too! You will be fine when your DH is away... and just think when he gets back he owes that many days of nappy duty haha!

Feefs I batch cooked too and used the last of it a couple of weeks ago so until about 10 weeks old. Such a good idea I think I will try and refill the outside freezer with them again. Just makes life easier on those tired days to be able to whip out a lasagne or whatever and whack it in the oven!

Audrey really hope your baby doesn't keep you waiting much longer!

Canters glad you are feeling well after the ELCS and enjoying minicanters. If you feel up to it before Christmas we should meet with the babies for a coffee seeing as we are in the same town!

Hope everyone else is well and enjoyed their weekend x

Indi sorry you've been having a tough time. Arya went through a stage of being sick all the time and crying. I think it's just something that passes but infacol is brilliant and really helped her.
Also, if you do decide to move to formula, stay away from SMA. It's well known for causing problems with indigestion.

Audrey get bouncing on a birthing ball. I'm sure that's what kicked things off for me. hope baby is here soon, need to see more cute newborn loveliness!!!

Nev I just clean Arya's Sophie in soapy water and rinse it off... she's at the stage where she stuffs her hands in her mouth all the time now so trying to save her from germs is futile lol

I ache all over! We're getting a new fridge freezer and dishwasher today as the integrated ones the left behind by the previous house owners were rubbish! The fridge had two climate areas, at the front everything went off and at the back everything froze and the freezer frequently froze solid. The dishwasher trays were knackered, all of the wheels were broken so the blades didn't turn and it used about a bottle of rinse aid a week no matter what setting you out it in. Anyway, we had to remove the old appliances and some if the cupboards and as I'm the one who knows how to do it (and best at brute force stuff) I ended up doing lots of lifting pulling and shoving. Now I'm broken! Still, it will be nice to go to the fridge knowing that stuff won't have gone off!

Arya slept until 5:30 last night. I'm getting something like a full nights sleep about 3 nights a week

I think I need a new bouncy chair for Arya. The legs of the one I have are all twisted. I'm not impressed but it was cheep. Can anyone suggest a better one?

We have a Fisher Price Infant to Toddler rocker chair rather than a bouncer. It's pretty sturdy and converts to a toddler chair for when LO is a bit bigger.

Fee we did some batch cooking and are using one or two dishes a week at the minute or we'd be sick to death of mince beef because we made huge volumes of chilli and bolognaise I've always cooked for 4 and put the remainder in the freezer so it's not that far from our normal except I bought a spare freezer to go in the garage so we could do more. Don't forget to label what you have made, freezer suprise can be disappointing when it defrosts to be something other than what you were expecting. Oh and if a random tried to follow you on Instagram the other day, that was me. I still don't think I've found everyone.

Ah was wondering who that was co5mo have followed you back now .

Right nev and co5mo I'm going to get on to the batch cooking. We do usually freeze leftovers but not in a particularly organised fashion!! I'm not particularly good at cooking when it's just for me so having some individual frozen stuff would be quite handy I think.

Poor you potato!! We've just done the same and replaced the dishwasher and oven which involved movement of cupboards etc but DH and his dad did it all they were wrecked so can only imagine how much harder it was being a new mum!

Co5mo - just added you on IG. I'm the one with the dog profile pic and a very similar surname!

feefs I didn't batch cook but really wish I had!! Would make life easier at lunch time. Though I do tend to go out a lot

Audrey hopefully very soon!!

indi glad Autumn us a bit better colic is awful but hang in there - you're a brilliant mum!

Well, Harrison went absolutely hysterical last night when I was in the bath and OH tried to give him a bottle I'd expressed, so we're going to have to try to give him a bottle every day or I'm never going to be able to leave the house without him

Cosmo got ya on IG!

Miley if I ate a proper meal at lunch I would be even fatter. Wish I could afford to do much in the days and eat out I am such a scrimper now we have the baby I refuse to spend money on anything for myself. Shame OH doesn't join in on the money saving haha.

One advantage to being the big breastfeeding failure of the group is Bods Dad can feed him whenever as can my Mum.

I have a screaming velcro baby yet again today am exhausted. DP got up to make Bodhi's middle of the night feed (not actually up to feed him he was up maybe 3 minutes) and got up with him at 7 so I could have 45 minutes extra sleep. I keep getting upbeat texts of you seemed to sleep so well last night or telling me how many hours I have slept so how good I must feel... i feel this is passive agressive expectation of house being spotless etc. It probably isn't but am so miserable at the moment it feels that way!!

nev!!!! don't refer to yourself as a failure! There's nothing wrong with bottle feeding at all. My OH loves to tell me that I 'had a good few hours' too. I wonder if it's their subconscious realising how shit they're being! My OH has stepped up but still does nothing in the night or during the day without me prompting! He actually put Harrison in his car seat in the car without a blanket then got pissy because I was telling him what to do. I'm not going to let my baby freeze to save your pride, sorry mate! Velcro baby is rough, I love cuddles but sometimes it's nice to do things such as eat and shower. We're on to the 3rd hour of Harrison napping on me and I'm so hungry my stomach thinks my throats been cut.

Autumn - sounds like colic but if it's reflux then stick to BF. We had to take Theodore to the hospital a couple of weeks ago as he lost his voice. It was either because of a cold or reflux - doctor not able to determine as everything was normal. If reflux then she said it was best to BF him as it would mean he could eat little and often. Obviously you can do the same thing if FF (i.e. feed on demand).

I think T has colic too. He is peaceful all day and then cries and fusses nearly continuously from 7 until 10. We are in boob cry boob cry boob cry cycle.

Re: SMA - I think all the formula milks have the same ingredients and they all have to be safe to consume by infants. Different babies probably get along with different formulae better.

Miley - Theodore needs to have a bottle every day between now and my work Christmas party or else I'm not going. We are on day 3 and it's not going well.

Hope he gets used to the bottle soon miley and Leonie.

You're not a failure nevlet! Bodhi is getting what he needs doesn't matter how he gets it! Sounds like you're having a rough day, he needs to drop the passive aggressive comments it's his job to look after bodhi too!!

Had my last Physio appointment prenatal today, it did help to settle my mind a bit she measured how far to separate my knees etc my pelvis is now out of alignment and 10mm separation at the pubic joint but she said it doesn't get much worse than this and I'm coping at the moment so actually feeling a bit more hopeful now and convinced I can get through the rest of this!! Have to make another appointment post natal and get seen when in on the ward but that's fine.

leonie Harrison is usually fine! Luckily he took it tonight no problem. I guess he was just in a fettle last night hope he's ok from now as I have 3 parties I'd like to go to!!!

feefs you're doing brilliantly coping so well! Not long to go - though you still have my sympathy

Just had a lovely evening with him - we didn't have the usual 6pm fussing I'm still in complete shock so we've had nice playtime instead of the usual being pinned to the sofa being used as a dummy... I love watching him develop day to day. He's grabbing toys this evening, it's exhausted him so much he's now flat out on my chest. I love my little Angel

I'm definitely one of those annoying thousand photos a day type mums...

nev definitely up for coffee! That would be lovely. You are not a failure at all, you've had quite enough to deal with.

Indi sorry things have been rough but glad autumn is a bit better. Definitely no need to switch to formula unless that is what you want, I think a bit of vomiting is very common/normal anyway. Hope dh being away isn't too bad!

Leonie how old is T now? Might just be cluster feeding due to growth spurt?

Potato yay for new appliances but boo for having to remove old stuff yourself!

Pink mini is named Rowan. I debated sharing it as feel very identifiable but there's nothing I've said on here I wouldn't IRL so screw it.

Feel like I've turned a corner with bf today after a couple of days of utter agony. Have started expressing and being able to rest my boobs and top R up during cluster feeds has made all the difference, we actually got him to sleep at 1am last night! Got midwife and breast feeding support worker coming tomorrow which will be nice. Ive also caved and ordered a sleepyhead as he won't be put down in the day and we're using rolled up towels at night. Had a lovely time at the pub yesterday and today I am wearing my pre preg fat day jeans! Happy days!

Evening all, hope you are all well. Loving all the baby pics

I'm 32w now so DH and I decided it was time to do a bit of shopping. We are really struggling to find anything that is unisex but did get a moses basket and some sheets, a few baby gros/vests (mainly plain white because there are no newborn baby gros that are not pink/blue) etc. Finding it really hard to find some cardigans to keep baby warm - it will be very cold when it arrives!

Still need to get pram, car seat, bath support etc. Also haven't bought any bottles, dummies, or a breast pump. I plan to BF but am not sure if it's a bad idea to get nothing to support that, or a good plan to force me to stick at it??

I want to get a grobag too but they are not really our style - bright colours, very much boy-or-girl so will I be okay with a couple of cellular blankets for the first couple of weeks?