Due Fab Feb 2009: the Curry and Cake Club

[onwardandupward]

Here is our new thread!

I didn't even do mash (apart from potatoes, have a look at Aitch's site, there's a brill pic of her eating mash, and even that she ate herself) I just went with the Rapley idea that the ability to do it themself comes with being ready to eat it, so mashing (from my interpretation) meant they would get something they may not be ready for. She was eating potato from day one so I wasn't worried giving her mash potato, it's a normal food.

At the moment we're all looking pretty lentily, will be interesting to see what happens when our babies are here, I hope we prove to be the most lentily due date club on here!

PinkTulips - I wish I was driving! We are a one car household until babe arrives which DH has to use to get to work. I have been using pedal power to do my short commute to school for the last 2 years; we've saved so much money and hassle not having to look for parking - our neighbourhood is all on -street parking. We can't really justify a second car until maternity leave starts when I expect i'll be more limited without wheels and being at home for a year. Now that bump is bigger I don't really feel it's a good a idea to cycle so I'm walking everywhere. It's such a drag but it is keeping me and DS fit. I wish public transport was cheaper: the bus ride home last Saturday was £3.65 for DH, DS and myself. it's only a mile but up a very steep hill and we were laden down with a Tesco shop. Parking in town for 2 hours is £2.00 - so there's no real incentive to use the bus for short trips where we live.

Neither DH nor I can drive - I've failed my test TWELVE times and he's never bothered as he's phobic of getting behind the wheel.
Luckily we live in London, where public transport is great and since we now both work largely from home, commuting is less of an issue. We are five mins from 2 tube stations and also handy for a couple of Overground stations and tons of buses.
I am still hoping to pass my test, though have been too flat out busy to take lessons for a while.
I just wished I'd done it when I was younger - but hey, I didn't. At least the fact that this baby took a long time to conceive meant we didn't have to worry about dragging a double buggy on and off buses.

Oh dear, not a lentily one here I'm afraid - dare I admit it - I was a routine/non-co-sleeping/own bed from early age/puree/disposable nappy mum (am I now banned from the thread ??) .....Ds is a fantastic eater and a great sleeper and always has been.....BUT....I suspect that with the eating thing, now DS eats what we eat (2.3 years) I can't imagine going through the puree to lump to normal food stages I went through with DS. I have no regrets as I had a good outcome but just the thought of going through that stage again makes me feel exhausted !!...At the end of the day most of us come out with the same outcome just with a different method..

At least you save on the escalating car costs Mslucy...petrol, insurance depreciation, servicing blahdy blah and for the amount you save on that you can probably run to a taxi every so often if you need to ? Would be more of an issue if you lived out in the suburbs and not in London as you seem to be able to get away with it easier out of London where the transport links actually exist (even if not always that efficient) ...I couldn't do without my car now as I'd never go anywhere or do anything - most of my oldest friends live a car drive away and even with my "local" friends we still need to jump in the car.

I meant "in " london.....

Another night in for me which is why I'm sitting here on MN. DS just gone to bed and dh has gone to fetch fish'n chips for us - no cooking on Friday nights !!

I think I've now posted three times. I'm off now

Aww herb, we won't exclude anyone (just try and inject you with lentils )

I was the puree queen with DS1. DS2 was letching after my sea bass at five months and it was impossible to say no to him. Never had time to puree anything. Don't imagine I'm going to be starting again any time soon.

I do hope all my imaginary friends are ok after today's vehicular incidents. I heart you guys.

Off to tackle bed time x 2.

Pssssssssssst - herb = ginaf!

I was the disposable queen with ds1 but feel myself coming over all lentily on the nappy front (largely cos the council gives you a voucher worth £54!).

I loved breast feeding ds and hope to keep this one exclusive until 6 months.

I never bothered much with purees. Just the sight of Annabel Karmel's smug botoxed face was enough to put me off!!!

I would have pureed everything herby if dd hadn't had reflux because that is what I was told to do. As it was she only bought it back up so we improvised and gave her mashed or finger foods in an attempt to keep it down. She would then only eat finger food so we just gave her what ever she wanted. I never co-sleept either, I had never heard of it until I came on MN. DD was in a moses basket in our room until six months then in the cot in her room. I am also big on routine (everyone takes the piss out of me because I am so stict about dd's meal times) and I have only ever used disposable nappies ...

I dont think I will be doing anything differently this time but only time will tell.....

Another non-car owner here. Just because our daily lives don't really need one, though I do get a bit wistful at the thought of all the getting-out-of-the-city we could do if we did have one. But good enough public transport links here, and suitable entertainment and shops (and work) in easy walking distance. We pay more in rent to live where we do - you win on the swings and lose on the roundabouts. But yes, it's still cheaper for us to take taxis even a few times a week, and book advance tickets for long train journeys, than it would be to run a car. So this is not a lentilly decision but a cheapskate one for me

Failed miserably at cloth nappies last time, Herbgarden. I'm really dubious about whether I'll manage the necessary persuasion at all this time, but if I have one or two around, I can at least use them as much as I can! It's only when one has a late-loo-user child that one begins to resent the ££££ going on disposables, I think!

Definitely the exclusive bf-ing till child shows an interest in food here. I am so lazytown, I almost live with Sportacus (ewwww)

evening all... I think I may be returning to this thread for real nappy advice ! We failed miserably with DS1 and have been in disposables ever since. Love the idea of coth nappies, but the thought of drowning in laundry scares me (we have no garden..). How much laundry do people do to keep on top of cloth nappies?

think i am neither lentily or routine based..simply path of least resistance.. which seems to combine a little bit of both.. anyone else like that ?

Hope everyone has recovered from their car accidents.. we havent had a car since we moved to london..which has been quite liberating..far less road rage in my life!

No car, can't drive.

Onward, that's your lentil-weaving credentials out the window!

Nkweto, I'm drowning in laundry anyway, a few nappies aren't going to make much difference.

nkweto I live in a flat and put everything in the tumble dryer, they come up better in the dryer and it's only an extra wash every other day.

I never thought of myself as lentily, least resistance too I guess, I would have argued against being called AP. Then when I was on the KellyMom forum I saw the list of what makes one AP and had to admit that yes I am AP. Now I don't care about the title, I've researched everything I do (thanks MN) and come to the conclusion I'm just doing what's natural and that actually the more AP way of doing things has a lot of scientific backing. I didn't go into parenting Tink with any set ideas, I just did one thing at a time and it suddenly happened as I went along. TBD's ex is bit of a hippy so he was already indoctrinated in the AP way so he was quite supportive of everything I did.

swampster.....my identity has been revealed . I confess that I do own the book but found it a bit too "prescriptive" for me and stressing over the minutest thing could drive the most sane mad.

I call myself "old fashioned" instead !! I do a bit of mix and match - did a routine if we were at home and loved the long time off I got at lunchtime for nearly 2 years (dh and I really appreciated too at weekends as a time to catch up) and luckily for me ds loved his bed and day time sleeping - but I never got so obsessed that I didn't go anywhere - that would have infuriated me. He'd sleep in the car/the buggy/his cot. It is nice now he's older and things are easier that I suspect with no 2 they will have to fit in around ds's/my daily life.

I probably will try the breastfeeding again. I had the lovely NCT breastfeeding lady out to see me with DS but even with her assistance I couldn't master it. I don't know whether having a c-section affects your milk flow but for me it just never seemed to get going in the way that other peoples did. As I'm having another c-section it'll be interesting to see what happens this time. I never really looked into it but does your body know the baby has been born in the same way with a c-section as it does with a normal birth ? (that might sound like a v-daft question)...

we don't have a tumble dryer..but yes possibly since we are drowning in laundry anyway..what diference will a few nappies make!

I know what you mean TBM, just going with flow can does seem to result in finding a way that suits your own family

..the only thing that I wanted do last time was breast feed for longer.. but I had a short maternity leave and go sent away for a few days when DS was 4 1/2 months and he rejected the breast after that..after i had carefully expressed 4 times a day to keep the supply up..it was was very sad..possibly more for me than for DS!

ps ...lentils give me v.bad wind.

Herbgarden, I may be very wrong here (i am no expert my any means!) but I think sometimes expressing inbetween feeds(preferably electric pump than handpump) can increase milk supply.. if anyone knows better, feel free to correct me!

Herb, I've had two emergency Cs and found breastfeeding REALLY hard at first the first time round. Just holding a baby is a job in itself.

I was on a lovely postnatal ward with a junkie who was waiting for her social worker to let her and her very premature little girl home and a total NUTTER, also with a very premature little girl, who told me 'you're making the same mistake as I did with my first baby. I've had five. You only have to pick them up for two reasons, to feed them, and to change them, nothing else...'

They kept popping out for cigarettes, leaving their babies mewling away. Though the baby of the nutter was so hoarse from constant crying that by the second night I was in she wasn't making any noise at all .

I, of course, was paranoid they would steal my baby or my ipod. So I stayed awake with DS1 cuddled to me all night, generally (very badly) attached to my nipple. Kind of sussed out breastfeeding that way. There didn't seem to be anyone to ask. I had my NCT leaflet with the mantra: nose to nipple, tummy to mummy - and every time I forgot it REALLY hurt!

Wound up with serrano ham for nipples. But Lansinoh is a wonderful thing.

herb, it can take longer for milk to come in after a CS as you don't have the build up of hormones that comes with giving birth. But the placenta coming away also sets off the hormones as does being with the baby - using all five senses skin to skin/ putting the baby to the breast, the baby's cries, looking at them, kissing them and smelling them - so they do come but a bit slower and you can encourage them along. It won't take too long if you just keep up the trying and don't complicate it with artificial nipples or clock watching.

oh swampy you're making me feel very optimistic about my likely experience post-elective CS. You live in my neck of the woods don't you?

What is AP?

I didn't go the BLW route, I was totally totally paranoid about choking. Poor DD1 didn't get a bit of toast till she was about 9 months. I was a teeny bit more relaxed about DD2 - mind you, she was forever choking, and she's still bad now at 21 months! If a food is popular, she just shovels it in, never mind if she's still got her mouth full of other unchewed food. It's a sight to behold.

Sigh.

Coco! Where have you BEEN??? How's yer bump? Come over to the Facebook group. AP? Arsey Pumpkin? Alternative Parent?

Second time round it wasn't so bad, fairly normal ward-mates - and I did breastfeed both times until my sons lost interest (13 months and 25 months).

Have you had a CS before? I expect I'll be having an elective this time round and I'm quite looking forward to it.

Best advice? The minute you can feel your legs, try getting up and walking around - you'll get home quicker that way.

And take food that'll make you poo (I LOVE Familia Swiss baby muesli and lived on it post CS). They won't let you go till you've had one but don't feed you anything that's likely to encourage it.

And make sure you access to LOADS of juice/water. I think they hate emptying the pee-bags [wonders what proper name is emoticon] so they try to prevent you from peeing at all...

I've been lurking a bit, tho not MNing so much as usual. Must get organized re finding you all on facebook.

I had no bump till about 17 weeks suddenly am HUGE, can hardly breathe, waddling about, look about 10 months pregnant. How you?

And OMG, can't i just lie about the pooing?

How long do you have a weebag for? Will be my first CS.

Have just been reading Dinny's thread re CS's.

In my experience, CSs aren't so bad. The toughest thing about mine was that they were emergencies - no huge sense of urgency, but after all that time (about 24 hours in each case) I was KNACKERED and starting to get pretty fearful about the health of my baby.

I felt curiously detached from the actual operation (let's hear it for the drugs). Can't quite remember about the weebag but I was on my feet and tottering about in the shower without one pretty soon after - I think the morning after an afternoon op with DS2 though that hardly seems possible when I think about it.