All those online for NZ timezone!

[buzzybee]

Hi all. Used to be a regular on MN when I lived in London but since moving back to NZ have found it harder to make the connections due to all the brits being asleep when us down under are online! So if anyone is keen to start a thread for those of us in this predicament please reply! My DD has just turned 5 and started school last week (scary). Have just found out I'm expecting number 2 - due roughly Xmas day...

SUMMER, summer not cummer. (Man, what a bad first impression I am making!!)

LOL Em! Welcome to all the thread visitors!

Oh, cold NZ houses, we nearly froze to DEATH our first winter here, as the house had no heating and although we're close to Wellington it's much colder here than where Buzzy lives (weird microclimate thing) with thick frosts.

We put new carpets in the bedrooms with undercarpet heating which is blissful, but quite expensive to run. So we've just got ourselves a woodburner for the living room. All my Norwegian rellies have these and they're fab- in fact ours is a Norwegian brand [patriotic]. We'll use our own wood and will duct the heat to the rest of the house.

If all goes according to plan, we'll be sitting around in our underwear this winter. (There's a hideous mental image for you...)

I miss UK shops a bit but we love it here and have lots of good things to compensate for the lack of shopping!

the NOrwester is coming in tonight, all ready for 33 tomorrow! I always feel slightly mad during the norwester so am bracing myself for an odd sort of day

PMSL at cummer. Talk about lowering the tone

Oh I do miss BLackheath. We got married at the church in the middle of the heath. My brother and family still live there. Sob

I started a very sad little thread a week or so back about missing the UK shops Wellie

and then some property programme showed all the very shops in Richmond that I was weeping over.

I would like a woodburner in our dining room, will see how much money we have left over after doing everything else (none I should imagine)

My step-brother and family moved to the Uk last April for a couple of years to do some travel etc (he has joint nationality) and wanted to live in Blackheath initially. But in the end decided it was far too expensive even to rent and have ended up in Reigate/Redhill (Surrey)!! I don't imagine the Redhill Shopping Mall and high street has quite the shops you were crying over MrsJC?!!

There are good shops, this is true, and Blackheath is lovely, but I want to come home! Even if it means spendng a fortune on insulation. Although, with my lack of control with fish & chips I am going to quickly build my own insulating fat suit.
Can i ask a baby/birthy question - are water births common or available in NZ? I had Joseph in a birthing pool in an NHS hospital and it was amazing, would love to do the same with the next one.

EmMcK - I think water births are reasonably common over here - I know several people who have had one. As long as the labour is straightforward etc. In the hospital I had my dd in (National Womens' in Auckland) half the delivery rooms had a birth pool in and half didn't so it was a bit luck of the draw if you got one. I had issues with high blood pressure and was being induced and monitored and all that malarkey so I didn't get to try one which is a shame as I love baths!

MrsJC I didn;t see your thread on UK shops. I used to miss them terribly when I first got over here - particularly Boots, for some reason! On trips over there I would leave loads of space in my bag so I could stuff it full of Boots goodies on my return. Im kind of used to NZ shops now and dont miss the UK ones too much...most of the time...

How's Bea doing, Buzzy? Amelia hasn't repeated her sleeping through the night trick again but is waking just once at about 4 which is very manageable. I think she started laughing yesterday but I may have been mistaken...

EmMcK - I was in the water for my labour, although for me it didn't work out for a water birth (in fact it stalled my labour, grrr). That was in the hospital here, had to hope for a birth pool being available, the same as in a UK hospital.

in the midwife birthing units they have them too. twentypence, who is also in ChCh, had a water birth here.

ooooh yes Boots.
the NZ shops are good actually, I was just homesick for my tried and trusted ones and a mooch round Richmond.

ooh, laughing Anna - it's so lovely when they start laughing. DS was a very early laugher. And a very early sleeper though as well (doesn't do it any more mind you but don't want to make any of you depressed....)

Once at 4am sounds pretty good to me - especially if you can get her to go back down again fairly quickly.

My biggest problem with Bea at night is that she wants to stay up for a couple of hours! It would be OK if I could just feed her quickly but always end up changing her nappy, sometimes twice and that's guaranteed to make her wide awake!! Any tips?

Actually she's pretty good - last night down at 8.30pm, up at 12.30am (til 2.30am) and then through to 6.30am. I'm going to try and move her bedtime forward to 7-7.30am and wake her at 10.30pm before I go to bed and see if we can then go down to one waking at around 3am.

The other thing I've really begun to notice is her big pot belly tummy! Did Amelia have this? Looks so funny compared to her little stick-like legs and tiny bum. Almost like one of those malnourished babies in 3rd world countries...will check with MW on Friday but I suspect I'm being paranoid!

Have just expressed 200ml for the first time. Will have to start freezing some soon as getting more than she needs [proud emoticon]!

oh yes and they were v.prepared to let me use the water even if I ended up being induced etc. - there's no way the hospital in London would have let me do that

Good job on the expressing - I am still super proud if I manage 120 in a sitting. Might sound a little slovenly, but a top tip from a mw was at night to slather the baby in a barrier cream and ONLY change them if you are convinced that they have done a poo. Since Joseph has now not done a poo for 2 days, I am needlessly slathering but this is apparently common for 10 week olds - they are using more of the milk and have less to excrete. Sounds dodgy to me, but there you have it.

Speaking of shops, am just about to head out to the sales to buy a couple of new items to celebrate not being PG any more! Think I will start at Ezibuy for cheap and cheerful!

Ooh you're doing great to express 200ml. I normally manage about 70-80ml which I (or dh) give to her in the evening when she's cluster feeding and wants to feed every hour - gives me a break.

She just goes back to sleep at night - I think it's just luck of the draw as I don't do anything special to encourage it. She used to poo constantly (thats what it felt like anyway!) but as she gets older is doing less so I only change her at night if she has pooed or her nappy feels really heavy and wet. she doesn't seem to mind. She is just sleeping in a singlet as it's so hot, so it's quite easy to have a quick peek to see if she's done a poo, without actually undoing the whole nappy.

And she had the big tummy and stick arms and legs too when she was first born! She's had a bit of a growth spurt now and has started developing rugby player thighs.

EmMck - I'd missed the age of Joseph - he and Amelia must be v close in age - she was born Nov 2nd so will be 10 weeks on Friday.

As for going clothes shopping - I have been a few times - but Im still in my maternity jeans - that stretchy bit over the stomach is soo comfortable - espec over the c section scar

Don't be too impressed, after all I'm not BF, and it was the first express of the day so 8 hours since the previous one!

Shopping trip quite successful. My tum still looks about 4 months PG I reckon so was more shopping for tops. Also got Bea another long sleeved T-shirt and a cardy on sale at JK. Horrible here today - raining and windy, she definitely can't get by in singlets

Had forgotten about the pooing less as they get older. That should make things easier! Also thanks for the tip on the barrier cream. I haven't used any cream so far as her bottom seems OK but may give that a go too.

Have any of you used dummies? My mum is violently opposed to them but Bea does seem to like sucking (her hand, arm, sleeve etc etc) and I wondered whether that might also be another option for getting her settled again at night? I don't think I'd use during the day. But maybe I should just me more patient and wait for her to get older and easier to settle!!

I do swaddle her when she goes in the cot - in a lightweight muslin wrap thing so she doesn't get too hot - seems to help her go to sleep to feel all wrapped up.
'
I tried a dummy on her when she was newborn as she is quite a sucky baby but she always just spat it out. I reckon they're fine as long as the child isn't still wanting it when they're five! If you do use one there's then the issue of getting rid of it when they're older. I did actually try it again today as she was really tired about 4pm but wouldn't sleep - she fell asleep really quickly once she had the dummy. I now don't know whether to keep using it or avoid is as I've managed 9 weeks without it!

Yes I haven't tried swaddling but its probably worth a try. She likes to have her hands up by her face (see picture from ultrasound on my profile!!!) so would need to make sure she still had that.

I think I will get a dummy and give it a go. I think the trick about taking it away is to do it fairly young (like 12 months) and to do the "dummy fairy took it" trick or to "accidentally" forget to take it with you when visiting somewhere overnight.

Still no pooh - three days It is making nappy changing a joy, but I know that there must literally be a sh*t storm coming! Last night I tried using almond oil on his bot instead of cream, he seemed alright this morning, and oh so soft.
I did buy Joseph a dummy, felt like I was doing something very wrong and bad-parenty, but it is a god send when he is super tired and won't settle, and I also take it out with me if I go on the bus just in case he kicks off. People do have violent reactions to them though, but he is an uber sucky baby.
Anna - I hadn't picked up Amelia's age. Aren't they lovely now - oh so smiley. I am getting more of the smiles at the moment as my husband has had to go away for a week for work which I was terrified about as we have no family in London, but it is quite nice to have Joseph's smiles all to myself. I am looking forward to him coming back though.
I am off to a buggy-fit class this morning, no idea what is involved, suspect it might be lunging behind buggy while walking around park, but we shall see.

when H was younger and just breastfed he would regularly go 6/7 days without a poo - quite alarming even though I know it's not unusual. and yes, when it finally came, it could be quite an event...

buggy fit? v.impressed

Yes the smiles are lovely, she's so much more responsive than a few weeks ago.

It's so humid up here. When I got up at 4 to feed it was 24 degrees in Amelia's room, with all the windows wide open. Very still and sticky heat, think it will rain today and cool down a bit.

Well last night was a (qualified) success! She went down at 7.30pm but was quite unsettled, got her up at 10pm for quick feed and nappy change and she then went thru to 3am, down by 4am and then thru to 7am
Great to only be up once and only for an hour - although I did she might not go down as she was awake and sucking her fist for 15-20 mins after I put her down but never cried.

I'm very much looking forward to her smiles/giggles in a few weeks time. Am already enjoying her involuntary smiles, usually as she's drifting off to sleep.

Anna I think you will be cooling off by later today - certainly quite a bit cooler here. Still raining but at least wind has dropped. Finding myself watching "Today" on Prime - very Australian!!! (obsessed with this cricket thing)

Amelia did her usual waking up at exactly 4am - could almost set the clock by her.

It has rained a bit here and has started cooling down.

Discussing the weather - how British am I???

And I'm always amazed and impressed by the amount of time Aussie news (and NZ too sometimes) can devote to sport.

As a football fan I was most offended when I first got over here and realised it came after the netball on the news round up.

Have uploaded some more photos!

Bea is in her little swing but won't last much longer.

Aussies are barking mad when it comes to sport IMO. It would drive me mad I suspect - dominates news broadcasts there but also on prime TV at night - not relegated to Sky like here.

Lovely photos. Looks like Isobel is enjoying being a big sister.

Nicole Kidman has just confirmed she is pregnant, so that will give Aussie breakfast TV something else to go on about other than India abandoning the test matches.

She has been anticipating being a big sister for months. I thought the reality might be a diappointment for her but I guess she had a fair idea of what to expect through babies at her creche (one teacher brought her adopted baby to work with her when he was 4 weeks old) and others of her friends who have had baby brothers and sisters. She is also right into "helping mummy" at the moment - an age thing, but perfect timing from my POV!

I suspect Nicole's baby won't stop them pontificating as to whether Ricky Ponting is agressive or really jsut competitive and whether by criticising him, the Indian media are really criticising all "dinkum Aussies" blah blah etc etc. Mind you the Indians seem just as obsessed if not more so!