Further freakingly fantabulous adventures of the 40+ Mummies

[10000Fireflies]

For gorgeous, frolicking and fabulous 40-somethings to share the joys of becoming a Mummy, just a little bit later than most!! . Park your zimmer-frame next to your baby buggy, put your feet up, and come and join us in the snug.

Chairman that cheese sounds delicious!! Crusty bread or crackers to go with it? You've waited 9 months for that....enjoy
LRM I seem to recall that when I'd planned to try something new with DD, there would inevitably be something which made me postpone it. Tomorrow is another day, it can wait a bit longer and as you say there are worse things to be doing right now (and with the weather as it is snuggled up with DS under a blanket sounds lovely!!)
eagle wetting yourself during a coughing fit - it's delightful isn't it?? Was told by my midwife today that I had to continue my pelvic floors otherwise I'd be looking at a lifetime of Tena Lady. Just lovely. So am clenching and unclenching whilst MNing....TMI??! Your holiday still sounds fab and just what you needed. Even to get a tiny bit of you back at this stage makes all the difference.

As for me, felt very teary earlier. Baby KK has taken to eating every 2 to 3 hours overnight - plus unusually DD got up a couple of times. I was rather peed off with DH as he kept snoozing away, but I am in bed right now after having a nap whilst he's downstairs looking after them both so don't feel I can say too much.

I was so tired that when I went to my 10 day sign off appointment with the midwife today, I didn't notice that I had a blob of peanut butter on my chin from lunchtime. Only noticed in the car on the way home....Rule number one...no matter how tired you are always check your appearance before leaving the house

Oh knicky, peanut butter chin had me giggling! So easily done. I'm struggling with tiredness. I lost 1.2 litres of blood during the section so my iron levels are rubbish. Feel wrung out, but DH has looked after DS all day do I've just had baby duty, and she let me nap for a blissful 2 hours at one point. Plus Cheeseday beckons tomorrow. Crusty bread and biscuits pour moi. And a couple of nice chutneys. And some fruit.

eagle thanks again for BF advice. I may continue to post on here about it if that's okay because the ladies on the bf/ff forum are scary. Her latch is improving every day - I had her on for 10 mins earlier, the longest I've ever breastfed a baby! It was lovely. Am now getting about 15ml out of the left and 5ml out of the right by hand expressing. The pump isn't getting anything yet. Only managing twice a day tho as it gets sore. Still, progress! Your holiday sounds like utter bliss btw.

LRM. Good luck tomorrow. Stay strong. He will be fine and it really is for the best for all of you

Good evening every one, at last, I am on the sofa. This long week end was a God send but still it was hard work ! DS was cute, so cute, so excited when I asked him to lay the table, running to the kitchen where DH was cooking, I only had to supervise from the rug where I was playing with A.
Love the sound of your hols, Eagle, are you in the UK ? I m intrigued/impressed that your DP could get in the water in this freezing weather. Is he training for IronMan ?
Knicky, MW advised me to keep doing the exercises every other day for a year after birth and at leat once a week after that, don't know though whether it s because I m a lost cause.:)
Seaside, LRM, I so envy your cosleeping with DC, enjoy.
Chairman, cheese, hum !

I tried to let DS cry it out today. Just couldn't do it. I know it has sleep benefits but I just can't do it yet. He is such a good baby I am terrified of ruining things. So I know how you feel LRM - it is just very hard.

On a lighter Note I went to Pilates and didn't fart. I have been scared of trumping in public and now know it is possible to bend and stretch in public without letting one slip out. Well done me.

Mmmm cheese.

PS. BBD that sounds a lovely weekend.

Midget [bugrin] re Pilates and no farting....

Midget well done on the non-farting pilates - it's more than I could manage! Mind you, I was very arrogantly sure of my pelvic floor capabilities until the wee incident.

BBD we were in west wales and it was utterly freezing. DP is addicted to wild swimming in all weathers - we have to be careful though as his antics seem to set some sort of precedent, leading anyone else nearby to think that the weather must be good enough for swimming. Many's the time I've had to remind people watching that it's not normal, it's still winter and they mustn't try it themselves. Bless your DS for helping with the table!

Chairman please keep me posted with your BF progress and I will try and help where I can. Mix feeding is absolutely fine if that works for you - it was an issue with me because it was never my choice to do it, I didn't feel terribly supported in the early days (tongue tie went unnoticed despite the world and his bloody wife poking at the baby) and there wasn't much support beyond the initial 'please give your baby xx ml of formula every 3 hours if you want to avoid readmission to hospital'. That's brilliant that her latch is improving each day. It might sound a bit strange, but I kind of regarded pumping as being similar to exercises for the boobs each day (I've got a Medela Mini). I don't pump so much now, but that's because BF has taken over almost completely from the formula and so is a little bit more frequent so there's less opportunity to pump. Your hand expressing seems to be going v well - I recall that one boob was a day or two behind the other in terms of output, but it did catch up. And you are right about that forum being a bit scary...

Oh, and something that did help me lots and lots regarding the BF was an app to log feeding - used it to log time spent on each boob, plus formula feeds and expressed feeds. Could see how long Baby E had spent on the boob in each 24 hour period, plus how much formula she'd had. Was really useful when it came to cutting down on the formula, but also for reassuring me she had spent long enough on the boob. Also log nappies as in the early days it was a reassuring indicator that we were feeding her enough! Using an app isn't everyone's cup of tea, but can be v useful if you are trying to get the feeding cracked and I rely on it rather heavily now to tell me when I last fed/changed Baby E as my brain is rather addled

Knicky - [bushock] re the tena lady! Sorry you are feeling so tired - those early days are v difficult (I remember very little about them now apart from feeling rather shocked that I hadn't realised it would be so difficult!) Don't waste that peanut butter!

LRM - hope Baby M and DP are better soon. We have a limpet baby here too tonight - keeps dropping off and then wide awake once transferred to bed. Good luck for tomorrow!

Two things we have in common Eagle - my DH is a bit odd and swims in the sea when it is bloody freezing and I also found logging my feeds really helpful with DD1. It meant I could eventually EBF despite the very Ricky start we had due to her having to be tube fed.

Rocky not Ricky. Damn you autocorrect.

oh dear Midget sorry you have an embarrassing DP too. I did get my own back on him once by pretending I had seen a crocodile (it was a wild swim abroad and there were crocs reasonably nearby) - he squealed like a bastard and swam rather fast!

I think my iphone is raising the baby rather than me [bublush] Glad it was of such a help to you though with poor DD1.

Hello am lurking industriously and reading posts while clutching a teething baby in one hand (one through already) and juggling iPhone in other. Busy busy out there. Well done all for surviving and even more, enjoying our lovely babies. Must remember just how lovely while he screams piercingly in my ear. Calpol I love you.

Badmiss holidays are for crazy families! enjoy!

goat yes, I love Calpol too :) we are defo teething here - rosy cheeks and tetchy evenings ...

eagle your discussion of humiliations of hospital hand expressing brought it all back - one of those moments you realise you thought you had plumbed the depths of indignity having your baby, but oh no, there's more ... Oh well, I guess it worked! Well done Wow! You are doing so well - we have lots of help as baby s in hospital prem unit for couple of weeks, not sure how we'd have managed without it. I remember baby s learning, lapping at my boob like a little kitten, cutest thing ever, but utterly ineffective obviously :)

lrm I feel you pain - its utterly soul destroying isn't it? How's Tuesday going? Hope you enjoyed the lovely cuddles.

eagle and midget loved the sound of reckless chilly swimming DHs Mine is 'unusual' in other ways that don't involve getting so cold.

knicky I know what you mean about cheese, it was one of first things I wanted to do too! mmmmmm lovely smelly cheese. With some cornichons and crusty bread and big glass of fresh apple juice.

bbd love the sound of your cute ds :)

Hope I haven't forgotten anyone. VQ I wonder if you are sill out there - hope baby vq got over all those cough troubles

To give nappers hope - baby s, formerly known as world's worst independent napper, has started napping regularly in pram - kind of fed to sleep / feed to sleepiness still, but such progress!! Took us 6 months though ... sometimes I guess they wait till they're ready. Still sometimes use our robopax - what a great piece of kit - anyone else have one?

Oh poor baby S learning to feed Seaside - it all worked out in the end though thanks to your persistence!

After my overly long post on BF yesterday, I started reflecting a bit on the whole thing and realised the reason I was so bloody minded about it was because I felt like my body had let me down during the birth process and I was damned if it was going to be rubbish at BF too! 'Your body knows what it's doing' they said - well, when my waters broke my body just went 'eh?' and did naff all really. Well, it did a load of contractions that went absolutely nowhere and after 2 nights of that I was so demented with sleep deprivation, arguing the toss with MWs and hospital over everything and relentless pain that I kind of gave up. And then the feeding went tits up as well but I do feel a lot better for having made that work in the end!

Goat - glad Calpol is helping you out!

Sliding in and out very quickly. Quick update. CIO shite failed again. I tried to put him down like before failed. Use to take seconds to put to bed at night. Every night since Wednesday got longer and longer. 30 mins of crying but got him to sleep. Last night woke tons and tons. I have lost all confidence in sleeping. Early night and hope to recharge positivity.

Midget. I fart every time I exercise! Weight lifting usually pops one out. I am so classy

chairman, forgive me if this is old rope, but you are v much not alone in struggles with breast pump. good advice u was given was to look at pics of DD while I did it. after a while didn't need to, but v def helped. also v much best if you can be alone with pics in peace, or with LO for real of course! I didn't start til six ish weeks, which may also have helped me, but obviously this bit an option for everyone. hugely admire your tenacity. Di remember though, every ounce is an achievement for you, and a help, so mixed feeding or if you don't manage it for ling you have still done a wonderful thing. please let yourself feel proud and enjoy even little things.
x

LRM tomorrow is another day, sending you and Baby M Mr Sandman for tonight, keep faith, all of a sudden, baby M will get it and it will take you 2 sec every and each time you put him down. I know it is hard to believe atm but you will make it.
Eagleray, your post echoes in my mind, I quite felt the same except that I had the failure feeling for the 1st birth and BF and regained confidence with the second baby ! You did much better than me, less than 2 months, bravo !
A is 8 months since last Friday, weighing today showed a perfect line, 8.02kg at 35 weeks. I was worried about her fluid intake as she has less wet nappies, although HV advised me to offer water or very diluted fresh juice all day long, she did say A did not show any sign of dehydratation. I won't wait until she shows some !
Goat this baby is not catching up, he is taking the lead !!! Crawling and now teething ? You sure he was prem ?!
Chairman how was the cheese feast ? You and Eagle have picked my curiosity, will go to the BF/FF forum and have a laugh ! I did mix feeding with DS, it worked very well, I was not as aware as I am now, at the time I felt sad and sorry for myself but now retrospectively I think there is nothing to be ashamed of, my mantra is "whatever makes baby happy makes Mum happy" and "hapy baby is Happy Mum" and only that matters, the rest of the world can think what they want, you are the Mum and you are in control.
Knicky, I hope you will get through the tiredness soon. Babies somehow know our limits and would give us a week of good nights for us to cover and would wake up again several times !!! Well, my sweet A did that, sleeping through for early age for a month or two, then several nightwaking for a few days, then back to 7/7 night sleep for a few weeks, now she wakes up once to feed, anytime between 11.30pm and 4am. I m much more relaxed about it this second time, I know it shall pass. With DS I was upset with him and me because every one talked about their baby who would sleep through from 8 weeks, I paid too much attention, I am sure some of then were hiding part of the truth.... If not all the truth ! That said, should you see my face with dark lines and bags under the eyes, you would not believe I have not so bad nights :)
Well Ladies, I have to get to work now. Wishing you a peaceful night.

Just having a quick read up tonight. Not going to post much as I'm absolutely shattered. Just wanted to say thanks for all your advice and encouragement re breastfeeding. It's really helping. Scarecrow your post made me cry. So lovely .

Oh, and Cheeseday...my word. It were bloody gorgeous

BBD you put me to shame: my motto was ( and will be) " happy mum = happy baby"! maybe it's a cultural thing

LRM and others - I think I had best DD ever and she didn't sleep through til after 5 til gone 15 mo and not reliably til after 6 until a few weeks ago ( she is 2 y 3 m). you can take 2 morals from this : complacent / rubbish parenting, or - as I prefer it - being happy with my beautiful spirited, happy soul who happened to want/ need milk at 5 am for longer tan Gina recommends

at my last MW appointment and hope to have LO in ky arms this time in two weeks

Goat, are you back at work yet ? I just saw your answer dated 11 March as I was scrolling down the thread, I am so sorry I have not replied earlier. Let's try Swiss Cottage library next week if you are still free. Anyone else is welcome to join us of course.
LRM, how are you today ?
Scarecrow, whichever way is good ! I have this stupid habit of putting people I love before my own interest, I will pay one day, I know !!!
Trying to find the Grads list to update it but could not... where is it ????

GRADUATED
10000Fireflies, DS, 21 June 2012, EMCS
Hpbp (now Blueblackdye), 42, DS1 4yo, DD2 Anastasia, 29 July 2012, VB
bytheseaside, DD1, 25th/26th September, EMCS (six weeks early)
Firstbubba, DS Jamie born 2 Oct, EMCS
Littleredmonkey 43, DS1 Dylan, 4th October EMCS
Fjordmor 41, DD1, 3 Oct, EMCS
Midget 41, DC2 16 Oct VB, but EMCS for placenta
Mrs?Oldandcobwebby?45, DD1, ELCS 19/10
Exexe, DC3, due for ELCS 17/10?
ValiumQueen 43, DC3 for ELCS 25/10. Jacob
Knottyhair DC2 Rosa b 17/12 ELCS 8lb 1oz
Crazyforbaby, 44, DC6 due early Jan ?
ClickingTock, 40, DC2 due early Jan, sex a surprise ?
Eagleray, 41, DD1 28/1 Girl
Damash12, 41, DC2, due 29 Jan ELCS booked 17/1
Riversidelibrary, 42, DC1 25/1, Boy Samuel
Swanlike, 41, 31/1 ?
Nananaps, 42, due Feb?
Spiderbabymum, 40, due Feb?
TheNoodles, 41, DC1 due 14/3 (AWOL?)
ChairmanWow, 40, DC2 b 28/3/13 by EMCS - clever little girl
Knickyknocks, 40, DC2 21/3/13
MrsWooster, 46, DC2 girl b 23/3/13

hope I have not messed up the dates !

Somewhere, will be thinking of you !!!!

Hey gang. Baby monkey will not do the sleep in his crib bit in the day. Tried again and no way man. I did two pram walks and dp did one. He slept like a trooper last night from 7:45 till 6:35 which is ace. Down side for me is I am still waking and it takes me ages to go back to sleep usually an hour! !!driving me nuts. Anyway today he started to blow raspberries and enjoys it so much that his 7 bed time turned into 8:45. So I am knackered and usually my hour of free time gone. He better sleep till 8. The little monkey.
Hugs to all and zzzzz zzzzzx

goat missing from list. I guess not technically a grad, but as a founding member of grads thread " respect" due, I think

LRM keep laughing at raspberries. much more important than napping

Napping gone tits up ladies. CIO disaster screams for hours so pulled the plug. I can't do it. Worse still as a result he won't sleep in his crib during the day. I cabt even put him in asleep he wakes I instantly. So will sleep on me. Or on the boob or pram. will give it a few days and try again. But if it's not meant to be then so be it. I have 5 months of mat leave left and stressing over the whole will spoil it. I will keep trying to put him down. He is self settling at night. Just did it 10 mins ago. I think the night routine as been the same from day one however the day has been all over the place from sleeping on me after feeding not feeding in his swing. In his basket. Just not a day napper. I found I have been
stressing toooo much about it like scarecrow says more tantalizing stuff