Further freakingly fantabulous adventures of the 40+ Mummies Part 2

[blueblackdye]

Our 2nd thread is full but it won't prevent us from laughing, moaning, keeping on supporting each other, sharing and chatting over our new life with 1 or 2, even 5 children !
Here you go, fantastic 40+ Mums, a brand new thread for all of us, old friends from the pregnancy thread or new joiners

Scarecrow thanks for post above - it's reminded me that DS playing up is only a tiny part of him and I feel exactly the same about him. Everything else o/t/o/h is abjectly shite. DD still wracked, tried Cranial Ost and it worked at the time but she's been just as bad today. Osteopath was lovely tho and felt v strongly that dairy might be the prob. Oh fucking marvellous: my already absurdly restricted diet has further narrowed altho she said if it IS dairy, I should be able to tell within a couple of days. Only 24 hours in but I can confirm that rice milk and oat milk are misnomers and taste like liquidised rice and porridge respectively.
Can't decide if I hope it's dairy intolerance or not... I want anything that will stop dd hurting so much but could weep at prospect of her not being able to gallop up to the icecream van like her big bro can. It won't even bloody pass this time.
Forgive the me me me posts recently - I really do appreciate your support everyone.

Mrs w that sounds so tough. i gave up dairy for a bit and found kara coconut milk much better then oat / rice - yuk! Not like the tinned stuff, comes in carton. Have breast milk in coffee maybe? I dare you!

chairman at book. Im also trying to give buggyfit a go. really not my cup of tea,.but i must do something about tummy

Lrm no i def have worse hair. i look like an elderly sheep today

somewhere all ok? Have been thinking about your cancer gene situation. That's so hard.

Must sleep now before next blasted feed ...

MrsW, can you not use soya milk? Sorry if I missed post where you said why... I've been using since my 20s - except in coffee but only have 1-2 a day. I love it: weaned myself via the sweetened one (only one sweetened with apple juice), after a few months preferred unsweetened. Buying tip is fewer ingredients better: Alpro most reliable though some supermarket own brands (not value) are too, including Tesco's Organic.

Wish there was something we could all do to help. Is there somebody else who can help hold her and or give you a breaking RL? Does she like a sling or wrap, or does it not make a difference?

Also I know you have talked only/mostly of colic, but a website recommended by a fellow mum to me might be helpful to you given many of the symptoms/effects are similar. Among other things I noticed when just checking now for you were specialised kit, recommended health professionals and also a feature on intolerance/allergies. It is :

www.babyreflux.co.uk/

If you work out how a special wedge is better than propping crib with my (clearly needed) copy of Toddler Taming, I want to know!

How old is your DS? Sorry, I forget. Also, have they at least sorted out your retained placenta.

I have T propped on my chest with left hand, and holding right hand out in friendship...

Sorry, one last thing. It might not work for everyone, because I have thighs which are, er, more sprinter than long distance (think Mark Cav without muscle tone ), but at his most uncomfortable/painful, I pull my ( left) leg up as if to sit cross legged, foot pressed on inside of opposite thigh, and lie T over, head just supported by outside edge of thigh(so he is head above tummy and tummy gently pressed on leg), and gently pat or rub his back. The pressure, close comfort and rhythmical patting seem to sooth him more quickly (on his worst day it was the only way I got him to sleep). And I find it a lot less tiring or awkward than holding him so much, so to speak.

When things do improve, as they will, make sure you get help with baby massage too: it's two or three simple moves. The benefits are supposed to be cumulative rather than immediate. Ime impractical until your LO has longer periods of relaxation/pin free.

Scarecrow and Mrs w i think we frightened the thread with our talk of unpleasant milk substitutes...
Re osteopathy, we def saw some changes in digestion and colic straight away, but were starting from a bad place! Took 6 or so weekly /fortnightly sessions to really say goodbye to the fretfulness. i know this can be expensive.

what a lovely weekend! We've been picnicing

We've had a lovely weekend too ...T's been much more fretful than usual and v sicky with tummy but improved a lot this afternoon and we took them to a farm near High Wycombe where met friends with a toddler and had great few hours for Open Farm Sunday. DD was delighted with cows, sheep, chickens, horse and the tractors. She loves tractors. We had to say goodbye to the cows. And she complained about the chickens "They not talking me" Bless. Was really good family day. We have too few but am very encouraged to plan more. DH away at 8am tomorrow morning for a week.

Seaside, might have been description of my thigh which put them off

Scarecrow, we then are on the same boat, single mums with 2 DCs this week too. DH working long hours this week. Meaning no extra pair of hands but still need to cook dinner for him but hey, I must admit he is good at not complaining about my very bland food, don't have time to cook for A different food to what we have so no salt anywhere, lots of other spices though !!!
Still reading, no time to post but still here
XXX

Blimey, I checked the last message on the thread first and in my tired state thought for a second scare and bbd had actually become single mums. The perils of skim reading. Anyhoo, hope this week isn't too much of a killer for you both.

scare Cav's thighs are nothing compared to Chris Hoy's, and mine are like his if he'd really let himself go to seed. First Buggyfit tomorrow. I expect pain followed by stiffness but am hoping virtuous feelings will override this, leaving me feeling motivated enough to continue for the remaining 8 months of my leave. Might try 5:2 this week as well.

bbd and scarecrow - lone parenting is so hard and tiring. Thinking of you both. I'll be doing the same too later this week when DH is on lates. Thankfully DD will be in pre-school for a couple of the days, but there's still bath and bed time to contend with! bbd still getting the evening meal aswell?? Microwave meals for DH springs to mind!

scarecrow we've been having early starts here too. DS doing well at night, he sleeps 7 till 3, but last night DD had nightmares so I was up at 2 and 4, then DS woke at 4.30am. Exhausted. Two cups of extra strong coffee just kicking in! I'm coping by going to bed by 8 - then at least there's a block of sleep (which I'm thankful for!) before these early starts. I never thought that 6am would become a lie in!!
chairman hope buggyfit goes well. Let us know how it is. I'm hoping to do something similar in the next couple of weeks. Am just worried my pelvic floors won't, ahem, hold up as it were....

Me and DH have hardly spent any time together recently. Feel like we need a 'date night' soon before we forget who we were before the kids came along. I don't feel like I've sat down and had any type of meaningful conversation with him in some time. Our communication at the moment is solely about kids and housework, hardly scintillating stuff. Must organise something soon. We're both getting far too snappy with each other.

Hope everyone else is doing OK somewhere, bytheseaside, midget,lrm, mrsW and anyone else I've forgotten!

bbd and scarecrow - lone parenting is so hard and tiring. Thinking of you both. I'll be doing the same too later this week when DH is on lates. Thankfully DD will be in pre-school for a couple of the days, but there's still bath and bed time to contend with! bbd still getting the evening meal aswell?? Microwave meals for DH springs to mind!

scarecrow we've been having early starts here too. DS doing well at night, he sleeps 7 till 3, but last night DD had nightmares so I was up at 2 and 4, then DS woke at 4.30am. Exhausted. Two cups of extra strong coffee just kicking in! I'm coping by going to bed by 8 - then at least there's a block of sleep (which I'm thankful for!) before these early starts. I never thought that 6am would become a lie in!!
chairman hope buggyfit goes well. Let us know how it is. I'm hoping to do something similar in the next couple of weeks. Am just worried my pelvic floors won't, ahem, hold up as it were....

Me and DH have hardly spent any time together recently. Feel like we need a 'date night' soon before we forget who we were before the kids came along. I don't feel like I've sat down and had any type of meaningful conversation with him in some time. Our communication at the moment is solely about kids and housework, hardly scintillating stuff. Must organise something soon. We're both getting far too snappy with each other.

Hope everyone else is doing OK somewhere, bytheseaside, midget,lrm, mrsW and anyone else I've forgotten!

Hi mrsw sorry baby w's still suffering. Was it dairy in the end?

knicky what a fab routine! Date night is possible then. I can't even think of date night as baby s's bedtime so all over the place.

chair how was buggy fit? I'm going on fri.

AFM I did second fast. I felt the breast milk going out of me like the life force. It was fine till the next day when I boomeranged in the most ridiculous fashion and ate extraordinary amounts eg two sains profiterole deserts circa 400 cals each back to back.

BUT I do have more energy. Doing a fast today and its feeling quite easy. I'm hanging in there for the health benefits if nothing else.

Btw seaside thanks for asking about the gene thing. We will find out soon. Weirdly I feel lucky as although there's been a lot of Cancer it's been mild and curable which is why the whole thing is such a surprise. I am surprised to find myself feeling thankful about the whole thing.

Xx

mmmm profiteroles ...

Don't mention profiteroles! I'm being a good girl now. Buggy fit was great! I feel really energised and surprised myself with how much I was able to do. A very friendly bunch of women as well. I will go twice weekly now, and have found out a local gym does mum classes you can bring baby to. 3 classes a week in total plus some time on the turbo trainer and I'll be back in shape eventually!

knicky I hope you survive today and get a lovely long chunk of sleep tonight. Me and DH are in the same boat relationship-wise - child care and decorating dominate at the moment and there is much irritation with each other. We have an offer of babysitting and need to take it up.

somewhere your attitude to the genetic testing is brilliantly pragmatic. I hope it's good news for you.

Well, after 2 weeks of feeds every 3 hours in the night DD went 6 hours last night. She had a similar day last week, so it might be a fluke, but I've moved her onto the next sized teat as she was feeding less so I hope this sorts it out. Please!

Right, DD asleep so yet more decorating for me. Deep joy.

Chairman, well done ! You will be as fit as busy, exercise is so good for endorphines, it will certainly help for your mental strength too.
LRM, so so glad you and baby M enjoyed the swimming.
Knicky, Scarecrow, one kid is feeding/sleeping, the other one is lying next to me, patiently waiting for his bedtime story, bless him, such a good boy. Hope you are doing weell too.
Somewhere, you are extraordinarily calm in these circumstances, very impressive
Xxxx to all

It sounds as though you are all being very healthy! I have gone from barely eating during pregnancy to barely stopping! Although I blame baby camper who keeps having mammoth feeding sessions - 2 hours at a time or more. He's got a bit of a cold now so this morning he was struggling to eat. I got some nose drops from the Dr and this afternoon he seems to be catching up: 6pm - 9.15pm bar 20 minutes when I was eating dinner.

I joined fab 40s Buggy Fit club this morning. with 30-40 min walk each way, mostly through park, was glorious. but boy do I hurt. survived first day and A half of single parenting....
waves all x

Hello all - feels like months since I posted here.

So glad you are getting on with life at home Cyclecamper - hope Baby C's cold is getting better now.

BBD and Scarecrow you are halfway through your week as single parents - hope it's going ok and you are both coping. Knicky hope things are going ok for you too as guess you are being left to your own devices round about now? Hope you get the chance to spend some quality time with DH soon - but it is so easy to fall into this habit. Our house feels like a relay race at times.

Well done on your buggy fit attendance Chairman - I was planning to go about 2 months ago, then was ill and then couldn't be arsed. You might just inspire me to drag myself along before summer ends.

Somewhere wow at your fasting! I just couldn't do it, and if I did, I dread to think what I would be like the next day. It must be really hard at night? I go just about insane if I go to bed hungry and usually end up back in the kitchen...

MrsW sorry you're still being plagued by diet restrictions. Have you made any progress with the dairy thing yet? I can recall similar being suggested to me at some point when baby E was younger and I kind of closed my ears to it as couldn't bear to think about restricting food.

LRM envious at you managing to grow your hair! I reckon about two thirds of mine has fallen out in the last few weeks. Got a straggly little ponytail left - bah! How did the swimming go, by the way? I keep forgetting to go.

Seaside glad you were able to make use of the lovely weather and go on picnics - hopefully the sun will be back soon

Baby Eagleray is getting big - keep telling people she's 3 months old but got the calendar out the other day and realised she is actually closer to 5... No let-up in night wakings - she will outgrow her bedside cot soon, but it doesn't really matter as she sleeps with me most of the time.

Life has kind of ground to a halt with us as DP is very ill - it's an incredibly worrying time and makes you wonder what the future holds. He's at home although we're spending half the time going up and down the motorway to hospital. I think this summer is going to be a write-off in terms of happy memories, although because he's not working we do at least get to spend a little bit more time together as a family.

I'm trying to busy myself painting DD's bedroom this week as ran out of time when I was pregnant and didn't like dragging my vast bulk up and down ladders. It's a nice time to do it though as she will be making more and more use of it soon, and it's also nice to decorate/furnish the room with her in mind, rather than an unborn baby. Next week I will start sanding and repainting furniture if the weather holds out!

Hello everyone! Just getting in a preliminary post as tomorrow... Drum roll...
I will finish my marking!!!!

And then I will return to the thread properly and be sociable again.

Have been industriously lurking so I promise to enter the conversation - I am looking forward to talking to other humans again!

PS and also enter the hair competition. Having it done but in meantime is grey broom upside down with bristles falling out everywhere...

eagle, thanks. - nearly half way and actually going okay.
much more importantly what is wrong with DH? And if you prefer not to say, at very least I hope treatment is going well. Very much a hand here to hold if you need it. You sound very strong but hope you are coping really okay.

Nearly half way to my DH return. Kids both asleep or quiet by ten to 8 tonight so making progress (was after 8 last night). crucially have been happy evenings, greatly helped by DD being really sweet and grown up. Tonight she offered for T to join us in her bedroom for the final story and songs which given my default is to leave him in my room so she has special mummy time was very kind spirited. it was a really happy time and I felt very proud of her.

Goat - hurrah. We should have a party for you in the snug...all be online together for an hour or something! DH finished his marking on Friday and now in Malta on fieldwork so will generate heaps more. boo! (He also uni lecturer but on geography.and environmental.science).

So sorry eagle I didn't read your post properly andissed about your DH being ill. How worrying for you. Hand holding, hugs and listening ears available here if you should like them.

Hello all

I've just realised the mums net app is rubbish cause you can't scroll and remind yourself what everyone has said.

eagle likewise very sorry to hear about Dh - i really hope it isnt too serious. Am also here to listen. Am sending positive thoughts your way.

Ok baby s in meltdown gotta go

I have scrolled down now eagle - my heart goes out to you. I hope you are getting lots of support and are able to rest. I'm glad you are getting family time at least. Wishing recovery to Dh. Virtual hand holding. Xx

scare well done on solo parenting and it gives me strength to hear that you are coping. My dp is intoning doomily how I mustn't expect any help from him once MIL is gone, making me fear it more than I would. I bet it will be ok. Glad to hear your dd w'as so grown up and lovely - so she is coming through it, it sounds like.

goat well done on getting through your teacherly-muso mounds of work. Hope that Chopin was drifting down the corridor through the whole thing - and that you are now nice and relaxed,

I have nothing to say for myself other than my daughter is so damn cute I can hardly bear it.

Xx

Eagle. Sending summer warm hugs and always got your girls on here who are all happy to support. You know where we all are xxxxxxxx
Right ladies hair competition is it. Mine is a right state. Grey bits sticking out. It is far to long. Have no clue about a re style. Goat mine is a scabby mop after being dragged through a bush! !!
D has decided not to nap in his pram and crys and crys. Not sure if he wants to lose one. Sleep is shocking feel like a have permanent jet lag. Only plus is lost 61 lbs so working towards 5 stone. In a size 12 but somedays I could eat my body weight in biscuits

sorry, Eagle... it puts transient troubles with DC in perspective.
Looks like immature gut here, so colief for lactose, dairy free for protein thing and renatidine for reflux. More or less by definition tho it's something that'll pass and meds etc have already left her much less wracked so much more positive. If she can learn to sleep in the day now it'll be a breeze...
As for hair, I am a devotee of the mumsnet haircut, so shaggy, 1970s looking mop with some greys creeping into the fringe.