May babies no. 5 - crikey!

[libb]

Wouldn't we all be a nightmare on a rare ladies only night out?!

Be warned this is long.

Oh No Egypt I've passed on dd2's weird sleeping habits to your dd just by talking about it. She was a bit better today though I have to say. Put her down for a nap around 12 and after leaving her to scream for a few minutes she went to sleep. I usually leave her to cry, not for ages though, but she usually whimpers away then finds her thumb and goes to sleep. but today she just seemed to scream and scream but wasn't as bad as the last 2 days. Went to bed tonight ok though. I'm really hoping that she's going to be well behaved on the flight on Monday. We're flying at 7pm and she can be a bit ratty around then but it was more expensive to fly earlier so we'll have to take a chance. Just don't want to be on a flight for an hour with a screaming baby and all the other passengers. I wonder if I could get them to seat me away from dh and the dd's? then I could pretend that I'm on my own. No I wouldn't do that, honestly

Egypt my mum died 7 years ago this christmas. dd1 was 4 months old when she died so she doesn't remember her. But we have lots of photo's of her and some of dd1 and my mum together so she knows who she is. She tells people that my mum is her real granny and that she lives with the angels in heaven. The reason she says real granny is because I still have My granny who we see on a daily basis and when dd1 was little it was too much of a mouthfull to say great granny so we just called her granny and it's stuck.
My grandad died back in March very suddenly. He was really looking forward to the arrival of dd2. So I like to think that when she's chatting to the lampshade it's really my mum and my grandad that are there. Dh thinks I'm mad but I know that my mum and most probably grandad as well are watching over us. My mum told me that dd2 was going to be a girl but that's a story for another time.

I can't read those threads you linked to Egypt as Dh is at work and I don't like to read spooky things when I'm in the house on my own. I'll read them tomorrow when he's here to protect me, lol

I have days when dh breathing is just too much for me. Or evenings when he finally has an evening off and his brother turns up at the door, "I told you he was coming to visit" says Dh " No you didn't" I reply through gritted teeth. Or sometimes if he has an evening off his mother turns up, aaggghhh.

Ok today I decided to start on my venture of pureeing veg to freeze for when dd2 is a bit bigger. I dutifully chopped up the carrots that I had and steamed them. Then I tried to puree them through the sieve, was taking to long so I decided this was stupid and I have a food processor that I hardly use so I put them all in there but the FP couldn't get them pureed finely enough. So now that they were chopped up more I put them back in the sieve and tried again. Gave up after half and hour and decided to buy jars. Ok so maybe carrots weren't a good starting point. I'll probably find it easier with potatoes but will do them after we come home from holiday.

I managed to get my hair cut today, first time since before dd2 was born. Why does it always feel so good once you've had your hair cut? I feel like a new person.

Cat82 - DS born at 11lb 5oz and must now be around 24lb. Will take him on Monday to ascertain. I just find it a really emotive subject and if people bang on about him being big (he's not fat...just big) I take it really personally, as if I've done something "wrong".
Hope we all have a good night, I'm off to bed (actually should have gone a while ago, but DH finished on computer and switched it off without asking me...so I had to switch it on again as a matter of principle !!!)

good morning everybody! i hope you are having a good day. earlier it looked grey in grey but sun is coming through now - linnet: ds used to fall asleep for his naps in a second. just lately he screams/whimpers too; and it takes him some time to fall asleep -weird! - spooke linnet! i started with making purres yesterday too (carrots, broccoli) - yeah, took some experimenting to mash up the carrots (messy kitchen now ), i've got that food processor for "herbs" or really small things and that did the job; well, after me helping a bit (rearranging carrotpieces), but looks allright now; have to see if ds likes them though ! - omg, dp is being silly!!! he just put ds into laundrybag!!! ds is not complaining though, just checking out everything ! - well, we are off to a wedding today. with ds - so i hope he will behave; have packed lots of toys, bottles, dummies, food - judd: i know what you mean! ds is on the heavy side too! born 8oz15 and a week ago he was on 22oz - but he just dropped a bottle and he's moving about much more!! and he doesn't look "fat" just big! - had to put him in clothes 9-12 (6-9 were already a bit tight)!!

mornin'...

DD must have woken 6 times last night but e stopped counting. Tried everything to avoid the feed option but without result... only once did she settle without b/feed only to wake half an hour later. She's a nightmare this morning... really grumpy. DH is taking her out so that I can do some work on this job... poor boy...

She also seems to have the start of some excema type thing around her eyes.

bless her spots, hope its not excema.
thats very sad about your mum and grandad linnet. would love to know the story about her telling you dd2 was a girl though.

dd woke twice last night. phew. guess all that crying wore her out. did give her feed when i took her out of her carseat and put her in her cot at 10pm poor thing. she woke at 2 and 5 then 7.30. hoped she'd go back til about 9 after going to bed much later, but nope. its light mummy therefore i get up, whatever the time.

she has been sleeping since 10am though so thats good.

told dh this morning that someone on here was really fed up with their dh (not any of you - there was another thread somewhere). told him why. he pulled a face as if to say 'what a horrible bloke'. then said 2 minutes later.....'shall i get up and have her so you can have a lie in?' ha ha - it worked! he's currently mowing the grass!

ooo, libb, by other email is the same to start with with @ntlworld.com hope it works.

linnet, where are you off to again? we fly to gay pareeeeeeee on weds, although at this rate we're not as dd's passport has yet to arrive despite me paying extra for it to take just 2 weeks. oooo dear. think it's a daytime flight. i think they may surprise us. being amongst lots of people and all that noise of the plane may lull them off like in a car. mind you, who am i kidding? bet mine is a nightmare. it's so much worse if you cant stand up with her. will bf her when we take off though. dont want her ears hurting

have just received annabel karmel's book. she recommends a 'mouli' for mashing/pureeing as well as a blender. gonna have to find out what one of them is.

Hi everyone, Just thought i'd check in and see how everyone is today
Judd-I know how you feel, in a way, becuase dd is so small, and everyone thinks she's so much younger than she is, i'm forever wondering if there was anything else i could have done/be doing, to make her bigger! The other day, we went swimming and someone asked me if she was 2 months old! sob she'l be 5 months on the 13th!!
It is of course nothing to do with us, how big or small our little ones are, but all down to yet another thing nauture has designed to make us worry every moment of every day
SusiS-Odd, dd has just started doing exactly the same. She used to nap during the day really well, but now gets herself very worked up if she can't drop off imediatly.
Question for any of you beginning to wean: do you d's open their mouths for the spoon, or do you, as i have to do, wait for a yawn, noise, sneeze etc, and then sneakily shovel it in while they're not looking?
I'm feeling a tad on the downside today, as it's the anniversary of a very dear freinds death, but not quite as bad as prevvious years.
Anyway, hope you're all doing okay!

xxx

Sorry you are feeling down Cat. My problems are smaller but are adding up a bit at the moment. DS has a cold, DD has a cold and chicken pox (hence two bad nights with her from the cold) and we're supposed to be going on hols on Monday.

Sorry would post more but sruggling to type because dd is squirming.

just thought i'd come on and say hurrah! dd is almost 14lbs i needed a pick me up today and that has helped.

Bozza-it's crap when things just seem to keep coming isn't it? I've heard that putting a pillow under the sheet, can keep poor little DS's nozzle a bit clearer and, may, aid sleep. Cavol caspuals are fab as well, a drop or two on the sheets. Hope things get better- enjoy your hols!

Hope everyone else is okay
xxx

Thanks for the sympathy Cat - just read your other thread about your friend too.

Done the pillow thing and hope it helps and got some baby balsam..

My DD is also on the small side. She was exactly 14 lbs at clinic this week and is 20 weeks. She was 8 lb 12 oz at birth and the health visitor keeps saying I've lost a lot of weight - which I take as implying that I am dieting and not producing good enough milk. DH thinks I'm being over-sensitive.

Bah! what would DH know, and the health visitor come to that ;) It really isn't your fault hon- some babies just don't put on weight-like mine!
Are you bf ing? i take it you are, from your post. Do you think you are loosing weight? When i first had DD i was so unbelievably stressed out over doing the whole bf thing, plus just having a baby, that i couldn't eat. at all. So i guess i'm just asking if you're feeling okay apart from all the crappieness that's happening at the mo!
Anyways, take care and don't blame yourself for anything-this is my mantra when dd has been whingy all day, won't eat, is still not gaining weight and generaly seems to dislike me intensly: "it is not my fault, babies are a law unto themselves" It's true, they are!

xxx

that ;) should have been a wink! sorry!

spots: hope you could get some rest and that lo hasn't got eczema!!!
egypt: fingers crossed for that passport!! - i need one too before xmas
cat: re weaning: ds didn't open mouth himself for the first few weeks. had to play every game i could imagine - now i can't shove it in quick enough; like a bird his mouth's always open now - hope you are feeling better soon
bozza: must be horrible with 2 sick kids! hope they are well soon!!! especially before hols. where are you going???

we are back from the wedding! it was fab!! nice to get dressed up again (all 3 of us grin) and to meet some old/new people! we went there 12ish and just came home 9.30 - ds quick feed and he is asleep now - bless! he was ever so good!! everybody was just suprised how well behaved he was. he was just overwhelmed grin - so much to look at; louder than he is used to; bright lights everywhere; and so many faces! he was very quiet though, taking everything in and didn't cry once - but now i am dead and i am off to bed!

We're off to London on Monday. I applied for dd2's passport when she was 7 weeks old. Her photo in it is so cute, will look daft when she's 4 but hey I don't make the rules. So passports are at the ready, need to show photo ID even on internal flights nowadays. Ironing is almost all done, just got to pack and tidy up the house before going away. dd1 has already got her suitcase out and packed her pyjamas, lol

ok here is my story about how my mum told me dd2 was going to be a girl. We had decided to find out what we were having this time around so we could prepare. So a few weeks before the 19 week scan when we would find out I had a dream...

I was with my mum in the hospital, didn't look anything like my local hospital but that was where we were in the dream. She was showing me around explaining where things were and showing me magazines and leaflets about pregnancy etc. Then she said I'm going to show you how to make up baby formula. Which I thought was weird seeing as I was going to breastfeed but let her get on with it. She measured all the powder into a big bowl then added the water and the milk went PINK. Now the strange thing was I didn't actually take any of this in until the next night when I went to bed and I was lying there thinking about how I'd had a dream and my mum had been in it. And I said to myself "she might have told me if I was having a boy or a girl." Then I remembered the milk went PINK. So we go for the 19 week scan and the Dr is having a good look at the heart etc, because they were checking for problems which as you all know thankfully there weren't any. We asked him to tell us what we were having and he'd finished the scan by then and said that he'd phone me at home later on to tell me. So he phoned and said it's a female baby and I thought oh mum was right. Then I spent days wondering if I'd hear him right or if I had imagined him saying Female. But no I had heard him right she is a lovely little girl and my mum was kind enough to let me know in advance

Today we went into town to try and get dd1 some trousers. Bad idea as being a Saturday town was mobbed and I now remember why I don't like going into town on a Saturday. didn't get any trousers in the end as she's so skinny the age 7's just fall right off her or are way to long, she's quite small. and for some reason none of the shops seemed to have any age 6 trousers. So we're going to buy her some trousers when we're in London. More choice down there than there is here anyway.

SusiS is it the little hand held blender that you have, the one that you can use for chopping onions and things? I was thinking that it might be a better idea to get one of those. I'll look into it after we come home.

Bozza sorry to hear that your dd has the chickenpox, but I guess that gets it out of the way all in one go.

Cat82 when was your dd born? 14 lbs sounds fine for weight. She must be around 20/21 weeks? My dd was 19 weeks yesterday and weighs 15lbs 5oz. She seems huge to me but that's because dd1 was a lot smaller and was a lot older before she weighed what dd2 weighs now. I know I shouldn't compare but I do sneak a peak at dd1's baby book sometimes. So long as your dd is happy and healthy you don't need to worry She obviously just going to be petite.

morning everybody! was a bit worried that ds? routine would go pearshaped today; because of wedding yesterday! well, went to bed a bit later grin (10ish); still had a wake 1.30 but bottle at 4.30 (!) and woke up finally at 8 (!) - had his usual nap and bottles were back on routine! he doesn?t seem to be mixed up at all!
linnet: have fun in london!!! - re blender: it's the 3in1 handblender from braun (argos 422/0398)
Susi&Lucas 20+2

hi! got a quick minute to chat.

have had mil and fil here all w/e. i didnt sleep at all last night. and i mean AT ALL. went to bed at 10.30, fed dd. she woke at 12, 2, 6, 7.30. but i never ever slept. fil was making alot of noise, kept going to toilet, flush is really loud, despite us telling him that it's on dd's wall and wakes her up (!) dh and fil were in kitchen until 2.30 washing the millions of golf balls they found yesterday! chucking them in the bucket one by one, and seriously pissing me off. by time dh got to bed i was past it. kept waking for dd to wake. so overtired, flashing lights in front of my eyes. dh got up with her at 7.30 and mil took her out for a long walk at 10, but i still couldnt sleep. oh god, what is wrong with me. think it is the anxiety i fell when they are here.

anyway, must rescue dd from the tv. she has just started to roll btw

I am quickly coming to the conclusion my daughter is part baby, part Terradactyl. She's started doing this breathing in while making a really, really loud screeching noise! At first i was really worried she was gasping for breath but she's not in distress, what is she DOING?!
SusiS- glad ds's routine is still intact, i was really worried when we drove to Liverpool, about 3 and a half hours away, that she'd sleep the whole time, then not go down at 7.00pm, and the whole thing would go wrong. She did sleep the whole time there, but still went down well at 7.00, and her routine didn't suffer at all!
Hope everyone's okay
xxx

Bozza dont worry about dd's weight. As long as she looks healthy then shes fine. My dd is 18 weeks and only weighs 13lb 8 so I dont think shell be far off what your dd weighs when shes 20 weeks. I was panicking about it but as long as she is gaining weight then im trying not too stress.

Been cooking veg all day ready for weaning. So far ive done carrots, sweet potato, parsnips,swede and apple. Ive pureed them and pu them all in ice cube trays. in the week im doing cauliflower and brocoli.
egypt in place of a mouli i just used a stainer and pushed the food through. i think you use them for foods you cant blend e,g pototoes because it makes them starchy.
Im really dreading going back to work. It will be strange, at the moment its me who says to people 'dd likes doing this and she naps at 10ish ' etc but when i go back it will mil who will know dd more than i do.
forgot to add linnett its easier to blend them if you add some cooking water. we also use a hand blender, it cost a fiver.

dd's sleep has been all over the place. friday she woke at 5am wide awake. dp bought her into bed and i tried to feed her into submission but she just carried on playing in the end at 6am i just put her back in her cot to play and she fell sraight asleep. saturday night at my mums she fed at 7.30 and then started crying and wouldnt stop so my mum fed her and she drunk 7ozs at 8.30. still waking once to twice at night
forgot to say hi everyone hope you all had a good weekend. i cant add this to the beginning of this message as it deletes what ive already written iyswim.

Oh Egypt... how dire... but rather comic I have to admit, the bit about the golf balls! couldn't design a better torture method if you tried...

Libb, have received and watched lovely movie clip! What a peach he is. It seemed really magical to be able to watch him like that, thanks so much.

Had the wise health visitor friend out today. She said we might try weaning DD to get her nights a bit more settled, so carrot a rama as of tomorrow. I had been hoping she'd say that.

She also said how hard 4/5 months is for mums... for all you glum feeling may girls oout there. Because the babies WANT to do loads but are still so dependant. Apparently lots of people who are otherwise doing brilliantly, have a crumbly phase at this time becuse it's all so knackering. And it's supposed to get much better around 7 months when you can plonk them down with a load of toys and they can do their own sitting and have their own fun.

Linnet, have an ACE time in london. Am sure you will.

Spots - that's really reassuring that your HV said that about the 4-5 month stage. I think they have got ideas above their stations at the moment, and I remember that DD was a lot happier once she could sit and pick up toys on her own...and ecstatic once she could crawl!

Thanks Spots, we recorded it on the digital camera I bought DP for his birthday (had no idea it could even do it but am so glad it does, we have been mailing DP's mum in New Zealand little snippets of life every now and again.) What your HV said seems to make sense - I have had a strangely restless feeling for the last few weeks but this could be because my days with Reuben are numbered to 7 days now . I will not cry, I will not cry . . . .

Egypt, when you get a chance let me have your other address - hotmail doesn't seem to cope well the technology! I really hope you have a quieter night tonight.

GeorginaA, how are things for you?

Right, have to feed DS and hope he goes down well for the night as tomorrow we are having a trial run with the childminder - I have no idea how much milk to take so I am going mad and will play it by ear from that. I will not cry, I will not cry . . .

On a plus note the electricians finish off tomorrow and we will have a shower! Hurrah! perfect for when we are all back at work, I will not cry . . . yaddy-ya-ya. [weak watery smile emoticon]

I'm still all itchy and spotty but not so exhausted since I decided I'd rather have the itching than be asleep most of the day on the antihistamines. Have started some homeopathy stuff today and hoping they'll help instead - really don't want to be using hydrocortisone long term. It's off my face now though and mainly on my arms and legs, so at least I don't look a fright!

Ds2 has started waking in the night after a while of sleeping through. 4-5am last night - can't decide if he was cold or whether he was genuinely hungry. Did seem to eat a fair bit though. Still would like to hold out until 6 months before weaning, but getting a little twitchy now. He's also being really restless during the day feeds - pulling and stretching me in ways nipples just aren't meant to go!

Ds1 is being really sweet with him though - ds2 spent all day today watching his brother, and ds1 kept stopping and giving him huge hugs and kisses, was lovely to see.

Agree with the 4-5 month stage being hard. I promised myself I wouldn't wish the time away, but I'm really looking forward to him being able to sit up soon.

wohoo egypt! rolling time's started! be prepared to get called every 2min to roll her back!!! and hope you'll catch up with sleep!!! don't we all know how it is? - your lo likes watching tv too? ds was very kean on robbie williams today grin; sang along and was dancing too!
yes cat! haven't we got just real good kids??? up for some entertaining and still keep to their routine wink
wow kbaby!! that's alot of veggies! bet you need a 2nd freezer soon grin - i've done carrots and broccoli so far! will do some fruits tomorrow. i hope he'll eat it grin - don't worry kbaby; ds wakes up 1-2 times a night too only 1 feed at 4ish though; but he always wakes at 1.30, can't find a reason!)
spots: makes sense with difficult 4/5month! and it's so true! ds gets so frustrated all the time. he wants to do so many things and just can't do them - mainly sittin up, standing up, and getting everywhere to put it into his mouth grin - oh and good luck with your carrots
libb: yes, really cute video!!! reminded me that we've got a vid.camera too - had to unpack it and use it straight away - and don't get too distressed over going to work! you are still his one and only mumy!!!
pfff, so much to catch up on

lately ds is a bit stressed out with going to bed for the night! he sometimes even screams really loud and long. makes me feel quite bad - but i know he is just tired and will go off in a few minutes! and he usually does. but still - naptimes are ok though.
ds had first time a banana. he quite enjoyed it - and earlier he was just sooo excited (don't ask me about what?), lying on his mat and screaming (in a nice way) and laughing and chatting for at least 40min!!!! i couldn't calm him down! so i had to take him to settle him down for bedtime - 2 min later he realised how tired he actually was and only wanted to go to bed grin - good boy!
susi&lucas 20+2

DS isn't having it - we are watching the new sooper dooper Star Wars as we were hoping for a quiet adult-ish!) type evening but DS is standing strong like Little Big Man. The little booger. humph. We just wanted an epic movie type evening . . . I have fed him, changed him, watered him and even glared at him - he has now been dumped on Dad.

I know for a fact that he will expect his usual lie in tomorrow - hah! welcome to the world of working people bubby . . . I don't know which of us is the more unready - at least I know what to expect I guess . . . still not crying, until he has gone to sleep then he won't know any better.

Poor libb, really feel for you... So glad you got a good childminder. I'm sure you'll feel reassured by her too... she'll know all about how mixed your feelings are about leaving him.

I meant to add that the friendly health visitor also told me that the energy expended by breastfeeding equates to two hours' coal mining every day. !!! I love that !!! In fact might be worth publicly airing it in a new thread.

Am really feeling my coal mining right now. Just tried to do some work on that job I took on, but can't concentrate. Worried now...need to work every evening after DD in bed if it's to get done. Arghy argh argh. Might consider a little short term child minding myself.