May 2010 - Drooling, smiling, cooing and nearly sleeping through (and that's just the mummies!)

[rachelfruitloop]

Hi Ladies,

I hope you don't mind, I started a new thread as our first one was quite full! I can't believe we're a quarter-way through the first year already!

wltk could it be Oscar teething? You might not see any teeth straight away but the grumpiness/crying/fussing starts a lot earlier. DD2 is fussing a lot today as well but I think it's mostly because she's tired - I put her down when we got home from a friend's house and she fought sleep so then of course had a big crying fit later on as she was so tired. I've now managed to rock her to sleep in her chair and DD1 is also having her nap so I'm getting some me time

and on the May 2011 group. It might make me start talking to DH about DC3 at this rate... We were on holiday in Northern Ireland when DD2 was conceived and it was the first month of trying for us too - it sounds like that happened to quite a few of us!

first1 surely that's not legal? If you've been offered the job and are now unwell, don't they have to wait for you? I'd make a complaint as well. Glad to hear that the recovery is going well though.

Angel hope the brace doesn't upset Willow too much. Hope it all works out with you and DH - it sounds like you're communicating well which has to be a very good thing and you can work through this together.

Pigley both DDs were born with lots of hair; quite a bit of DD1's came out when I was picking the cradle cap . It was just always too tempting to 'just pick that one bit' off when she was feeding etc and you could guarantee that a few hairs would come with it. She also ended up with a bald patch on the back of her head where she rubbed it in bed but she now has a rather fantastic head of hair. Hope DD2's grows as well as that as DH keeps making comments about her having big ears so she'll need the hair to cover them up...

ML sorry to hear about your housing problems; I remember them from last year as well and just how happy you were when you got this place. I wish you all the best in finding somewhere else [fingers crossed]

Oh no! I am feeling very stressed and anxious. Just had virginia weighed. She was 10lb born and now at 11 weeks she is only 11lb 4oz. She is just not gaining weight. I think its because she is distracted by her sisters and they won't leave her alone when I am feeding her. I don't know what to do. Hv suggests weaning at 16 weeks but she is only little on 25th centile down from 91st. Help. Any advice. I am close to tears.

HB Obviously I'm not a HCP or anything but I think you have to go with your gut instincts - does Virginia seem happy and healthy? Is she doing the famous wet/dirty nappies that seem to be the holy grail? If so, I'd try not to worry too much. Surely early weaning is only going to expose her to more risk of allergies etc and as milk is more calorific than pureed carrots etc, she's more likely to put weight on with milk feeds.

[TBH, probably best not to even listen to me - I've got round the problem by not getting the DDs weighed and just going on whether I think they're doing alright...]

Hello Ladies,

Life is pretty hectic here, but I am still enjoying reading your posts even though I don't get a chance to post as often as I'd like to.

Pigley so sorry about the complications to your friend's pregnancy with the ruptured placenta. How scary!!!

It has made me think I should post here about a very good friend of mine - her baby needs our prayers girls. Her baby, Bruce, was born two weeks ago at 33 weeks - he has a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia which caused his organs to take up the space in his chest and his lungs weren't developing. This was spotted at the 20 week scan and she was told that he would have 0 chance of survival at birth, but they could try an experimental surgery where a balloon was inflated in the baby's trachea in utero and pushed the organs out of the way to make room for lung growth. My poor friend went through agony hoping the surgery would give her baby at least some hope of survival. They did detect some lung growth, but she went into labour quite early which was always a risk. Brucie miraculously weighed 6 lbs 3 oz despite being 7 weeks early, which has got to be in his favour IMO! They were waiting for him to be stable enough to do surgery in order to repair the defect but he has contracted a lung infection so they are just waiting to see if he improves so they can do the surgery. My friend has a son the same age as my DS1. I can't imagine the hell they are going through, not knowing if their little baby is going to make it, and missing their older son who is staying with relatives. When I have a bad day I just try to remember that at least my DSs are healthy. If you can pray or think good thoughts for little Brucie, I'd be grateful for that.

Must finish making dinner, I will try to post again later with more personals.

i think he is teething, saw lumps and the biting lip is quite telling, gave him teething gel when i last posted and we both slept for an hour dh was home and fed him and changed him, but he had to go back,i don't feel so good but i haven't eaten enough today.
sorry no energy for personals, except little bruce of course.

God bless little Brucie, may he be a little miracle and telling everyone just how special he is 10 years from now.

Carikube your way seems best. Think we will avoid scales unless there is a problem, she is clearly happy!

Little Bruce will be in my prayers and thoughts tonight. Things like that always make you appreciate your own family all the more. xx

First1 - glad you're doing OK. at your job, that can't be legal. Have fun with your iPhone!

Hollyoaks - congratulations on your students, that must feel fantastic.

HBM - no advice I'm afraid. My DD was born on the 50th centile and went down to the 7th where she's still is. I could never make her have any more milk, weaned her at 17 weeks and that didn't make any difference. I'd go with your instincts about Virginia, she might just be a small one?

Rachel - best wishes to little Bruce, it does make me realise how lucky I am. Thinking of your friend as well, hope she's OK.

I am so glad I am not the only one picking at the cradle cap, well it's gets boring feeding and it's just there have now stopped.

My 3 girls were all blonde baldies who had just a tuft of hair on top, DD3 had her first haircut age 2 and her hair is starting to thicken up now, she's the blondest of all and has beautiful big blue eyes with the longest eyelashes I have ever seen on a human being, all of this she uses to her advantage. Jacob has the classic bald patch and I think he will stay dark as he has dark eyebrows, eyes most definitely brown now.

Jacob was weighed yesterday at boob group he's now 16lbs 7ozs, following just above the 75th centile so all good there. Still a monkey for sleeping but you know what I am just going to go with it, if he needs a wee suck in the night and some comfort so be it, I know it's not forever.

rachel - aww poor wee Bruce and your poor friend, hope everything goes well for him

homebirthmummy - have you heard of catchdown weight? basically the idea is a baby is born too large for their natural weight so over time their body readjusts them to follow their natural growth curve. I have seen it with DD2 she was born above the 91st centile but over a good few months she fell down through the centiles to the 50th and is probably below that line now. I'm 5ft3, DP is 5ft8 and we are both quite small framed so we are never going to have huge children. Again I don't know how weaning would help her to gain more weight as milk as more calories gram for gram.

May 2011?? that would be right, I got pregnant August last year. We decided to ttc when DD3 was about 3 months old but I didn't get a period so when she was about 11 months start to wind down feeding, I got one period around about her 1st birthday then was pregnant the next month. There is no chance of that happening again though, am definitely finished having babies now.

hollyoaks - glad Grace is gaining weight

first1 - that is so rubbish about the job I think you should kick up a stink. Hope you have a speedy recovery as well

Angel - hope things work out for you and your DH, so know what you mean about just being Mummy and Daddy, DP and I are the same, no time for each other but as long as we recognise it and keep talking I think things will be OK we both know we have to take a backseat to the DC for now. Poor Willow with the cast on, try to experiment with different feeding positions and using cushions, it may just work.

Right sorry to anyone I have missed but am so tired need to go to bed.

First - that is terrible about your job - apart from the fact that you have an incredibly good reason for not starting on Tuesday, which can be backed up by letter from consultant etc, if they are that inflexible presumably they aren't going to be able to readvertise, interview and appoint someone to take your place by Tuesday?? In which case they won't have anyone there to start on Tuesday anyway, so why not just be flexible and stick with presumably their first choice of person to take on the job?? Sometimes, HR departments just make me . I would def make a complaint, but that is just me - I understand you have a lot on at the moment, goodness only knows. Glad you seem to be recovering well, hope the pain subsides soon.

Hollyoaks - well done on your results, lots of hard work from you, hope you get that recognised at the next Ofsted. Amazing given that the school failed Ofsted last year - brilliant turn around. Were you in special measures? Will the school now get more money on the basis of the results? Good news about Grace as well - never feel that giving your baby formula makes you a bad mum! Your job is to feed your baby, and you just have to do that the best way you can. BFing is brilliant when it works, but it certainly isn't the be all and end all of being a "good mum". Whatever that is...!!

Angel - I guess the first part of any recovery is acknowledging that you both want to work at the relationship. It must have been dreadful that you had to go through so much, but I guess now you have got to rock bottom and the only way is up (and any other hackneyed phrases that I'm sure you are sick of hearing). Best of luck to you. about Willow's harness - how long will she have to wear it for? Can she ever take it off or does she have to sleep in it as well? Poor mite, but I guess it is in her best interests.

LOL at the May 2011 group - makes me soooo broody! [slaps self round face as would actually go and rock quietly in corner if found out was pg again at the moment emoticon]. Our conception took place at a family friend's wedding (as far as we can tell). Was a total shock as we had randomly convinced ourselves that as we had DS in May we would not fall again in August and have another May baby. Ho hum. The number of people who asked if we only DTD once a year when they found out we were expecting in May again! Makes me all nostalgic....

If anyone is handing cake around, I'll have either mars bar cake, or lemon drizzle please. Or perhaps both. Oooh, and a Fat Rascal from Bettys as well if there's one going. We all deserve it for producing such beautiful 3 month old children in the space of one year! Pats on the back to all of us!

Sorry Rachel I also meant to say - Bruce will be in my prayers tonight, as will your friend. I hope they get some good news soon, I cannot imagine the hell they must be going through.

Also HBM4 - is there any chance that you could try and do a couple of feeds per day just you and Virginia and see if that makes a difference to her feeding? Do you think she is still hungry when she finishes feeding? Are the HV worried about her development at all or just commenting on the drop? I think if she seems happy, not hungry, and doing wet/dirty nappies then just monitor and see how she goes. I weaned DS1 early at 17 weeks, but that was because I couldn't pour any more formula down his neck (6 9oz bottles per day and still hungry). BF milk will (I think) be different. Always hard not to worry though.

Right off to bed, have been sorting out all paperwork for move tonight, and actually feel cleansed. Have established a filing system for the new house so that we never end up with piles of paperwork again (in theory). .

Rachel, thinking Bruce and his family. I cant even begin to imagine how traumatic that would be.

Hi Ladies,
I just got word from my friend that little Brucie has just gone to surgery for his operation, she will try to let me know how it goes tonight. The surgery will take 7 to 8 hours so please keep Brucie in your thoughts and prayers today. Thanks everyone!

Rachel - praying for Bruce and good news tonight.

thinking of bruce. everything crossed. let us know the updates ...

thinking of bruce, please make an update when you can...
went to the health clinic today and everything in the 50th centile which is good, def teething, but not too grumpy, mummy is.

right, personals:
hb4 oscar is keeping his weight in the centile a lot easier in breast milk than formula, she might be just petite, as far as she is healthy, i wouldn't worry too much, to make the average some babies have to be tiny, right?
holly, don't worry too much about how you feed the baby, as a friend of mine says, the important thing is that they get the calories, i give him as much breast as i can, but if he needs a top up, is fine, you can always try to increase your supply, we will be winning soon any way...
tomnlin nooooooooooooo broodiness, fat too early, how dare they make another may thread, it can't have been that long, surely?, i am also tempted to stop by to say hi, but they might thing wtf...
rachelhugs to you too, i know is only the kid of your friend, but still bad, my friend lost her baby when we were 16/19 weeks pregnant i couldn't sleep until i saw my scan at 20 weeks, these things freak you out, send her our love...i wouldn't want to be in her shoes...
angel glad you are working it out, best of luck
pam i hope you coping well with the two and they play along
molly are you alright? i don't remember reading you in a while, could be me?
pigley how scary for your friend, will cross everything for her as well
ml can't think of anything that may help, but... hugs...

sorry if i forgot anyone...

Thinking of Bruce and hoping and praying the surgery went well x x

Hi Ladies,

I just got a message from my friend saying that baby Brucie is out of surgery and stable. The next 48 hours are the most crucial, so hopefully he will stay stable and be on his way to recovery. I am so relieved to hear that the surgery is done and he's ok for now!

fabulous news rachel, lets hope its all good news from now on.

Rachel - so glad to hear about Bruce, praying that the recovery goes well and it'll all be good news from now. Hope your friend is OK, must be such a rollercoaster of emotions.

Evening ladies. I'm going to try a proper full post but can't promise it'll be all that successful. Have had a busy couple of days with the other dcs - ds is back to school in the morning. All the labels are on the clothes - thanks to my dm who came over yesterday and sewed while I was feeding Molls.
wltk - boo to teething but great weight gain. Well done you. You noticed I'd been unusually quiet - does that mean I am a bit of a gossip normally. :)

angel - I worked in kids orthopaedics a few years back and the harnesses do look awful but the wee ones usually cope brilliantly - much better than the mums and dads. Glad things seem better with dh. We went through a rough patch about 7 years ago and yet we made it through. The key moment was the realisation that we did want to make it work.

first1 the job offer withdrawal must be illegal. Disgraceful. Hope you're recovering well

hollyoaks well done to you and Grace. Hope the nipple is healing. Same thing has happened here. Ow!

homebirthmummy think I'd go along with less weighings too if I was you. Will you get more peace for feeds when the schools go back?

rachel fingers and toes crossed for wee Bruce. Unimaginable really.

carikube hope the me time was repeated today. Where in NI did you holiday?

ml hope you're doing ok despite everything. Thinking about you.

Impressed re your filing tomlin. Been trying to get organised here too. Lots of meetings and stuff to do in September. This will be a problem as I can barely get up and dressed before midday.

sk yeh to 75th centile - hope the school run is going well. When are the English schools back? NI is tomorrow for most but not dd1 which is Tuesday.

pamelat hope dd is behaving and the boobs are ok too.

heffa how are you?

pigley hope your friend is ok

got to go - had a text I need to reply to - at this time of night - will be back and tell you all my gossip later. Hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

Hi everyone,

life's bit hectic - just normal stuff - have been reading posts
rachel will keep praying for Brucie and his family, good news surgery went well.
ML very un-MN hugs being sent to you. Keep us updated if you can?
tomlin I hear you on the broodiness Not sure DH would be too happy if we found out we were going to have another addition simply because our house is too small!
wltk Good that Oscar's weight is in 50th centile. It's been two weeks since Refaella had her weight checked, might get it done soon. What were the signs of the definite teething? Refaella has been drooling for England for weeks now but there is nothing emerging. She has also been eating her fists! For days now she has also been experimenting with her vocal chords which include high pitch long notes - not quite sure if it's just exerpimenting, or she's uncomfortable in some way, or shouting as she is in pain...
angel I have been so touched by your posts about your (D)H, the last one brought a big lump to my throat. I am so happy that you two are communicating and are finding a way through everything.

I need to go to sleep now. I am sorry if I have forgotten anyone.

Crisis over. Dd1 was staying the night at friend's house before they go away for weekend and had a nightmare that she came home and I'd had triplets and there was no room for her any more. Obvious what she's worrying about. Went to collect her and she's now cuddled up with dh while I feed Molls. Hope she feels up to going away tomorrow as friend's mum has planned all sorts including body boarding. She has some social life though.

Well the last sleepover on Monday night was a nightmare as I said but there's been no vomiting since. She gets abdominal migraines especially when she's over excited. The day after was better although dd1's friend is a handful. They went to the fair with dh and dd1 won a goldfish. Great - a free fish from a £2 ticket and then had to spend £8 on a tank and decorations and food. Some prize! So we have a new arrival - Bubble.

We then had her best friend from school over on Wednesday - spoiled, much?! Dh took them swimming. That was easier as that friend is a dream visitor.

Today I visited my friend and her new baby again. She's still struggling with bf so I'm trying to support her but give her permission to change to formula if she decides to. She's a fairly new friend but really nice. We're planning to go to La Leche League meeting next week.

Also popped into work and found that I've been approved as a trainer of new GPs. I did the course and submitted the portfolio while pregnant and I'm amazed I passed!

I had a wee cry at the coverage of David and Samantha Cameron having their baby in Truro as that's where ds was born.

Night all x

molly we were on holiday in Antrim near the coast (already forgotten the name of the town - how bad is that?!)

rachel hope all is ok with Bruce

Got to go - DD1 has just worked out about standing on an empty Celebrations tub but she hasn't worked out the bit about putting it on a flat surface first so she is going to do herself some damage soon....

molly it means you are normally full of good advice and i appreciate your input great your mum can help you.
angel surely the harness looks worst than it feels... hope you too are doing well, maybe start dating would work... you know, he comes to pick you up, you go for a date to the movies or dinner, he takes you home, you ask him to stay for the night...
first could the cab look into the legality of withdrawing the offer for you, so you only go forward if you have a good case?
bruce and his mum and dad thinking of you, hope you are ok
pigley how is your friend doing, get her some cake, it cures everything
wibbela he is really fuzzy eating, he cries more than usual, not that he usually cries, but there is a little bump on the side of his gum, and now the gum line is not straight, it goes down a tiny bit just underneath the bump. cold teether ring helps.
molly yeei! on being a trainer, they need much sensitivity towards pregnant women and new mums, if i may say...
carikube you need eyes on the back of your head, lucky i can strap him to the bouncer yet...

right, traveling home in sunday for 3 weeks so the whole family can finally meet oscar in the flesh... mil has the house ready for us with everything i ask for and everything she could think of, i am wondering if is going to look like a branch of mothercare, she can overdo it a bit...( he got so many xmas presents that i didn't need to buy 0-3 month cloths, i was 5 months pregnant then) and everyone is coming to meet us at the airport, 2.5 h away from home!, you can tell they're excited

i might go a bit quiet, but pop in ocassionally... if i got a computer in my room, might do night posting, otherwise i don't promise personals.