The Final Fruition of the Frolicking Forays for the First Time Frolickers

[Spirael]

We came, we saw, we frolicked.

Now our PFB has arrived and we can begin the stressful befuddled guiltridden exhausting wonderful journey of parenthood!

(Or at the very least we can stop bothering the antenatal bunch until they join us!)

chance Am v of your up and downstairs air con. We moved house the weekend before the heatwave started to a place with no air con at all. Ended up buying the last portable air conditioner in Bing Lee to put in our bedroom....sounds like a jumbo jet taking off but at least it kept us cool.

Will didn't seem as bothered by the heat as the rest of us were. I gave up wrapping him though - I'd been toying with the idea for a couple of weeks anyway as he kept trying to get his arms free and pulling the muslin up over his nose in the process.

spirael glad to hear you've avoided the spaniel's ears effect

pixie I've already looked back at the pics we took of Will when he was first born and wondered how on earth I thought he was gorgeous.....he's actually all squashed and blotchy

Hi everyone,

Long time since I've been on here! I was busy over Christmas and then there was so much to catch up on that I knew I'd need a good bit of time to myself to do that - time to myself not being something I seem to get very often, like the rest of you, I'm sure!

Firstly - Bunny - glad to hear you had a good Xmas - Will in his Santa suit is just ADORABLE! Oh my God, though - your MIL - I'd have strangled her! Imagine taking Will off your DH!

Just read your post - you got Will the same Jumperoo as we got! It really is great - like Will, my LO's not one for lying down! Even in the hospital when he was first born, I had to tell DH's brother to sit him upright in order to stop him crying! It's like he doesn't beilieve he's a baby! Also, just to add for Worrisome's benefit, the Jumperoo does fold to be slightly more compact, which is useful.

Well done too, to Will for managing the rolling so early! Clever boy! I'm not sure when my LO did it - isn't that awful? But I know he rolled from back to front for the first time on my brother's birthday - he was 14wks then. Had been going front to back for a while before that but I really don't think it was as early as Will... Lol at the mugging!

Mumnerves - so sorry to hear that you had trouble with feeding and were in hospital. Wrong to blame yourself, but I think as a mum, that's something you can't help... Glad DH is being so supportive though, and that things are getting better. I'm sure a lot of mums would have given up on BF under the cirsumstances, so well done you. Sean's a lucky boy. :)

Spireal - I'm REALLY hoping that DH gave you more than just a cold for Xmas! [confused} Also, I'm very envious of you giving up on the BF!

Hermya - you're over 5ft 10in?! Didn't picture that! I was imagining you as short! No idea why... I wonder how we all differ in RL from the mental images we have of each other? And are our mental images of each other at all accurate?

November - good to hear that you've found a solution with the bottles. :) Is it a nursery or a childminder that Tilda will be going to once you get back to work?

Pixie - the "back in the saddle" question... You are NOT a freak (or maybe we're both freaks?!) With me, I do occasionally feel up for it, but then I think about my body, the state of me, fat, scarred, the fact that I smell like milk... I think about the fact that LO could wake up halfway through, and if he doesn't, how we've wasted valuable sleeping/catching up on housework time. Then there's the thought of feeling too dirty to look after LO afterwards... All bit mad, but there you have it, and the feeling's gone! We have tried a few times too, since LO was born, but only once did we last long enough for DH to finish - because I'm still sore... I don't know if that's normal or if I should get it checked out? November - you had a third degree tear too, didn't you? How long did it take you to recover? Anyway... I know what you mean about feeling sorry for DH, but I've talked to my DH about it, and I believe him when he says that although there are times when he really misses it, for the most part, when he gets into bed, he's generally absolutely exhausted, so isn't all that bothered anyway... We've gone ages without, because I was advised not to have sex in pregnancy. So in about 13mths, we've actually only done it once. That's awful, isn't it? So while your DH may be feeling a bit hard done by, it'd be a whole lot worse if he were married to me!

Worrisome - loving Lochie's smile! He's just gorgeous!

Aly - huge congratulations on Kai's arrival! You sound like you're adjusting well. And good for DH - isn't it amazing how fatherhood chnages a man? My DH is like a completely different person now - he can cook, start the washing machine, iron... Truly domesticated! :)

Pixie - sorry to hear things are getting on top of you a bit. I actually went through a similar thing a couple of weeks ago. Was just totally fed up. In the end, I totally flipped out at DH, phoned him when he was on route to work, made him take the day off, and I went to bed and slept almost round the clock, only waking to take LO into the bed beside me, give him a feed and pass him back to DH! Poor DH! I was just knackered though. The final straw was that LO had a dirty nappy and the clean nappies were still in an unopened box in the living room, instead of in the drawer where I'd asked DH to put them. I phoned DH in tears and told him I just couldn't cope any more - think I scared him, tbh! Still, the next day I felt great again. So maybe that's all you need - a good break. (Not suggesting you act all drama-queen like me though! )

Aww, just saw you looking for me Pixie! :)

LO's doing well. We've started weaning now. About 3wks in and it's going well. I know they tell you to hold off till 6mths, but tbh I don't think that was possible with us... LO's been showing all the signs of wanting food from the end of November - both grans said that "in their day" they'd have just gone with it and would've given him something. With the PKU, we obviously had to wait to get the dietician and consultant on side too though, but when we told them that he'd started waking twice a night to feed, as well as feeding hourly through the day, they agreed we could give him something at 17wks. (I should say that five days after he was born, LO slept for 8.5hrs, and after that, did between 8.5 and 11.5 a night, so waking twice a night to feed was a real change.) Anyway, he's now had apple, pear and carrots, and has loved it all. The first thing we tried was apple. Gave him the spoon and it went straight in the mouth (like everything else). He then kept going until we took it off him, and then he cried, wanting more! Lol! From that very first taste of apple, he's been back to his usual sleep pattern too - minium of 9hrs, so all is good! Oh, and his blood levels are still stable, so so far, so good. :)

Are you thinking of weaning Tegan?

Mumnerves - quite right about the smoking. My FIL is the only person we know who smokes and he's actually never met LO. DH won't let him, because he says he stinks. I think it's a bit harsh, but can see where he's coming from. I wouldn't want him to hold LO. (He's also not had a bath for 3yrs, so smoke isn't the only issue...)

Chance - gosh, you must be exhausted with all your visitors! Hope you are getting plenty of help!

Yay! I'm there! Finally caught up with you all! Bet this is going to be long when I preview it! But just quickly, to summarise our news...

Had MIL staying with us in one-bedroomed flat, cause, without going into too much detail, she's a bit mad... Got weaning started. LO's just great - full of giggles and wriggles, and sooo nosey curious about everything. We're looking into buying a bigger house now, and renting this out, so that's taking a lot of time. And talk's turned to TTC no. 2... Are we mad? Probably won't happen anyway. No sex + still breastfeeding... But we have decided not to prevent it...

bunny you're so right about reusables holding explosive poos much better. I'm convinced I'm not actually doing that much more washing as I was constantly washing clothes and bedding when I was using pampers! Quick question, what do you do in the hot weather? Not that we have any here but am thinking of going to visit family in asia soon and wondering if PUL wraps would be too hot.

chance welcome back! I was thinking of you over christmas as I remember your nick change the previous christmas and it made me smile to think that you got what you want this time round :)

spirael sing and sign class sounds fab, am guessing that's like babysign? Can't wait to do that!

roses so nice to have you back accompanied by your signature marathon post! :o Wow at you looking for a larger house, good timing with house prices and I love noseying looking at houses. at your FIL, I wouldn't let him near me nevermind a baby! It's also nice to know I'm not the only one who has baby breakdowns :)

Yay! PILs have gone!!! MIL kinda pushed me over the edge on her last day here. She would only hold Sean sat down and didn't understand that babies prefer to be rocked and jiggled, so whenever he started crying(probably due to the smokey clothes too) she would just hand him back to one of us and say well, that's a grandmother's priviledge! ARGH! I just kept thinking of when my own mother was here and kept trying to soothe and pacify him when he cried! Made me so that I ended up nursing him for extra long upstairs in the bed room to keep us out of their way
Hope everyone's having a good week!

Hi All,

Have been trying to catch up on posts and have a question....when are you all planing or when did you introduce solids? How did you do it (before or after bottle or BF, or at a different time altogether?)

Reason being Will is now 16 wks and is not sleeping as much as he used to, he wakes up after 6-7hrs rather than 8+hrs. He is a big baby (now 8.4kgs!) in 97% for both height and weight. I have started to up his bottles to 240mls but it doesnt seem to be making much difference. I tried cereal but he doesnt seem to like it (dont blame him) i stopped as PIL are here and i dont want to hear them giving me advice while he plays with it. Was planning to go back to it when they leave and maybe add some fruit to it and see if he likes it better.

Everyone seems to be waiting until 6mth to do it, my mum said some of us had it at 6 weeks!

interested to hear from you all xx

oh and i think we all need one of these to get over the PIL at the moment

Ooh lovely to see you back here chance and roses!

Our colds have gone, thank goodness! It wasn't so much that Lochie was particularly bad with it, just that I really needed a duvet-day and it's just not an option anymore, is it?

Bunny am very impressed with Will's achievements! Lochie hasn't done the rolling trick again - it's almost as if he's ticked it off his list and is onto the next thing! Yesterday he got very close to rolling from back to front, so I guess that's the next thing to master.. Hilarious about Will being mugged! Fab that he's doing so well in the cot.

spireal I'm such a doofus, I forgot until about half way through my cold that I could take proper drugs now (blame baby brain!) Cue much gleeful Sudafed popping! Fab re Mindy and her eating and sleeping. Forgive me if you've said already, but did you do BLW or purees?

aly well done on Kai's weight gain, that's brilliant news! Really glad everything is going well, hope you're still enjoying his first weeks!

pixie Sorry you're having a rough time - if you want to talk more re the possibility of PND, feel free to PM me. I'm sure the feeding issues don't help, I hope you're feeling brighter now and good for you on getting out and about - I found that really helped how I felt/feel.

mumnerves yep, the PND made Lochie's first weeks very difficult. However, it's being managed by meds now and I'm going to a weekly support group which is helping too. It's definitely on the mend and hopefully the doc will start weaning me off the meds soon. Am at your MIL - how can she be so inconsiderate? Some people huh?

chance I second the expressing = zombie feeling, it definitely helped exacerbate my PND. I had such a feeling of freedom when the doc told me to stop. However, I am proud I managed to give Lochie even those 3 weeks of BM. It's really helped DH bond with him too as there were several nights when he was doing all the feeds as I was such a wreck. And now he does the last feed before Lochie goes to bed while I mumsnet cook dinner.
Re weaning, I'm hoping to wait until 6 months purely because I really want to do BLW and skip the purees. But it will depend on Lochie agreeing!

roses I agree re back in the saddle issues! And stupidly, the one time recently we've both been feeling up for it, we realised we had no condoms! We decided to take a raincheck as it was way too early for a little bro or sis for Lochie! So exciting re the possibility of #2! You might be our first FF repeater!

Hope everyone has had a good week - we're off to the movies tomorrow, which might be wildly optimistic as Lochie is such a live wire he hates sitting down and is constantly pushing himself up on my knee!

roses lovely to see you back. I'm glad that weaning is going so well for your DS. Sounds like you'll be the one to start the Second Time Frolickers thread

mumnerves Will seems fine in the heat with the wraps on. I do make sure he gets a decent stretch of nappy free time each day though so his bottom doesn't get too sweaty.

I hate the grandparents handing back the crying baby thing too - my mum does that. In fact she wound me up so much at the weekend I said I was tired and went to bed with Will at 7:30pm just to get away from her

chance I'm planning to start solids once Will seems ready - I doubt he'll wait till 6 months. No idea how I'll actually go about doing it though, my SIL bought me an Annabel Karmel book for xmas and that suggests offering when they're in a good mood and hungry but not starving. So I suppose that would be after some milk, but not a full feed.

My Early Childhood Centre has a solids group, but after the crap advice we got from them when we started mother's group I doubt I'll be bothering with it

worrisome Will's given up rolling at the moment as well, he's just learnt to blow raspberries so all his efforts are being concentrated on that. Obviously as a boy he just can't multitask He's pretty close to rolling back to front too - he can get onto his side but then he gets stuck

Not sure what's going on with Will's sleep at the moment....he's gone from waking once a night to 4 times last night Tried resettling him with a dummy rather than feeding him but this just led to him screaming. I just don't believe he's soooo hungry he needs feeding every 2 hours at night when he goes 4 hours during the day.

Oh, and a tip for those of you using cloth nappies.......it's kind of helpful if you actually remember to wash them I wondered where all Will's nappies were yesterday as I could only find one - the answer was that they were all in the nappy bucket awaiting washing. Luckily we have a supply of disposables in the house otherwise I'd have been forced to use one of DH's t shirts

still catching up....
pixie regarding the saddle i too had a CS so no excuses internally for me....(just the big floppy belly feeling)we have tried it a few times but its not the same at all. I am wondering if our bodies are telling us we are not ready for TTC 2 yet? have you tried again since? i have to say it was getting better:)

spirael as always our elder statesman is full of great advice...i am thinking of moving Will to the cot next week. Our moses basket is very long but he is around 68cm now so there is not much room in there, he is 16 weeks old so we have had good use out of it. I am worried about him having a party in there and not sleeping at all...it looks so big. Glad Mindy is doing so well. I cant believe it is almost time for you to go back to work time flies!

i have been looking at everyones photos... worrisome lochie smile is so cute! i have to try and put some photos of Will on. Really sorry to hear about your PND, glad you are getting help & DH is supportive and you seem to sound brighter. Its hard for some people to realise we have to take just as good care of ourselves as we do the LO.

bunny i am trying to avoid talk to the nurse about solids. Their attitude to some of the other mothers in my group has been to wait to 6mths unless LO is failing to thrive...Will is certainly not failing to thrive, he is the biggest in the group. when other mums have talked about the shorter sleep times they have basically said 'suck it up'
Have you tried giving Will some water when he wakes during the night...i was told to try that as if he knows he is not going to get milk he wont think its worth waking for ?!? worth a try tho it didnt work for us. Also about you PILs mine on the other hand dont do anything...and i really do mean that. I would not think about leaving Will with them while we went out because there is no way they would cope...i was thinking of leaving him while i went to the gym for an hour, but i havent even done that yet.

roses my DH is also trying to convince me to start TTC #2...i would love to, but i really want to enjoy Will for a bit longer. I am trying to convince him to wait until Will can go to the toilet by himself before the next one arrives. Having said that my mum had my eldest brother toilet trained by 1yo! (i think she was bored)

I have been trying to do some housework today while i am home without the PIL here....it's too hot! I may not be around for a few days as i will be tour guide again...will try and pop in tho
Have a great weekend xxxx

Morning all! :)

Don't be too worried by choking, pixie. The LOs are surprisingly good at coughing out any bits they aren't able to chew up and swallow. We've never had a problem with Mindy choking, though she gags on food occasionally. (Normally when she tries to shove too much into her mouth!)

DH did give me more than just a cold for Christmas, WhiteRoses. He also got me a new game for my Xbox360. [geek]

Also, really don't worry too much about being slow to get back in the saddle. :) What you've described rings very true with me as well. Finally stopping BF has helped, I'm not so conscious of my breasts anymore and my libido has increased noticably, you'll probably find something similar. I'm also still a bit sore, probably because of the scar tissue from where I needed stitches? It gets a bit easier each time though, so just take it gently!

My DH ran a mile from me when I was pregnant, apparently it freaked him out a bit so I didn't push it. So we managed it a grand total of...once, last year. So you're not slacking any more than this household!!

Sing and sign is basically Babysign to music, mumnerves. :) It's quite fun, though I'm not convinced Mindy is picking it up, despite my efforts. She just thinks it's funny to see Mummy waving her arms about in exaggerated gestures!

For chance and Worrisome... I introduced solids at about 4.5 months because Mindy kept trying to snatch food off my plate and wanted to feed all the damn time, even outside of growth spurts!

I started by offering her baby porridge in the evening. I gave her a small amount of milk to take off the ravenous hunger, then gave her some spoonfuls of watery porridge, then more milk after that. She took to it like a duck to water. :)

Over the coming days, I made the porridge less watery and offered more of it. Then I tried mixing in some pureed fruit, stewed apple if I remember correctly. Once she'd mastered that, I started introducing a yoghurt at lunchtime as well as milk and some other things in the evenings, such as pureed sweet potato or parsnip.

I think it was around then (probably about 6 months?) I started offering finger foods, such as sticks of carrot, bits of bread, etc, alongside being spoon fed a puree. The first time or two she was a bit confused, but she got the hang of chewing and swallowing surprisingly quickly.

Once she'd mastered that, we were off. :D She now just eats what I eat. She has a Weetabix in full fat milk for breakfast, macaroni in a sauce for lunch (she likes pesto!) then whatever we're eating for dinner cut into smaller pieces. i.e. Yesterday she was having strips of hot dog in bread, the day before she was having curry, rice and naan.

I noticed yesterday that she's mastered the 'pincer grip' for grabbing food. [proud Mummy] So she's a bit ahead of the crowd for that!

Basically wherever food is involved, she's a quick learner. Oh well, makes bribary easy!

She loves a chocolate finger as a (rare!) treat...

Just to finish... and at Will, chance. Mindy is 7 months old, I weighed and measured her the other day at... 8kg and 68cm!!

Hi,

Back again so soon - amn't I doing well?

Mumnerves - yay that the PIL have gone! :) I think my MIL's a bit like yours, in that she seems to prefer just cuddling LO, and that bores him. So he starts to complain, she thinks he's tired, and tries to rock him to sleep, which really annoys him! It's a shame, cause I've had to tell her a few times (as tactfully as I can) just to put him down, and then he's always happy as Larry! I don't want her thinking that he doesn't like her - it's just that he's too much of a little live wire to lie back in someone's arms for ages!

Chance - hi. About weaning... I have another big boy, like you. Only 91st for weight but above the 99.6th centile for length. Anyway, from less than 3mths, he was showing all the signs of being ready for food - drooling, fascinated by us eating, putting anything he could into his own mouth, sleeping less, not being contented after his feeds... Because LO has a metabolic disorder, we've had to tread carefully though, and do everthing with the permission of/under the supervisison of a metabolic consultant and a dietician. They wouldn't "let" us start weaning until 17wks, but because of LO's size and behaviour, agreed that there was no way we could last till the ideal 6mth mark. Anyway. Advice was to offer purees first, let LO pull the spoon into his own mouth, and give him no more than 2 teaspoons to start with. We were also told to do it at a time when he was hungry, but not starving/stressed, and if need be, to keep offering the same food over and over until he got used to it. (Apparently often takes 5 or 6 tries for a baby to take a new thing.) Once he'd taken and liked something, we were to stick with it for about a week, and then move onto something new, possibly mixing it in with the familiar thing from the previous week - ie. apple to start with, then apple and pear, then pear. Our LO's a bit of a piggy though, and has just wolfed everything he's been given from the word go, crying when his 2 teaspoons are gone, becuase he wants more! Anyway, because of how well he's been doing, we've now been given the go ahead to introduce different tastes and textures (dietician says it's really important to get him used to as much variety as possible before he becomes a fussy little toddler who refuses things!) So we've to give him more purees, taking it at his pace, and then gradually start blending everything less and less to get him used to lumps. Once he's sitting up (usually around 6-7mths) we can introduce finger foods. Our boy's sitting up now, at less then 5mths though, so can have it when he's ready. She says there are no hard and fast rules, judge your own LO's pace, and just be sure not to overfeed them. Give a couple of teaspoons intitially, and gradually build up to about the equivalent of half a jar of baby food, making sure they're not sick. Then gradually offer a little food at other points during the day too. I must say though, my LO is SO greedy. He's always taken to everything the first time we've offered it to him, and since Friday, we've been giving him both lunch and dinner, maximum amount at each sitting, of completely blended and slightly lumpy food, and several new tastes together - he thinks it's his birthday - absolutely delighted with himself! Lunch today was carrot (which he's had before), pureed suede, which is new, and slightly lumpy broccoli (also new - both taste and texture). Anyway, hope that helps... I've probably missed out loads!

Worrisome - totally know how you feel - I think I could use a duvet week! Lol! Oh, and we did the same with the condoms - about three times!

Question for you all... How much (if any) time to yourself (ie. out and about) do you get/have you had since LOs arrived?

Bunny - hope you're getting a bit more sleep - that sounds horrendous! :( Lol at the raspberry blowing - it was my LO's favourite trick for a while too - so funny!

Chance - I think one of the things persuading me to think about no. 2 so soon is that if it happened now, I wouldn't have to go back to work at all after this maternity leave ends - lots of time at home. And I don't think I could ever regret a small age gap - DH and I were both very close to our closest-in-age siblings. Anyway, it probably won't happen. But I'd be quite happy if it did. Oh, and potty trained by 1yr?! VERY impressive!

Spireal - really good to hear that I'm not a total freak! Also interesting to hear that you're still a bit sore - I was actually toying with the idea of going back to the doctor's about it after talking to my friend who had her second baby 2wks ago (no stitches, mind you) mentioned that she was already back in business! I told her I was still sore and she was really surprised...

Gosh, Mindy sounds like she's thoroughly enjoying her grub right enough - I can't wait to get to that stage! :)

Right, no new news from me, I don't think... Just had the MIL over for a visit, so our routine's preictably fallen on its rear end. DH is out running her home as I type, and LO is unconscious, having a nice "nap" before bed, because he missed out on his afternoon one... We have nothing in for the dinner, and LO's bedding is still wet in the machine... What a slacker I am, sitting here on MN, but I just can't be bothered doing all that needs to be done! She arrived at lunchtime, supposedly only till 4pm (because she had to be somewhere), and ended up staying till 7pm! Zzzz!

chance I avoid talking to our nurses about anything. Actually, one is really good and just helps you come to your own decisions by discussing the pros and cons of whatever it is you've asked about. Her catchphrase is "just do whatever it takes to get you through the day". The other one just repeats the official advice over and over and over. My group now meet in the pub for pizza and .....am sure offical advice nurses head would explode if she saw us all sitting there BFing our babies with one hand and a glass of wine in the other In fact Will and I had to go for a long walk after last weeks meeting cos I was a little over the drink drive limit

roses and worrisome we have had no lack of condom incidents after I told DH I was feeling ready to try sex again - he went out and bought and industrial sized box which I'm pretty sure will end up out of date before they're all used up

roses I'm still a bit sore where I had stitches, although it gets better each time. I think it's just where the scar tissue is a bit tight still.

Sleep is gradually improving again - I think the problem is that he's waking himself by startling and hitting himself in the face, but if I try swaddling him he gets really angry that he can't move his arms. I tried putting him back in his basket to see if it was the cot unsettling him, but he was no better. I've ended up loosely swaddling him in a special sleeping bag that he's got that stops him startling too much but lets him bend his arms if he wants to. I've offered him his dummy each time he wakes, rather than automatically feeding him, and over the last 3 nights he's gone from needing picking up, dummy and rocking for 20 mins, to being settled by being patted in his cot for 5 mins.

He just seems to be going through big developmental changes at the moment - he's definitely nearly ready for solids cos everything he touches is going straight into his mouth, and he's trying to roll back to front and even pull himself from semi reclined to sitting - and I think he's finding sleep a bit of an inconvenient issue that's interfering with practising all his new skills. Can't complain too much as he's been an excellent sleeper for the first 3 months of his life, and I'm sure this is just a temporary thing.

Hello,

How are you all? We're fine round these parts, DS has started to blow rasberrys and we've had proper giggles as well.

As to our Doctors visit, we got given some infant gaviscon. I haven't used it as of yet as DS got a bit better so I figured I would wait and see what happened. He's gotten a bit worse recently so I'm going to go to the chemist and get some and see how we go with it.

I think DS has been under the weather as well recently as he's had a rash and this morning I woke up to some bright green poop. I've been told that this can be signs of a virus in BF babies.

Bunny Wow he sounds like he's coming on a storm!!!

Roses If you can do it, why the heck not. I need to go back to work in order to finish off some training that got interupted by DS's arrival.

Spirael I'm glad the feeding is going well.

White Yep am quite tall (although one of the smaller folk in my family), it's a job trying to find trousers the right length at times.

I'm sorry if I missed anybody, I've been a bit rubbish of late at this kind of thing.

I really don't want Kai to grow up any faster than he already is, but I can't wait for him to do all the fun stuff you all post about... I can't wait for raspberries and rolling and giggles!

It's incredible though how fast they do change. I posted pics on my profile. They're only a week old, but he has already changed so much. He's growing and learning so fast. I'm almost afraid to blink out of fear of what I might miss. BTW, we saw the dr yesterday and Kai is growing and gaining well. Quite a relief after that first week.

bunny's industrial-sized box of condoms just gave me a good laugh! Personally, I cry a little at just the thought of sex (My poor girl bits are pretty wrecked). It's good to know that I may actually be willing to go for it again someday.

Darn, my attention is being demanded... I'll be back eventually.

aly kai is soooooo gorgeous. That hair is so cute

hermya hope your DS is feeling better soon

Will's sleep is getting worse - he woke every 90mins last night, including being wide awake from 3am to 4am for raspberry blowing practice . He's teething as well which isn't helping, we just had a 2 hour nap with the help of some Panadol so might try giving him some more tonight

Hi All,

Another hot day here in Sydney...have been up since 5am as we had to take PIL to the airport, was awful saying goodbye. DH is a bit down, gone to have a nap now so i thought i would try and catch up with you all.

Thanks for all the advice re:solids! :) spirael I know Will is huge, i think he is going to take after my brothers as i am short and DH isnt that tall either. I think giving food in the evening might be the answer to my problems. Will seems to be getting the hang of the cereal now that i added a bit of fruit but he is then too full for all his feeds for the rest of the day and ends up still hungry at night (i decided not to wait until PIL left to carry on as he might get confused so we have been persevering, FIL did try and feed him pavlova the other day i had to almost scream at him not to do it!) I am going to try him tonight and see how we go.
White glad we have such healthy babies :) I constantly get asked if he is 6 or 8 mths old tho. I know what you mean about not going back to work...i think if we were in the uk we could afford for me not to, now that we have moved and need to get set up again i think i better go back for a bit. DH is still keen to start now tho.

Bunny good to hear your mums group are hitting the pub! we usually meet at a park or coffee shop which is not as exciting. there are lots of competitive mums tho arent there? Hope you are all managing to get a bit of sleep now.

Hermya good to hear DS might be cured with good old gaviscon...hope he is feeling better now.

ALY what a cutie :) and may i say your bump photos look great too. hope you are both doing well.

Well i am off to put my feet up as my tour guide days are over for a while at least, i am looking forward to a quiet week & getting a few jobs done around the house....and trying not to get in trouble for too much internet/TV watching....btw have a look at this on youtube its too funny :)

chance DH is just driving my parents to the airport now. I have to admit I'm sad to see them go, it's the first time I've felt homesick in the 15 months we've been here.

Thankfully there's no competitiveness in my mum's group - Will's one of the fattest biggest and has been one of the first to hit his milestones (despite being the youngest in the group) so I'd outcompete them all anyway

We took Will to an open air movie screening last night. It was a bit loud for him so he spent most of it awake, and I missed lounging on my bean bag cos I was walking up and down with him trying to get him to sleep. He was very good and didn't cry and actually slept better once we got home than he has done for a while...might have to take him out partying every night so we get some decent sleep

Having waved off my parents today, the PILs are coming back for a few days on Monday before they head back to the UK as well,so need to clean the house before they arrive. Once they go it'll be the first time it's been just me, DH and Will since he was born

Hi all, sorry I've been a bit AWOL, I keep waiting for a nice long stretch of time to MN and, of course, never getting it! So I'm just going to do as much as I can in short bursts.

Blimey Bunny I think having a house full like that for so long would have driven me completely barking. Even if we have friends over for the day when they leave and it is just the three of us again I always breathe a huge sigh of relief. I only function if I get lots and lots of quiet time!

OMG at the pavlova feeding Chance! That is just the sort of thing my mum would do! She weaned my sister and I at 12 weeks so she thinks I am completely starving Tegan.

Poor old Asher Hermya. Have you started using the Gaviscon? Is it making a difference? We've had bright green poop here as well which was a bit of a shocker, but luckily no other symptoms.

Back again...!

Roses I felt really excited when I read that you were going to try for DC2!! I literally bounced up and down in my seat! How mad is that? But thinking about it, I have actually "known" some of you guys longer than a lot of my RL friends. Wierdness.
Some days I think I would like to try for another one straight away, but other days I can barely cope with Tegan so I think I need to wait until my hormones balance out / I get the hang of this mothering lark a bit better before we start trying. DH would love a massive, massive family so I think he would go for it whenever tbh. The other thing that concerns me is my C-section scar. No one in the medical profession has told me to wait because of it, but I have visions of splitting open like an old sack if I get pg again too soon!! And I worry that if I need another c-section next time, it will limit the total number of children I will physically be able to have. Worry, worry, worry?.
As for going out/ having time to myself - I have had quite a few girly days out with my mum or friends while DH has had Teg, and two "dates" with DH while my mum has babysat. So I'm quite lucky, and its probably more than a lot of mums get, but at the same time, it doesnt feel like much over five months, and I could always do with more! How about you? Are you getting any time out?

Its good to hear your all your weaning experiences. Teg has been showing all the signs for a good while, but I want to leave it as long as I can to introduce solids to make sure she is really ready. As I said in my last post, my mum weaned my sister and I really early and we have had a variety of allergies and intolerances between us which I am sure were caused by that. I want to hold off until she is actually grabbing food off my plate (she always sits on my lap at mealtimes so has full access to what I'm eating) or 6 months - whichever happens first. But she is coming on nicely with her sitting up so when it does happen I know her digestive system will be able to handle it. Its actually quite fun having all this new stuff to think about and plan! (I miss my pre-pregnancy brain so much!)

Mindy sounds so so cute in your descriptions of her pigging out on everything Spirael.

Thanks for your offer to PM you Worri. I am just taking things as they come at the moment ? some days are really good, some days are really really hard I think (I hope!) its only natural to feel completely topsy-turvy with a five month old, and it will all iron itself out soon enough. The thing that makes me think it is probably not PND is that I can see DH unraveling in exactly the same way a lot of the time!! Maybe we are just crap parents!!

Pixie I think you are normal parents!! Glad you are having good days too, it's such a rollercoaster much of the time, isn't it?

BTW I agree re the c-sec scar and the worries re it popping open! I've actually decided that I will request an elec c-sec next time (and am really hoping there will be a next time!) I think it will help lessen the chance of the PND returning.

spireal thanks for your weaning summary, I'm very impressed with Mindy's liking for pesto!

roses In answer to your q re 'me' time - I've had a day out shopping and every so often on the weekend I go out by myself. But I realised this weekend that I need to take more alone time, as I feel like I'm not getting any real break. So I'm going to look into an evening class - because we're FF, DH can cover the Lochie shift in the evening. I'm also going to have a facial, massage, haircut and manicure in a couple of weekends time - I can't wait!

bunny It could be the 4 month leap mucking up Will's sleep - from what I've been reading (mostly on MN!) there's a huge developmental change now, so it's understandable that they're a little topsy turvy. Hope it's all settling down.
The open-air movie sounds great! Lochie and I went to a mums and babies movie a couple of weeks ago which was fab - he was surprisingly well behaved!

hermya hope your LO is feeling better now! The raspberries are fab huh? Lochie ends up blowing spit bubbles all over us, it's hilarious.

aly Kai is so gorgeous!

chance hope you're getting the relaxing week you were looking forward to!

Well, we've had a fab day today - Lochie has been laughing for most of it! And at the stupidest things - like me picking up the shampoo bottle when doing his bath! Crazy child. I weighed him yesterday and he's almost at the 7kg mark, so proud of my little porker!

(oh and BTW, the saddle has been gotten back on and actually it was fab - so nice to be without the baby-making agenda!)

Have a great week all.

Yes! Forgot to say - the saddle is back on here as well! And wasn't too bad at all
I'm not sure if I will go for a VBAC or an ELCS next time, thinking about my imaginary DC2. I worry that if I want to have more than two children it won't be the right thing to do to have another CS. Honestly, why am I even thinking about this when Tegan is only five months old?? Its like I just can't wait to stress myself out about something else.

pixie I feel the same as you about solids. Both me and DH have allergies so I want to wait as long as possible. However, Will's showing all the signs of being ready-he can sit supported for well over 30mins, he's putting toys etc into his mouth, and he grabbed a handful of my spag bol the other night. Didn't let him eat it though cos he's not even 4 months. I'm going to ask the GP what she thinks when I take him for his 4 month immunisations

My obstetrician advised leaving at least 12 months between pregnancies to let your pelvic floor recover.....otherwise you run the risk of literally pissing yourself laughing Not sure about c-sec scars, but my SIL is unexpectedly pg again 13 months after her cs, and her consultant's suggested she tries a vbac so they must be happy it's healed.

worrisome yay for the saddle being got back on

I think you're right about Will's sleep being down to the 4 month regression - obviously he's just very advanced cos it started at just over 3 months

roses I haven't managed much me time yet. Netball season is about to start, so I've left Will with DH to go to a couple of socials with the netball girls, and DH and I have been out for dinner together twice. We've arranged a baby swap rota with some friends of ours, so once Will's sleep's a bit better we'll have the kids on a Friday night and they'll have them on a Saturday once or twice a month.

I think Will's getting his first cold DH has been ill for a couple of days, and Will was sneezing and coughing all night. He seems perfectly happy though, so hopefully he won't be too bad with it.

DH is dropping the PIL at the airport, so we've officially got the house to ourselves for the first time since Will was born

We took Will to the beach today as MIL was desperate to see his first time in the sea. We dipped his little toes in the ocean - think it was a bit cold for him though cos he lifted his legs right up to get them out again

In other news I now fit in my size 8 jeans again...woo hoo. Might have a few s to celebrate

worrisome forgot to add before that I hope all your family/friends back in NZ are ok

Hi everyone!

Aly - Just looked at your pictures - Kai is just gorgeous! And what a lot of lovely blond hair. Usually hairy babies are very dark, aren't they? Kai's really distinctive. :)

Chance - my (5mth old) LO is starting to outgrow the first of his 9-12mth clothes, but I don't normally get asked how old he is - have had "are you still breastfeeding?" and "how long do you plan on keeping that up for?" though, and it makes me feel like answering "probably till he starts secondary" or something equally stupid... It's mad!

Hope your DH is feeling better now.

Pixie - hadn't thought of the fact that I've known you lot longer than some RL friends - very weird indeed! :-/ See, with no.2, we're not really going to try... First time round, we stressed out ttc, dtd every night... Then conceived on our month off, when we only dtd 3x! Was so much more relaxed. And with no.2, there are pros and cons of doing it now, so, while we'd be over the moon if it happened, if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world, it will eventually... Totally not stressing out though. Apparently the 23rd-28th is when I'm due to ovulate (if I even am ovulating!) but last night we couldn't be bothered BDing, so didn't. Today's DH's birthday, so we might, but if LO is late to settle or we're too tired, we won't. No big deal. I think the thought of coping with two LOs does seem very stressful at times, but then so does the thought of LO finally becoming a bit less dependant on me, only to have to start up all over again! Also, if pregnancy no. 2 is as bad as the 1st was, it'd be nice to get at least the first part of it out of the way before LO starts chasing about the place, getting up to all sorts of mischief! I dunno, pros and cons as I say, so we'll see what happens. In the long run, I don't think I could ever regret a small age gap - nice to have 2 LOs enjoying the same toys/games, etc. We'll see.

at the thought of splitting opn like an old sack! Surely they'd have warned you if there was a risk of damage? Do CS's really limit how many pregnancies you can have? I didn't know that... So what's a "massive, massive family" then?!

As for getting time to myself... I had an hour and a half when my mum babysat so I could go to the doctor (didn't want to bring LO into room full of sick people without good reason) when LO was 2mths. Then had an hour's walk with DH on New Year's Day (Mum had LO again) and on Saturday, I ditched LO with DH and I went and did the supermarket shop on my own. That's it. :( See, LO's always fed so much that the effort of expressing vs. the time it takes him to down it just doesn't make it worthwhile. The day I went to the doctor, I fed him before I left home, left Mum with 380mls of milk, he downed the lot while I was out, and fed again as soon as I got in... It just wasn't worth it! New Year's Day was when he was napping, and we only went up the road and back, but again, he doesn't sleep much in the day (usually 3 half hour naps at some point, and then down at 10pm till about 9am), so while I wouldn't swap that for getting up through the night, it doesn't leave much scope for me to escape! On Saturday though, it was easy... Gave LO a good lunch of solid food before going out, so I knew he'd be fine for a good two or three hours at least. One of many reasons I'm thoroughly enjoying the weaning process! Lol!

Aww, Pixie - I bet you're just exceptionally good parents, not crap ones! You're running round mad, doing your best for Tegan. If you just ditched her down in her cot, let her scream, didn't bother to start the washing machine, or do the dishes, or anything else, and put your feet up for a change, you'd probably feel fantastic! The reason you don't is cause you're such a good mum. [hugs]

Hermya - raspberries are so funny! My LO's gargling now - that's the latest trick! Soooo funny all the things they have to learn, isn't it? :)

Worrisome - yay for the saddle-getting-back-on! Lol! nd what a good day you seem to have had with Lochie! :) I love hearing that you're your old self, enjoying motherhood. :)

Bunny - lol at Will stealing your dinner! My LO was the same - that's why, in spite of all the research into alergies, etc., it was agreed that we HAD to wean him early. And it's a metabolic specialist paediatrician and the senior dietician at the largest children's hospital in the country who are giving us advice, so I'm happy to go with whatever they have to say!

You didn't have a CS, did you Bunny? at the thought of literally pissing myself laughing! Mind you, I was listening in to a conversation between a physio and the woman in the next bed, who'd just had no. 9 () and she was telling her that it's never too late to tighten up your pelvic floor... So who knows?! Anyway, we're probably talking a good 20-30yrs, so you never know - by then it might be the case that you just pop some pills or have a little operation, and that's that!

Aww, I hope Will's okay. :( Horrible when they're ill. My LO was the same with the sleep thing at 3mths. I've said before he did 8.5-11.5hrs overnight from day 5, and then, come 3mths he started to wake to feed. Just before introducing solids at 4mths, he was down to waking twice nightly. So fingers crossed it is short-lived. You must be at the end of your tether though. Sleep deprivation is something I really struggle with! [hug]

The baby swap rota sounds great - I think that's what I'd love, a whole night where I could just sleep... Though LO is great, I can't help waking up to check on him, and check the temperature of the room several times a night... It's ridiculous really, but I think cause I was always a really heavy sleeper, I worry that I won't wake, and end up over compensating. It's funny though, I don't know if you lot are the same but I can sleep through most things - like this morning, DH's alarm going off, the noise of him getting up and going out - doesn't disturb me at all, but LO spits out his soother and I hear it fall! Weird.

Anyway, this has taken me about three days to type on and off, so I've probably repeated myself loads, and I bet it's huge! But I'd better go. I really don't think it'll be long before this little man's mobile. He wants to be, so badly. Just watching him, he's lying on his back on the floor, every muscle going... Rolling back and forth, pulling himself right up (like a mini sit up), grabbing everything he can... There'll be no stopping him once he gets going!

Missed those posts from you Bunny...

Yes, I meant to say that to you to, Worrisome - I immediately thought of you when I saw the news. x

Lol at Will's first time in the sea... I think my LO's first time is a good while off yet! Incidently, is anyone planning any first holidays with LO yet?

And Bunny - I hate you! Size 8!!! I've NEVER been that! :( Lol!

Another one who is at your size 8 jeans Bunny! I haven't been a size 8 since I was about fourteen! That said, I have been eating pretty sensibly since DD was born and am currently about two stone lighter than my wobbly curvaceous pre-pregnancy figure Knowing my luck I will probably hit size 8 just in time to get updiffed with DC2!
Awwww at Will's first time in the sea! I can't wait for the summer and long, lazy days on the beach. It makes me turn blue just thinking about getting in the sea atm.

Roses and at the amount of time you have had to yourself. You must be worn out. I am blessed with a (pretty) good sleeper myself so I find that expressing every now and then before I go to bed doesn't interefere with Teg's milk needs and gives me a little store for when I want to leave her with DH. (I have about twenty little pots of BM in the freezer!)But then, she will happily go for 3 hours between feeds in the daytime, so I can go out for 6 knowing that she will only need one bottle feed in the middle.
Your attitude to DC2 is fab. It makes me quite tempted to do the same thing! LOL at me over-exaggerating with DH and his desire for a "massive, massive family" He already has two teenage sons and would like us to have a little brood of 4+ so the massive family would really only be 6 or 7. I think four would be plenty for me! Much more likely to be somewhere in the middle. But who knows, even if we never have another Teg is everything I could ever ask for.

Little madam is currently asleep having exhausted herself with all kinds of acrobatics. She keeps arching her back and balancing on her head - it looks like she is about to launch herself into crab position and walk backwards across the living room! We have got her a bumbo this week and she loves it more than anything she has got before. I'm being good and making sure she only spends short periods of time in it, but she gets really offended every time I take her out of it I thought they were a bit of a rip off when I saw them first but we are definitely getting our moneys worth!