August 2010 - new thread ladies!

[Chulita]

New thread cos we've nearly filled the last one!

Dogwalker - AF caught me so no further test required. A bit sad but relieved too. Need to talk to dh about it now, see if I can change his mind about baby #4 :)

Neenz - well said about stillbirth (hate that word tho)!!! I have miscarried too and I agree that as horrid as it is to go through, it's nothing in comparison to giving birth to a sleeping baby.

Crying just typing that!! (I'm a hormonal mess anyway this week!)
:(

caz well done! Brilliant bit of publicity for you, I hope you get lots of people!

nat it was on BBC3.

sparkle I hope you settle back into work quickly. Sorry to hear about the kidney problem, any hope it'll sort itself out?

neenz I think mine was caused by a bad latch/tongue tie. He subsequently grew out of the tongue tie but the bad latch remained despite working very, very hard on it. Fast letdown meant he was always clicking to break the latch and his reflux meant he didn't want to drink fast - once it was damaged it took ages to heal. That's what I reckon anyway, I'll just have to hope the next one doesn't have reflux, but know that I can grit my teeth and get through it.

cherrypie good luck with your dh!

dogwalker happy moving :)

Off to a ball tonight (eek), S doesn't take a bottle and still wants his 10pm feed...what to do, what to do...

Sleep has gone a bit haywire here... not sure if it's cos we had some major breaks to routine at the weekend, but E has been resisting her naps a lot more, waking twice rather than once during the night (once as early as 9.30pm after going down at 7pm!) and last night she woke at 10pm, 2am, 4am and 6am.... I ignored her at 4am and she went back to sleep but fed the other times which is a lot more than normal. Naughty girl! Think if she tries the same trick tonight I shall offer water, a cuddle and then put her down. But am braced for crying! She has been waking later too (8am-8.30am) after a few weeks of waking reliably at 7am - think will bite the bullet tomorrow and get her up early even if she's still sleeping to try and kickstart her back into her normal routine.

neenz I don't have waving but I have clapping, which I love. I am getting a bit of bababa and I swear she's said mummum but my DH is not convinced.. Didn't know you had a MC, that must have been horrible but agree, without experience of either, that SB has got to be worse for a number of reasons.
thedogwalker good luck with the move - and work! I'm back two days from home and two from the office as of May 30. Although that's a bank holiday, so probably May 31.
cherry sorry to hear you weren't PG but at least you SHALL go to the ball ;o)

Evening all,

Izzy had nursery settling in session today, not sure she realised that I had gone but she seems to be getting on okay with it!

neenz as I am doing four days, ILs looking after for one day, two days at nursery and other day with DH. Workd quite well that I'm in retail so can work weekends and evenings so she doesn't have to be in childcare all the time. Am hoping it will be fine and as with your friends, the balance is about right. I loved my job before I left, just hope I feel the same about it now!

dogwalker sorry you have to go back to work 5 days but I hope you enjoy it as much as you can do. We need to win the lottery and then we can stay at home!

cherry sorry it was negative, hope you manage to persuade DH another one is a good idea!

chulita the reflux works on grades 1-5 where 1 is not bad and 5 is worst case and she is a grade 4 so they're not hopeful and the scans they showed us looked really bad, but I don't really know what I'm looking at , they have said it has been known to get better but it is few and far between, so fingers crossed!

Izzy turned into a different child this afternoon when I went to visit a friend with her daughter, Izzy cried quite uncontrollably for the whole hour I was there which resulted in me having to leave early, not sure what was upsetting her, maybe my friends dogs or my friends daughter crying or her teeth but she was really bad and only settled when she was back in her car seat, very bizarre!!

How long can teething go on for with no sign of teeth? We've been on and off for 4 mths now and I'm starting to doubt myself now that it is teething and that I don't know what I am going on about!

sparkle I agree about the teething thing. Total pain for them and us, eh? It's just so hard to work out when the teething is affecting them or whether they're just tired/crabby or... And I really hope things well with Izzy and her kidneys. Antibiotics every day - poor thing. Sounds like she's doing great in herself though, which is great.

Cherry sorry it wasn't positive, but maybe your DH will change his mind?

neez do you have to organise the 8 month check or just go along to the clinic? I'd forgotten all about it. Eli started babbling last week - dada, baba, but no mama! No waving or clapping or crawling though. Bum getting higher in the air though, so maybe crawling soon!

E's sleep has gone beyond awful since he was I'll - he wakes every two hours without fail, if not more frequently in the early evening. He's so frustrated about it too - he cries loads and is really cross at being awake. He's exhausted in the days too and quite crabby, which is really no fun. We've moved him into his own room tonight and DH is going to take all the wake ups, except if he really can't be settled and then I'll feed him. I feel sad to move him out but I'm basically ill with sleep deprivation and this has to stop! Speaking of, I should go to bed...

Oh! Final question - DH and I are thinking of going to the Green Man Festival at the end of August with E. Any thoughts on whether a festival (even a smallish, kid-friendly one) is crazy with a just-about-to-turn-one-year-old? Has anyone else done it or considering it for this summer? If we went, we would be camping (albeit in the family area).

Good luck DogWalker with work and the move!

nat I'm a bit of a festival fanatic, E went to I think four while still in the womb although I admit I did wuss out of Glastonbury... I haven't done it yet since she was born but one of the few perks of being a journo is I do get the odd free festival ticket so there's one I'm hoping to go to at the end of May and one in July. I know someone who took their baby to Glastonbury in a campervan last year when they were 8 weeks old - and they were doing cold water bottle sterilising too!

I think probably you just have to be prepared for your plans to change if it becomes untenable and be more prepared for all eventualities than normal. But I think festivals are lovely for small people - by the time she's one all the fun kiddie stuff they do for children will really start interesting her too. I would say do it.

Nat I would def take baby to a festival but perhaps in a camper van rather than a tent. I did Glastobury last year at 32 weeks and it was fine, even though it was an absolute scorcher. I would LOVE to take S to Glasto this year (and tix go on resale tomorrow) but DH can't come with me and I just couldn't manage her and all her kit by myself. I don't mind a bit of rain and mud but I think with a 10 month old, a wash out would be really tricky to manage. I am gutted though and probably won't be able to bear watching it on TV.

Neez I managed sponsored content on the various NI news websites. A hectic job but I'm kind of looking forward to going back in August. More than anything I'm looking forward to having some money again but after childcare etc I don't think I am going to be left with very much!

We need to move S out of her infant car seat soon but I'm a bit bewildered by the massive range out there - what car seats have you got?

L x

Hello lovelies! My haven't we been busy (cherry!!)...
Sorry for my absence. Everything has been a bit much and think I'm about to be diagnosed with pn depression. Sounds ridiculous at nearly eight months I know!!
S is still waking 3-4 times a night, refuses a bottle and spoons so we're sort of doing blw - although she just doesn't seem that interested!
The last six weeks have been a bit of a trial. I've lost my very expensive watch.... Smashed (acciidentally!) about four lots of kitchenwear... My enhagement ring and wedding ring were damaged, the latter beyond repair, so we're having to take court action about that.
And last but not least... I was nearly arrested! Somehow in a sleep deprived fog I managed not to pay for all of my shopping in waitrose (the unpaid items being some cling film, a small bottle of diet coke and a packet of baby biscuits). A ridiculous situation ensued whereby I'd just left the shop and realised, was on my way back in when a shop assistant came out... And to cut a long story short they called the police! Nice policeman came to my
defence and all was well in the end but they banned me from the shop! I used to do all my shopping there :( deeply humiliated and can barely walk around town without thinking everyone thinks I'm a thief.
Anyway so think my self confidence has taken a bit of a knock.
Would appreciate it if none of my facebook friends said anything on there as only my close family know because I'm so embarassed by the whole affair, but just needed to get it all
off my chest here!
Anyway hope you're all well and the babes are thriving!

LCR bloody hell! You went last year? It was the one year that I didn't feel cross and jealous watching Glasto on telly cos I was fat and preggers. Anyway, kudos!

I am feeling buoyed by your optimism and reckon will book our Green Man tickets this weekend. Woo!

Gosh, Pample - cross post. So good to hear from you - was wondering where you (and Hector) had got to. Really sorry to hear about your rotten luck with the rings and the bloody ridiculous situation re Waitrose. God, I could easily see myself doing the same. I absolutely feel your pain about the sleep deprivation/night wakings. It is fucking torture this many months in, isn't it? E wakes at least 3-4 times a night and I'm feeling so down about it. Some days, I feel like I can barely cope anymore and as amazing and loving E is, I do think there's a cloud hanging over me because of it. Think I'd be a much calmer, better mum with a bit more sleep. I find it particularly painful that all the other babies I know seem to be doing much better sleepwise. Pathetically, I wept reading a FB post this week when a friend posted that her five-week-old slept nine hours straight! Anyway, just wantedto let you know that you're not alone in that sense. I'm sure no one round your way will think you were actually trying to nick that stuff. And if anyone does, they're barmy.

Anyway, welcome back and I hope, hope, hope that you get some good luck AND your little one cuts you a bit of slack. :)

LCR impressed! I decided not to go last year because I was going to be so preggers (had to lose my deposit on my tix - was not expecting to be quite so up the dufff when I bought them) but when it was SOOOO hot, felt I had made the right decision. Was desperate to take E this year but I was still in a newborn fug when the tix went on sale and hadn't reregistered. As it's off next year looks like I'm going to have a long gap
pamplemousse was wondering how youwere doing - sounds like it's been quite tough. Sending hugs to you and sleepy thoughts to your LO. Hope they give you some help with the PND.

Today has been... interesting. When DH got E up from her morning nap, he commented that she seemed hot. When I took her temp it was 39! After Calpol failed to get it lower than 38.3 I called NHS Direct, who were v helpful,and I thought I'd got it down to a normal level with opening windows, taking of clothing etc. Then she threw up everything she had eaten today and just kept looking a bit sad and sorry for herself. A further temp reading came back at 38.9, not so great. After more Calpol, a lukewarm bath and lots of crying, I tried to get her to sleep as she was clearly knackered but she resisted a lot. Have finally settled her after I reckon at least an hour and a half worth's solid feeding. It's like having a newborn again. Am bracing myself for an awful night. This is the sickest she has been - after her temp jumped again I didn't know what to do as NHS Direct said to take her to out of hours GP if it didn't drop - but this was after the Calpol had prob run out... if she's really bad in the night or still feverish in the morning I think it's to the docs/ER we go. I'd have taken her this evening, but I think it's nothing more than her version of the bug I had earlier in the week and I don't imagine they would suggest doing anything I haven't. But any advice welcomed!

Another link for you to look at ladies! Wales on Sunday today!

www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/health-and-beauty-in-wales/2011/04/17/stillbirth-devastated-our-lives-say-couple-raising-money-for-sands-91466-28533001/

I actually cannot believe we've been in 2 papers in a week!

Pample Sorry to hear you've been through such a rough time, I really do hope things get better for you soon, my thoughts are with you.

Belly I hope E is feeling better today, and the temp has gone down.

Well it's my last day of posting for a while, removals get here tomorrow, but I don't actually move into my new house in England until Thursday 28th, so doing family visiting until the house is ready, both my DM and FIL are not with this century and do not have internet, so cannot post again until next month, (Sky being fitted early may).

So I wish everyone loads of happiness and for those not feeling too well, I hope things improve.

Take care and I'll be back next month

Quick q for you all: if you had done a breastfeeding education session when you were pregnant, and you were asked "Tell me one thing you know about breastfeeding and one thing you'd like to know about breastfeeding" what would your answers have been?

Will explain more later but it's for my interview for the breastfeeding support worker job!

Neenz
That breast feeding is the best start for my baby.
How will I know if my latch is right or not? or How will I know if my baby has fed enough?

That would have been my questions/answers.

Hope that helps. Take care

cazandbelle I hope that gets lots more people in through the doors for you!

pamplemousse that's so awful! :( Sorry they booted you out too, I guess none of them have had an alert/sleepless baby. With L I felt like the world had gone grey, I was so tired. Maybe in a few weeks when the embarrassment has gone you could write a letter to Waitrose and explain to see whether they'll reverse the decision. The ring thing is horrible too, I really hope you get something out of the court action. Wrt feeling like everyone's judging you, they're not :) Give it time and you'll feel less guilty (even though you didn't do anything wrong) If you need someone to write a letter on your behalf to support your request I'd be more than happy to let them know the sheer exhaustion that turns your brain to fuzz, just let me know!

Happy moving dogwalker I hope it all goes smoothly for you with no hitches. Looks like you've picked a good week for it!

neenz I'd have said breastfeeding is best for both my baby and me and how many feeds/how often do babies need feeding? or is on demand feeding better for them?

Lovely and sunny today, my brother and fiancee are coming later for a couple of nights so it's going to be a fantastic day

neez sounds stupid, but I wanted to know how to hold the baby while feeding - or at least get a few suggestions on comfortable positions. Also I would have liked to know how to tell when the baby is drinking versus just comfort sucking (know all the signs now, didn't know em then!)

Big hugs pample you are having a horrid old time and I hope things improve for you soon. Lovely long weekend and lots of sunshine to enjoy, I hope you can put the Waitrose situation behind you, they are being totally ludicrous.

Caz the coverage is fantastic, Belle must be so proud of you!

neenz I wish I had known how relentless and gruelling the first few months of breastfeeding is. I literally had no idea that I would be feeding non-stop round the clock and it really caught be unawares, I thought I must be doing something wrong and my resolve waivered more than once. So much of early bfing feels counter-intuitive ie you can't believe that baby could possibly be hungry again but it is so I guess I didn't really grasp the concept of supply and demand at the beginning. Also don't be satisified when a health visitor or midwife says that a latch looks ok - doesn't matter how it looks, if it hurts then Mum could probably do with a bit of help and support. Finally I wish I had known that it takes a 14 day course of anitbiotics to completely clear mastitis as so many GPs don't know this - they prescribe a 7 day course then wonder why the infection keeps recurring. And the most important thing I learned is to ask for help as there is lots of marvellous and skilled supporters and counsellors out there who will come to your house to help - I wouldn't still be happily breastfeeding 8 months in without them. Good luck with your interview!

Morning girls,

Neenz - I knew breast-feeding was healthy for both me and baby an also less work with no need to sterilise everything.
I wish I'd have known that GP's often arent very clued up on what to do for a bf'ing mother - and if often slips their mind when prescribing other treatments too that turn out to be unsuitable for bf'ing mummies. Always worth checking just in case.

Also wish I'd have known that a breastfed baby can go up to 2 weeks without a bowel movement - and it's normal! Poor C was given lactulose every weekend and probably without cause.

Pample - I'm so sorry you're having a tough time of it lately. It never rains but it pours eh? What idiots banning you from the store tho when you were on your way back to pay for them! I agree with Chulita that perhaps it's worth writing a letter requesting the decision be overturned.
Hope everything improves soon for you hun, always support here if you need it - especially with the pnd. Big hugs xxx

Dogwalker - hope the move is going as smooth as it possibly could! Hope to see you back on here soon :)

Well, my mum got married at the weekend . She has now moved away from all of us to live with her new man at the seaside :(. Miss her lots!! It's a good 2.5th drive opposed to a 15minute bus trip.
Still no crawling here, no standing with furniture, very little rolling over unless we bribe him with a toy or rice cake! Lazy boy

Almost at the end of the thread ladies, new thread is here. hope you don't mind that I started it :)

2.5 hour drive

Just popping on to give hugs to Pample. I was in the exact same position up until last Friday when we did the unthinkable (in our minds I mean) - controlled crying. For me it was a choice between trying that or going to the doctors and asking for anti-depressants which is what my HV had recommended as she was sure I had PND. I was being woken up every 2 hours in the night and felt like someone had sucked all the joy out of my life. Some days it got so bad I was looking at the baby thinking 'I feel nothing' and that was when I knew this wasn't right :(

So DH asked if we could try controlled crying over the weekend. In 3 nights he went from waking every 2 hours for feeds to sleeping through. And I'm talking 7pm to 7am. With no upset crying either, he yelled for 1.5 hours on Friday night and woke every 2 hours, yelled for 10 minutes but then went to sleep. It got better the following 2 nights and last night (the fourth night) he slept through with no crying at all. He is happier and looks better (he had dark shadows under his eyes before). I am so glad we bit the bullet and did it, its something I never wanted to do but it was actually quite easy.

Anyway, not trying to tell you that you should do it as I know it doesn't always work but just saying what worked for us. I now feel like my old self again and I'm shocked and horrified at the effects sleep deprivation can have. I had a poor sleeper for 8 months and it really takes it toll, he had never slept more than 4 hours in a row, and generally only did 2 hours in a row so I was exhausted. I am now basically on a Gina Ford schedule because it works (sorry!) so he sleeps 9-10, 12.30-2, 7-7 and only has milk feeds at 7, 2.30 and 7. He feeds so much better both at the breast and at solid meal times, it has made such a good difference to him. Anyway...

I'm sorry to hear about silly Waitrose, FGS it was an honest mistake I think they were awful to you.

WRT BFing and doctors, they are clueless! I've got a recurring problem which I think is a milk blister but nobody knows what it is. Every so often this lump comes up on the end of one of my nipples, it goes yellow and swells and it blimmin kills. When he feeds its like razorblades are being sucked through it, and when he's not feeding it sometimes feels like someone is skewering me through the boob. The doctors have no idea what it is and gave me some cream which has done nothing. They just send me away and tell me to keep an eye on it.... The pain is unbearable and sometimes has me in tears but I want to continue feeding him so I just force myself through it.

Cherry I'm sorry evil Aunt Flo caught up with you :( I'm waiting for her to turn up as well, keep feeling like she's coming but then nothing happens. Anyone else still waiting for their first period? I'm dreading it!!

Hi everyone haven't posted in ages.
Re bf ing going back to my first I wish I'd known it's not as easy and natural as you imagine and you can give the baby a bottle to give yourself a break.

I gave up with my first after two weeks as I was finding it so hard if I'd known I couldve given her a bottle here and there I wouldve continued.

It was made very clear to me that it was one or the other which isn't true !

gya we've all done a runner and are on here now :)