Sept 08 - No no no, ME do it!

[CappuccinoCarrie]

Shiny new thread for Christmas!

Oh, my friend went in to labour on Sat eve at 11pm, called me at half past to take them to hospital, we got there at 11.55 and she had the baby at 12.02!!! Nearly had it in my bloody car, can you imagine!!

Pacita Sending you loads of labour vibes. With dc2 my waters broke at 7.30pm I was in hospital by 9 and labour started at 11. He was born at 3am and it was the easiest birth of all 4. Just had gas and air and tens and it was so relaxed. good luck x x

pacita yep! Do you know what though? I would do it all again tomorrow

kagey oohh, the last few weeks/days are hard arent they? I was ready to rig up some sort of rope and pulley system to get toby out!!!

dh still being crap. I am still fed up. Same old. Same old.

Been to see a pre school today which I liked the look of but they dont have any mornings free at the moment so I have put Tobys name down for September but hopefully might get 1 x morning a week before then.

Got shedloads to do today need to get off MN really

Can't really complain about DP today. C coughed all night and then coughed so much this morning that she threw up 3 times (in addition to another 4 poos on the potty!).

We decided to keep her off nursery today. I had a meeting in Preston and DP was working from home so he looked after her all morning and I've skivved off worked and looked after her this afternon. Real teamwork!
Thank god for peppa pig and Justin dvds.

And thanks for all your comments, especially you Carrie you always have a positive outlook on things. I wish I had half of your kindness of spirit. I expect it's because you are a great christian, and I'm a lapsed catholic!

MrsA sorry to hear you rowed with DH. Glad you've patched things up though. C sounds a lot like DS, but I at least have DH's support in how we deal with his behaviour. He's a stubborn little thing, but as you say it's also a plus point that they have such determination and enthusiasm for learning to do things their own way. DS thrives in the company of older children - I think he thinks he's older than he is.

DS has actually been a lot easier since he started toilet training. Think him being in control has meant he feels a lot more comfortable. We also seem to get on better because I've realised he's not a baby anymore that I can just pick up and impose my own timetable on him. (I also realise its much easier to indulge him because he's my PFB and he has no siblings demanding my attention). I've stopped 'forcing' him to do things and started negotiating and forewarning more. So rather than just picking him up and taking him off for a bath I'll warn him that in 5 minutes it's bath-time. Sometimes it's still a bit of a struggle to get him to do what I want, but the advance notice seems to minimise the extent of his tantrum. Plus lots of distraction on top of that. Also, we're using the buggy less and less as that was causing a lot of problems. So daily errands are now being planned around car/bus journeys/short walks and proximity to cafes for toilets (hot chocolate).

I'm hoping that the more he understands, the easier it will be to get him to co-operate. Last night I managed to sit in the hallway while he fell asleep! It's been a gradual process since just before Christmas, of getting him to fall asleep on his own. I'm hoping that in a couple of months time that I'll be able to go downstairs while he babbles himself to sleep.

xposted mrsa see everything is all hunky dory today!

Due date today, and still no signs. Decided to take radical measures and went to Ikea. Walked around all day, even walked to pick Diego up from nursery. Nowt. I'm getting so impatient!

Glad to hear things are settling, MrsA. Do you know about reaw onion for the cough? I do it with Diego and it works magic. Onion juice is a vasodilator, and it helps to open up the alveoli in the lungs, where fluid gets stored in little ones (as they can't expectorate) causing a cough. If you cut up an onion and put it in a bowl somewhere near the cot, it will help your LO breath and have a better night sleep. It is quite smelly, though...

Digi, your DS sounds like he's progressing amazingly. We're still in nappies here!

that should read raw onion, btw...

Why does Robyn think it is ok to wake up at 3.30am and then think i will take her downstairs?
I am knackered, I have had hardly any sleep, obviously, and I feel so rough.
Oh well at least she will be in bed early tonight.

yeugh that sounds rough debs. I take it you can't ignore her or try to calm her down upstairs in case she wakes Lucy? Does she still sleep during the day? And if she does do they sleep at the same time so you could have a nap too?

Interesting onion tip pacita, I've never heard of that one before.

I hope all of you who are having challenging behaviour just now are also having some happy/funny/sweet behaviour too to balanceit out. We certainly are having both extremes. Last night dh had taken both boys up to start getting them ready fro bed and I heard him shout, then burst out laughing, then shout again and then laugh again! Turned out ds2 was being naughty but in a really funny way and dh couldn't help himself cracking up. Nothing like a bit of consistensy from the parents to get them to behave

Debi we're all in the same room on a night so she often wakes Lucy up. She knocked daytime naps off ages ago but does often succumb if were out. The only problem with that is she then won't go to sleep till about 10. We've been out to town today and I am really surprised she has managed to stay awake on the journey home, I guess she will be falling asleep in her tea again

debi Hi

Yes, I am getting some lovely moments too Toby is fab if exhausting...into everything, boundless energy etc etc

If he slept better I dont think it would be so bad. ds1 also still doesnt sleep through (he is 7.5!!) He seems to be eating better so hopefully this awful viral thing he has had for 2 months is finally on its way (fingers crossed!)

I often end up laughing when I should be disciplining...its so hard to jeep a straight face sometimes, isnt it?

sigh....keep a straight face...

pacita fingers crossed for you x

Pacita birth news: no news

I had some really good contractions last night, proper ones, got really excited , but was so relaxed I fell asleep. Then I opened my eyes and there was lots of light and it was day.

Saw the midwife who says it'll be anytime now. I'm going in for a sweep on Friday (although I hope I won't need it cos I'll be done by then!).

All very frustrating, sigh.

Oh Pacita how very exciting. Hoping tonight's the night!!

And thanks for the tip about onions, I'll try it. She was better last night and only coughed a few times so was packed off to nursery today. It's a real rest to be in work (I mean it though, hats off to SAHMs - you are the true grafters!)

DP also said his grandma used to cut an onion and cover it with brown sugar and leave it until it produces liquid, then use the liquid as a cough medicine for any age (obv post weaning).

Debs that sounds yucky. I think C is starting to drop her daytime nap when she's at home,. Still needs one at nursery as she's haring around but at home she seems to get very tired before lunch and tea then perks up whilst she's eating. Sadly MIL still believes all children need naps until school days, so the 2 days a week she has her she takes her on long buggy marches so she naps and then doesn't sleep at night as she's not tired herself out.

And C is as frustrating as ever but I too have to try not to laugh. She calls me a 'cheeky monkey' and she fed the cat the other day - i came in to find 6 individual toy plates on his mat, each with precisely 2 cat biscuits on them and his normal bowl full of cat food stuffed in the bin

Btw, DP and I have made it up and there's a lucrative contract in the pipeline which may ease his financial worries. Still means I have no choice but to work FT - off to London tomorrow (sorry to those who live there) but yuck, I hate it. 5am start and I won't get home till gone 9pm :(

Yay for some contractions Pacita. Please don't be downhearted about it all as those contractions are doing something, whether it be your baby getting into optimum position for birth, or even your cervix opening up a cm or two. Keep the faith

I know what you mean about London MrsA, I love to visit London, but I find the hustle and bustle to overwhelming after a while. It also didn't help that when I went there for work I went to the City where a lot of the people were complete toss pots!

We've postponed the potty training for a few days as we had too much on and I need a stretch of a few days at home. I think I was confusing M with having a nappy on sometimes but not all of the time. We'll see .......

mrsa glad things are better with dp. Sorry about the commute though...sounds awful

pacita It will be soon...I can feel it in my water

According to my dad his mum used to make bread poultices (days before the nhs I guess!) and cover his chest with them. Apparently they worked though

mrsa glad things are looking up, and thanks for your nice comments, much better than the things a mean old white van driver said to me today when he thought I'd reversed into his van. As if I would do a things like that . It was pretty close though...!

pacita I know you know this but runs of strong contractions are a good thing! Yesterday I was sat with a friend, sobbing because her 'bloody braxton hicks' weren't 'bloody doing anything' (she's due on the 31st) and she'd had a baby within 24 hours . I overheard a conversation at the weekend where people were discussing the fact that there's now no-one pregnant at church after the two girls who've given birth in the last week, inside I was jumping up and down going "ME ME ME ME"!

And pacita again...ROFLMAO at Ikea being a 'drastic measure'! So sorry it didn't work!!

MrsA C sounds like DD1 whebn she was little - demanding and strong willed (except dd1 also didn't sleep )

She's a really lovely 7 year old now who never gets into trouble at school (and rarely at home)

M being a right pain atm, she was sick at the weekend but since then she won't eat for me (has eaten at childminders), she's taking HOURS to go to sleep (3 hours tonight) and generally being more needy. Added to that H is away so I have ALL the childcare this week and no exercise

Thanks for your encouraging words, ladies, but still nothing. . I can hear the tic-toc of the clock as the day my parents go back is nearing, and then I'll have to hatch a back up plan to have Diego looked after, which inevitably will cause more upheaval.

I'm bracing myself for another day of walking the streets of London. I think it's going to be museums!

Sorry about M being a pain, Ninja. If it's any consolation, Diego has just had a similarly nightmarish phase, which like M, coincided with him being poorly. I think that the moment they do not feel right in themselves, they become very needy and attention seeking. It'll pass. The funny thing is that they save the deep manipulation tactics for mums, as Diego can throw a right old tantrum at me for the stupidest thing, and be totally happy with his GPs. That's kids for you.

bookmarking....

Cooeee! Pacita any news yet?

Recovering from hellish 16 hour day yesterday. Awful train journey home - felt queasy all the way and shattered today. Luckily working from home today.

Out with the mums from baby cafe tonight. May need some red bull :)
Funnily enough, out of the 9 of us, not one has had a second baby yet and as far as I know I'm the only one actively ttc!
And they're all around the 30 to 35 age too. Takes the pressure off me I think. Would be hard to be ttc and getting nowhere. On cyle 5 now - lots of swi planned for this weekend!

Thanks for asking MrsA, still no baby .

I went for a swipe today (it bloody hurt too!) with a lovely midwife. Apparently the odd contraction I've had, like suggested by the wise ILTMIMI has had the effect of dilating me 1.5 cm and effacing 50% of my cervix, which is apparently soft. The baby's head is currently pushing against the cervix, so she said chances are that the swipe will be successful, and I'll go into labour in the next 48 hours. My blood pressure, my wee and the baby's heart are all good, and it's all systems go. I just need some contractions now!

I am sad, because my parents leave tomorrow and chances are they will do so without meeting their grand daughter, and without fussing around Diego once his little sister is home.

At any rate, one can't schedule babies, and at least we've had a lovely time while they've been here.