Sept 08 - No no no, ME do it!

[CappuccinoCarrie]

Shiny new thread for Christmas!

DS also understands the pudding thing now, but it works best visually if we put the pudding just out of reach so he can see what his goal is, he's just so easily distracted. The main battle is brocolli, and the other day he picked up the brocolli first, ate it in one and declared "pudding now!". Cheeky monkey :)

Meglet you've done so brilliantly with the bedtimes and being consistent and not giving in, you really will reap the benefits we promise! Hope the letter writing is effective.

ninja hope you're ok.

mrsa how was the appointment...?

...while I think about it. I had my final all clear smear test today and after 8 years of very dodgy smears, LLETZ treatments, huge worry for me and my family and ending with a hysterectomy .................... I am now discharged from the NHS cervical screening programme (they can't screen what I don't have anymore )!

So if anyone needs to book their smear / chase results etc .... do it now!

Although, I will probably still have a private follow up colposcopy as mum doesn't trust the NHS programme and wants me to have another check up just in case. I still have all my unused sanitary towels in the bathroom so the kids know about them when they are older .

Bookmarking

Here are good birthing vibes for Kagey and Hopefully, and sleeping-in-her-own-bed vibes to meglet.

By the way, hopefully you have not CATted me or emailed me about shipping some baby clothes to you. It is honestly no trouble if you need it. I've got pyjamas, cardies and little jumpers (although not as lovely as the ones you hand knit yourself) vests and the snow suit (which is totally new and never worn). It is not that thick, so may still be useful to you.

I am having a bit of a difficult time. A week ago I was about to post saying how everything was getting better and Ines was nicely settling to 5 hour stretches at night, but now it seems to have reverted. Ines has had me up literally ALL NIGHT for the past few days. I must have got a total of three hours broken sleep. the problem seems to be trapped wind, but my brain is so messed up through sleep deprivation that i don't know any more. She feeds, I try to burp her for ages, she doesn't. I put her down, she falls asleep and 10 minutes later wakes up, straining, bringing her legs up, with her tummy hard as a stone. the thing is, I gave her gripe water the night before and that seems to have made it worse. Is that possible or is it simply coincidence? Is it something I've eaten? Is it something else?

I don't know what to do. She is such a contented and smiley child normally, but these past few days she is unsettled, seems to want the boob all the time but falls asleep, only to wake up the moment she is put down. She does sleep in the sling, but it's getting a bit much, and I also have Diego to run after.

Any ideas, oh wise ladies? I hope we have foxy and starlight lurking too, although that seems a bit unlikely...

meglet that's great news! I am fully up-to-date with my smear tests
pacita I have no advice I'm afraid! I've recently discovered that blackcurrent squash helps a constipated toddler, but I don't know what to do with one so small, I do hope someone comes along with some help for you, sounds awful :(

DS fell out of bed at 1am, DD had a bad dream at 3am, and I woke at 6am and only had very poor quality napping type sleep after that with some really stressful dreams, so I'm knackered and grumpy today. I even started crying when there was a problem renewing my kids gym class for next term . 4 sleeps down and 4 to go before DH is back...Bless him he got up at 3am to skype us today (9am our time).

Oh dear Carrie sounds like a bad night! Hope tonight is better.
Pacita my friends had a baby with very bad trapped wind & they took her to an osteopath who helped loads.

Was going to add something elsebut phone being slow to type so will come back in a bit on laptop.

I have news....DS has grown. I've been eversogood after my freak out around his 2nd birthday and I've not measured him for a full 6 months, but it was time for the 2 1/2 year weigh in and he's gone from 81 to 85cm (still just above 2nd centile) and up to 11.8kg which is above 9th centile. And his feet have gone from a 4.5 to a....5! But hey, its all progress. He's still woefully short for diggerland, he'll be starting school before he's tall enough for that delight I reckon!

Had a stressful morning but a lunchtime nap really helped. Got a to-do list to work through tonight then some biscuits to enjoy with my knitting and a bit of tv later :)

Hurrah for the all clear Meglet I had a smear just before I got pg again this time, so I'm all up to date!

Pacita - does Ines have the wind problems in the daytime?
Do you do anything different after a feed in the daytime than the nightime, ie does she go in the sling or bouncey chair (ie upright) in the day, but is laid down on her back at night?
How many weeks old is she now? Not 6 weeks by any chance?
I know nothing of gripe water and infacol and all those things, but none of them are medically proven to help so I doubt they do anything to hinder either.
I doubt it's something you've eaten.

Oh pacita I'm so sorry things are tough again. I have no advice really - could it be colic?
If so, from memory you'll just have to ride it out and it will end but I 2nd the advice re cranial osteopathy.
Have you tried baby massage at bedtime. I used to massage DD's tummy in an anticlockwise direction after her bath, as instructed by the osteopath and it seemed to settle her.
We used everything, infacol, gripe water but nothing made any difference until we put her to sleep on her tummy at 12 wks. Disclaimer - not recommending it!

My smears are up to date. I had one in 2007 just before I conceived DD and then my last one was in Dec, 2 months before we conceived this one!

Carrie your DH is a legend. 3am? Respect.

Meglet DD trained in about 3 days. Started on the friday and spent the day in the house. I put her in clothes so she could feel the wetness and just kept encouraging her to ask to go to the loo.
By Sunday she'd cracked the wees. The poos took longer, but she only had 2 accidents and then it clicked. Nursery were fab and we gave her a sticker every time she went on the potty. She got a chocolate button for every poo in the early days.
She's now just starting to reject the potty in favour of the toilet.

And my appt went ok thanks carrie different midwife and hospital. Explained a home birth was unlikely due to c-section but not impossible if I am prepared to fight. The midwife was v supportive of vbac tho and didn't write me off as high risk from day 1.
I've booked a private nuchal scan when I'm 12 wks (don't get em on the nhs here) and I'm going to hire a doula for the birth.
Booking in on 18 April. What was nice was she suggested I refused constant monitoring to enable me to remain active. As is spent 9 hrs strapped to a bed with DD, that's a +ve step.

Hugs to ninja

Pasta awaits me!

Thanks for the words of wisdom ladies. ILTMIMI, lately, yes, Ines has also had the wind problems during the day, and generally been unsettled. Can one develop colic just coming up to 9 weeks? That's how old she is!

to make matters worse, she had her 8 week jabs today, my poor little darlng. She SCREAMED in pain, and in my zombiefied state I wanted to cry too.

At any rate, today I have done baths, baby massage and sling before bed time. she's asleep in her cot. I have not even had a nap today as been cleaning, doing nursery runs and laundry, as I'm off to spain tomorrow for a week.

hurray on the growth front, carrie! one to celebrate as soon as the lovely dh is back.

Send lots of sleep vibes my way and a calm breeze to Ines's tummy. I really need to rest tonight!

Meglet, they did a smear this week with my post natal. Let's hope it's all clear too!

I'm off to bed. Now.

MrsA with ds2 I didn't want examined unless essential (ds1 no one believed I was in labour until I was 8cm so no early intervention there!) and when I got into the delivery room almost the 1st thing the midwife said to me was "I take i you don't want examined unless we need to?" I couldn't believe she just knew!

Right this is what I was going to write earlier. Does anyone else think this is a bit odd or is it just what schools do to 4/5 yr olds to teach them about life?
DS1 isn't having a 'proper' birthday party but is having 10 friends round for party games and pizza after school (this is because his birthday is on Easter Monday). I put the invites in his bag and put a note in his book asking the teacher if she could put them into the kids' book bags as I didn't want to hand them out in the playground as he was only inviting a few.
So what actually happened was that when all the kids were sat together he was given the invites, read out the names and handed them out!
So now all the other kids he's friends with will go home and complain they weren't invited to his party as they won't have twigged he only asked a few.
Then also 1 girl apparantly told him she didn't want to come! I am baffled about his friendships anyway and this party thing has been far too stressful. The other thing is that I don't feel like I have any friends at school (ok that sounded like I'm the 5 year old!) as I still don't really know any of the mums.

debi the thought of organising childrens parties brings me out in a cold sweat.

DS will having one this year, need to start thinking about it really.

Debi and meglet the thought of a children's party seems to me like a heroic feat, alas, one that I may have to face some time soon!

I would like to report that we have had a much better night. Do jabs zonk out babies? They certainly didn't zonk Diego, but Ines went to sleep at 8 in the sling. Was dropped on her cot at 9 and slept till 12, had a feed and woke up at 4, then at 6:30, so I feel almost normal today! My lovely lovely DP did breakfast and played with Diego when he woke up at 6:20, so that i could have a lie in with Ines until 8, and then I took over and scootered him to nursery.

What an amazing spring day today, no?

Off to Spain later today. I'll be loyally lurking and may even find time to post!

Ladies we're running out of space on this thread! Its lasted us through Christmas and New Year and nearly to Easter, so the next one will prob take us to mid-summer. We need a name, I have zero inspiration so I'll surrender to anyone else's superior wit
debi I'm terrified about being in the playground again come September . DD is 4 next week, she keeps getting whole-class invites home from nursery school but we're not inviting anyone from nursery to her birthday tea, just having half a dozen special friends she's known since birth round for pizza and pass the parcel on a Sunday afternoon. I really hope she doesn't twig that she's not getting a Wacky Warehouse party, or that no one from nursery will be there!
pacita so glad you had a better night.

I think injections can zonk lo's out as well as unsettle them Pacita.

Just one last question with the bf'ing? Do you have a fast letdown? Does Ines often splutter or gulp to cope with a fast flow at the beginning of a feed? Sometimes a fast flow can give lo's tummy gripes. Failing that, I think it may be a case of 'this too will pass'. Sometimes it is just easier to accept a situation rather than keep trying to solve it - because sometimes you can't solve it. Enjoy Spain

The whole party thing brings me out in a cold sweat as well, it's just so political about who you do and don't invite isn't it?

debi is there a mum or two that you see and think you could be friends with? If so, sort of side shuffle up to them over the next few weeks and either start off a convo or shoehorn yourself into a conversation they're having. It seems you really do have to put yourself out there.

Iltmimi, yes!!! Gulping and spluttering due to fast flow! What does one do? I'm on plane about to switch off.

here you go Pacita

But as you're probably on your phone I'll put write a few pointers down.

Feed your baby so she is nursing in a uphill position. The most effective positions are were the baby's head and throat are above your nipple. Also if you are leaning back in a supported position, your milk has to flow uphill so it slows down.
Burp baby frequently
Feed frequently, this reduces the amount of milk accumulated between feeds.
Nurse when baby is sleepy, they won't suck so hard.
When you have let down, take the baby off and let the initial fast flow pour into a towel/muslin, then put baby back on when it has slowed down.

The other suggestions given are about reducing your milk supply, but I'm not going to list them because I'm not a lactation consultant and I don't want to cause you any problems. Whereas the above won't cause any harm

Enjoy the flight!!

pacita have a wonderful holiday

because of my non-sleeping children (either won't stay in their beds or wake up too early).

At least the sun is out!

Hope everyone is having a good day

Oh no Meglet, non sleeping children are evil. I hope things improve for you all.

I was just thinking of you, instead of enjoying the sunshine I am stuck indoors cleaning up the items I am selling in the NCT sale.

The clocks change on Sunday morning - we lose an hour - boo!! I suppose the lighter evenings are a compensation though . Remind me of this when I'm on hearing swearing about ds not going to sleep because it is light outside

Thanks for the clocks reminder ILTMIMI! I've convinced A he can't get up until the sun gets up, so keeping it dark in the mornings for another month or so will be good!

A totally adamant he doesn't want to sit on a potty atm (so leaving that one), and is refusing to use his right hand, holding it clenched in a fist inside his jumper, though uses it when he really wants to. It doesn't seem hurt at all so we were wondering if he's copying Cerrie off CBeebies... if he doesn't use it again this weekend I guess it's time to see the doc.
Also my pelvis seems to be falling apart again and I'm not even bloody pregnant! What a swizz...

ladies you need the groclock!! The DCs are not allowed out of their rooms/to disturb us until 'the sun comes up' at whatever time you've pre-set, which for us is 7:20 [evil parents emoticon as the DCs are always awake well before that]

My DBro's first child was born this morning, my first nephew! They were only 36weeks, waters went at 1am, they went to hospital and at the first examination the midwife's face went white, she lunged for the crash button and minutes later they had a c-section. Turns out it was a cord prolapse. As DSIL was under a general anaesthetic they both missed the birth but are feeling impressively ok about that, my brother had a lovey 90mins bonding with the baby while SIL was stitched and came round, and feeding is going great. And they haven't used a name we wanted

6 days and nights survivied, mum's here and I'm off on a church women's weekend away, can't wait!

Hi.

Laptop crashed on monday afternoon....cue having to get new bank cards etc etc ...sigh.

Also got a phone call on monday morning to tell me our holiday in May (which we booked in July last year!) had been cancelled by the operator.

Spent all day monday and tuesday trying to find another.

We are now going to Greece in June.

Congrats on the new nephew carrie

pacita so sorry about the windy woes...I remember them well

meg Yay! Good news.

Toby is now in full on toddler tantrum mode...he is so lovely most of the time that when he starts throwing things/hitting etc it seems much worse IYSWIM???

Had an awful migraine last night...worst one I have ever had I think so am feeling all washed out and odd.

Hope kagey and hopefully are ok?
x

For reasons best known to DD she actually slept in her own bed last night ! . After I put her to bed she got out once and snuggled down on the landing but I put her back and she stayed there! It might have been because she was so shattered from a week of nursery and not sleeping properly or it might have been down to the 'Lola' doll I bought yesterday. DS was also lovely and didn't deliberately wake her up when he got up for an early morning wee-wee.

What a PITA with the laptop and holiday becaroo. Glad it's sorted out now.

Hope you're having a nice weekend carrie! Very pleased to know your SIL and the baby are ok after the crash cs. I was catching up on 'Toughest place to be a midwife' last night and it made me more grateful than ever that we have the NHS (faults and all).

Not sure what to do today, I was prepared for not sleeping last night so didn't plan anything.

ILTMIMI I did quite well with our NCT sale the other week. Sold almost everything and gave the leftovers to charity / nursery. I haven't had my cheque yet but I think I will have made £30 or so, I priced it quite low as I didn't want to faff about e-baying it if it didn't sell.

Aaaah... have done roast lunch and pud for 11 people, the boys are asleep, I'm watching the Grand Prix, I have the day off tomorrow, and life is good. Ok work is crap but at least it's a job.

But great news - you might recall a couple years ago I asked people to pray or whatever for my friends' critically ill ds. He is now 4, hasn't been admitted to hospital for a year, and after two years of being scared to leave the county as there was always an emergency run to a new hospital, they have just had a few days abroad with no problem at all! He'll be starting school in Sept! :) (insert usual hassles about schools not wanting to admit a child with special needs even with a statement confirming it's suitable and thus he's top of the admissions list... )