March 2010. A lesson for much of life: Shut the door. Find the corkscrew.

[Arcadie]

Happy Christmas MMMs. This is my gift to you!

Watched OBEM on catch up this morning. If every woman was guaranteed Christian as a MW I think that there would be far less worry involved in having a baby.

He was fantastic!

Best of luck with the interview Skidd!

I know he was lovely, wasn't he? Did you see him shed a little tear when he was talking about how amazing it was to see a new life come into the world [sniff]

Thanks for the good luck - think I will need it...

Oh no, I didn't make the cull!! It is true that I haven't posted in ages though I do lurk. You ladies keep reminding me that TTSP is a good mantra and sleep is for wimps.

Congratulations Pixie and Manda! I can't imagine being pregnangt again. It feels like yesterday that DS was born.

Sorry for the lack of shout-outs. I have been working full-time since the beginning of November. DS has only had a few nights of sleeping through and has been teething lately. DD is lovely except when her brother is around and then she turns into a little witch. In short, life is very very VERY hectic. I am ill today, which means I have time to post on here and to watch OBEM.

Arcadie i am so green at you right now( in a good way) i saw on Facebook that your DS took his first step,, how wonderful, DD hasn't done anything, no crawling ,not much movement really, everyone tells me she will walk and i am getting impatient, silly me.

Blessed that was me (unless Arcadie's DS is walking too) :) I can see why you would think Arcadie from my surname, actually. DD hasn't taken more than one step at a time yet, so it could be a while till she actually walks anywhere, but we'll see. It's a bit scary really; where has my tiny baby gone??

James has been properly walking for quite some time... he really freaked out a lady at babybond on saturday. After the scan we were sat in the waiting room waiting for our report and another couple came in with a child of about four. The woman was cooing over James as he was on my lap. Suddenly, as he is want to, he flipped himself down and toddled across the room at which the woman literally screamed, jaw dropped and covered her mouth! It was absolutely hilarious! I suppose they are quite little to be walking (he kinda runs now ) but compared to my first two who walked a couple of days after 9months he's kinda slow

Feeling so sick. Was gagging today, which is fun. Blurgh.

Oh, also a member of my extended family gave birth today - at 29+5. He's 2lb 5ozs. And she's only 17.

Oh Manda, how are your relative and the baby doing? She must be so scared, poor thing. So young. And 2lbs5oz, so teeny. Sorry to hear MS is getting to you. You story about James at the scan made me though, too funny. And wow, walking at 9 months!

I think Isobel may be (finally!) getting some more teeth. Definitely grumping and drooling yesterday. Does it often coincide with a cold? I'm sure her other teeth did as well.

Well, I'm not awfully close to her. Right, keep up with this: my 'dad' is not biologically my dad, but married my mum when I was 9months - they split when I was 8 and he left us for another woman and her three girls. They went on to have a girl together and are still married to this day so I guess there was something in it . Anyway, his wife - the second eldest girl has three sons and a daughter. It's her daughter that has had the baby. However, I am much closer to Dad and his wifes' daughter who has been texting me today - she had a baby at 31 weeks 3lb odd, so she is very much able to be a support to my... step-half-niece? I think it's dredging up some emotions/feelings for her. Anyway, pre-eclampsia was the culprit (which I find mind boggling at 17!) and because they knew for a few days this would be happening, steriods were on board. Amazingly, they must have made a huge difference as, as of 3pm this afternoon (he was born at 10.27am), the little mite was breathing on his own! . Hope he continues to do well.

I suppose, if nothing else, it just brings home how however much we like to think we're in control, some things... well, we just have to deal with what we're given.

BMI i have inboxed you and if anyone is wondering why my post was deleted, i used a fellow Mner's real name without thinking and i was wrong, and i would like to apologise..

Hellooooo. Long time no typey. RL still on the busy side so I've forced myself to sideline MN for the time being, although I am lurking fairly regularly. Glad to hear of babies crawling, stepping, walking - Robin is soooo close to walking by herself and wants on her feet at every opportunity - but for now she needs an assistant (usually me) for walking to and fro, backwards and forwards, into one room and out again...you get my drift! She's also got 2 more teeth - oddly, not the next in line but the one after that, one on the top, one on the bottom on her left side.

News from the Heckle family camp though - our DDs are to get a wee cousin in a few months time - hurrah! SIL told us on Saturday she's expecting in September, so we're delighted for them.

Glad to hear pixie and manda are keeping well - and good luck to anyone else who is secretly or not so secretly TTC!

Definitely not us - I've finally bitten the bullet and made a consultation appointment for implanon. AF has finally returned so I figure my hormones must be re-adjusting to normal...time to screw them up with some contraception . Not sure if the implant is the best way to go but it seems the lesser of several evils, and the only way to figure out if it'll suit me is to try.

Lastly - hooray for underwire! I've finally returned to properly constructed bras, after buying two new ones this morning

Sorry no individual shout-outs, suffice to say I am keeping up with you all and am still loving finding out how your DCs are doing.

Hurrah for snazzy new bras, heckle I think I'll need some scaffolding support once I'm done even though I don't have much of a bossom to shout home about!

Saw a couple of snaps of the 29+5 little man, and yes, incredibly he only has a cannula in his hand and a feeding tube in his nose - he's not even in an enclosed incubator. My gut tells me that he's surely too tiny for that to continue (you guys with preemie experience will know better than I though...) but surely it's a good start.

Today, I've not been feeling too bad. MAybe it's because I started a silly thread that I've been distracting myself with Any of you with the relevant 'qualifications', I'm interested to hear your stats but only if you prove me right

Hey, pixie how is DD2 doing?

(oh, and blessed we all make faux pas (maybe more-so on the interwebs, given they're so reletively 'new') now and then... I'm sure we all understand that)

All well and good me saying 'post on my thread!' (or words to that effect) but not giving a clue as to where it is...

You are all detectives, surely?

Let me direct you, simply to save the 30 seconds it would take you to work it out: ta-da!

Nothing to add but you've fallen out of my Active convos. How rude.

Oh yes. One more tooth. Which takes us up to 7. And they're very good for biting the back of Mummy's leg with

We have a tooth!!!!! First one!

We also have a super grumpy baby as a result.

Hooray for Simeon's tooth :)

Greetings all! In car enroute home from airport from Mexico and utilising this time to mnet!

Had a read through-

PIXIE- can't believe that DD is back in hospital again. Get well wishes coming your way.

IWCAS - aghast at your continual childcare struggles. Power to you for coping on through. Stoooopid bloody CM tho for being soo unprofessional. R is a gorgeous. Perfect ten mth old who loves his mummy and the attention she provides- nothing more.

Cont....

Could someone please change DS bday to 28th feb- can't work out how on an iPhone!

Soooo work update-

You may recall my endless problems with work. Having applied for reduced hours/flex in Oct they blatantly ignored all policy and refused it. Some major backtracking then commenced on their behalf when this was pointed out and they kinda half heartfelt started again. Had a meeting on my day off on Xmas eve to sort it and an agreement was made- next boss up then emailed me to say to presume it was agreed unless I heard otherwise- it would be formally ratified 10th jan at a central meeting but resided the

Realised the Time constraint as I was due to start it 5feb so his word should be fine...... Well you guess it..... I tried to get the ratified confirmation the week before Mexico... No one could tell me'. Best I hot was'its being considered' my federation guy couldn't understand my concern but went and tracked down the Draft minutes from said meeting which said agreed.... So yesterday I get a text in Mexico from my boss asking if I've heard.... I ask what and he says to red my email.... Done that now and found suprise suprise big boss refused my request and am apparantly offer me nothing at all. This is now 2 days from my new hours- so tell me' how I get to work for 6.45 am on sat when DH doesn't finish nights til 7am and then drive home?? We both work for same organisation- we Employ 4000 and about 400 at my level- are they honestly 'trying' to accommodate??

As you where..... But advice Would be useful! Xx

Egads, scooby that sounds frickin' awful - especially considering you've been labouring under the impression your new hours had been agreed. I think IF they are going to backtrack at the last moment then you have no option but to explain why this is unworkable at least in the very short term - ie, there's no way you can work saturday. But, legally, can they really do this? I'm afraid I don't know - you need to seek professional help. Makes my blood boil though - it sounds as though they're trying to push you away through stealth.

On another note... Tell me a bit about mexico! At the weekend, it transpired that DMiL is going (again; likes it there) for two weeks and it seems they'd like us to go too. I did some very preliminary checks and it seems hep A and typhoid vacccine not recommended for under two year olds, nor officially tested as safe for pregnant (or breastfeeding - i would be both, eh?) women. So... what did you do about vaccinating DS? How did he cope with the weather? We'd be goin to a very high end resort, but can't help worrying about our health/the hygiene and have all but written off the idea even though I really need a warm relaxin holiday (especially before the new baby!). But hearing you've just returned has given me hope!

scooby i hope you had a lovely time in Mexico regardless of the crap youve returned to. Im sorry I cant help :(

Its been a long, shitty week here. DD started with a temperature (39.5) last thursday morning, and became really sleepy and moany, took her to the Dr who diagnosed an ear infection and a cold. She managed to hold on to the high temp for 5 days! despite the AB's and when I took her back on tuesday because of conjunctivitis, her ears were fine thankfully. Not sure how much of the Ab's or calpol she took because she cleverly worked out that crying meant pening her mouth, so she remained silent and tight lipped at medicine time!! All the same, the stuff that did get in has blocked her up :( and now shes moaning about that too. So last night was the first night I could confidently say she wasnt waking for any good reason, so I didnt feed her, which resulted in 2 hours of moaning again.. back to square one on the sleep training front, but at least I know it didnt take too long to see results last time.

Speaking of which, can I have a quick straw poll on how we all get our DC to nap? I have been feeding to sleep at nap time since just before xmas and Id like to stop, but this afternoon's pu/pd session took over an hour and alot of screaming (not normal!) still in awe of scooby's sandman-like talent - at the Edinburgh meetup, she got DS to nap by giving him a bear! :)

Dsis is still pg, now wayyyyy overdue, something like 40 +15, still holding out for a home birth and has tried reflexology, walking lots etc and is hitting the homeopathy (ducks from the non believers on the thread :) ) I am surprised that they havent induced her yet but she reckons theyve given her till sunday, with daily monitoring.

ahhhgg DD woken up - back later