FEB 2010 First birthdays beckon and toddlerdom approacheth...uh-oh!

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

It's humbling to look back at the last year and see how our LO's have gone from helpless newborns to action-packed pre-toddlers.

BRING IT ON!!!

I took Beta Blockers in pregnancy for my pre eclampsia but I don't think they are recommended in pregnancy for anything other than high blood pressure as can affect blood flow to the placenta.

I don't think I could get hold of beta-blockers at this late stage but I wouldn't take them anyway. I won't get SMP even if I do get if Still got LOTS of work to do on my presentation and then it occurred to me last night (awake as usual) that I'd better prepare all those awful interview questions too such as strengths, weaknesses (perfectionist anyone?!) and so on. It's been a loooooong time since I've done an interview.

IC that sounds a bad night. Can you take a nap today (while your lovely-sounding DH takes over!)?

BG brrrrrrrrrrrrr my word that's blimmin cold.

bethy I'm sure you're right about the second child, things just can't be the same as for the first. I'm hoping that a) we'll be more relaxed this time and also that b) we will make an effort earlier to sleep-train a little bit. Even if only to get the little monkey napping properly.

Ny mum's here for a couple of days hence the unexpected MNing in the morning! Whoop! But got to go and sign on now Have a good day everyone.

Scones best of luck!! There is a fab guide to poss interview questions etc on the telegraph website. will try to find link for you in a bit when I've dealt with my own children and my mum -child (the older she gets the more she seems to expect me to mother her... )

Here it is. There are also two other documents I found useful, one is on the questions you could possibly ask at the end.

scones good luck, you seem well prepared

I agree with bethy and CS for the second. And yes the guilt! Not doing much with DD2 but she seems a very able and happy little girl (who probably is going to have a speech delay at this rate see the guilt is coming back all the time )
As for the sleep issue, I wonder if it is co-sharing a room which makes them sleep so badly? DD 1 was alone from 10 weeks and a great sleeper and DD2 is still with us, and not completely there yet. Nothing statistical but most of my friends who co-sleep have sleep problems and those with children alone in their room don't. I am just not sure which came first (chicken and egg thing )

DD2 fever dropped the next day, and after 2 days of normality she is now coughing . Some kind of weird cold virus?

BG 1 today, -1 for the rest of the week, we are in the same boat!

PA must know. What seeds/nuts are suitable from 1 yo? Can they have anything (without chocking warning as grounded)? or are there still some restriction? TIA

waves at everyone else

Waves at Schrodinger

A few things before I hit the key that starts eating text while I type ...
Again good luck to you scones sounds like a great job! I also have an interview this week... by telephone! The invitation came through literally when I had already put our suitcases into the car to go away. Briefly considered cancelling our trip but decided against it. Phoned the recruiters instead to work out other arrangements, so telephone interview it will be. Also have to do a 10 minute presentation which in a way will be easier than face to face because I can send them my powerpoint by email and then read off my notes . Oh and , I haven't told dh yet... He would have expected me to cancel my trip.

As for gilt, yes it doesn?t get easier with two but on the positive side, dd2 benefits enormously by having a sibling. She loves nothing more than to watch and copy dd1 and they are getting quite good at playing together which is lovely to see. I did feel a bit guilty though when some of you wrote about books. Dd2 loves them too and will ?read? them herself, but unlike with dd1 I simply have no time to sit and read to her except at bedtime.

PA did you have a cs first time round? If you really want an elcs don?t let them fob you off!! I discussed the option with a surprisingly young SpR and her attitude was shocking, basically how dare I even consider it? Obviously she didn?t have any children herself. It still makes me angry now. In the end I had a ?normal? delivery with dd1 which took about 27 hours but dd2 was born in less than four hours . Second babies tend to be much more straightforward and quicker.

And the sleeping? No idea if there is any truth in it but my two did sleep in their own room in a cot or cotbed from very early on. I am co-sleeping with both at the moment (dd1 shares a double bed with me and dd2 is in a travel cot) and have realised that they both do wake in the night. Dd1 likes to do a bit of singing and dd2 wakes for a quiet chat with her teddy . At home I am there like a shot if they call for me or cry but probably won?t hear if they just fidget.

'guilt' urgh, I hate netbooks

BG I thought you'd probably found the button that is causing you problems. Do you have an 'insert' button? That does it here. Press it again and it should stop! Good luck for the phone interview.

Waves at Schro cos I haven't said hi for a while.

Supposed to be prepping two 30 min presentations for work next week on topics that I haven't thought about in over a year-this is much more fun! (and is 10 minute mummy break after all!)

Have traipsed both DS round our local shops this a.m. ti get prizes for the village show in the Summer. I've come away quite impressed. Both boys were brilliant, probably because DS1 is recouperating and DS2 has a stinking cold! I must have looked like a really mean mummy with two slightly pale boys in a buggy!

Good luck Scones - sounds like it'll be fine! Sorry to hear about the lack of energy for the party. I'm sure it was great anyway.

IC I'm considering having a go at writing some simple 'picture' books for toddlers if I get made redundant. I've got a couple of guides to give me some starting points. Anything else I should do, other than read the thousands of kiddy books that have cropped up in my life so far as a teacher and mummy?

Right, to work...

p.s. If I can be more relaxed second time round, as a complete perfectionist and worrier, anyone can!

Ooh, good for you, bethy!!
Sounds like you've already done the best kind of research - seeing what's out there and what "works".

Simple rhyming books seem to be perennially popular: The Snail and The Whale; Peepo; Giraffes Can't Dance; Each, Peach, Pear, Plum etc. I think LO's respond well to the rhythm of the words and the sound the rhymes make even before they can understand the narrative itself.

Also, some kind of tactile gimmick for the younger toddlers: tabs, pop-ups, holes etc. all seem to go down well.

Are you an illustrator yourself, or have a vaguely artistic side? Because I think with this age group, the pictures are even more important than the words. You could team up with someone if you're not confident of creating your own pictures.

I think creating a vivid character that children will instantly recognise in some way is often very important, too. One that might suggest spin-off merchandise is likely to be popular with commercial publishers.

Anyway, all of that is probably pretty self-evident.
If you get to the point of wanting to try and find a publisher, then the first step is to find an agent - obviously, one that specialises in that market.
I think The Writers Handbook (I believe that's what it's called) has contacts.

Anyway, good luck! Feel free to send stuff across if you want a second (or third etc.) opinion of what you come up with.

I hope your DS' both get over their colds soon.

Ooh, BG, good luck! Fingers crossed your time won't be wasted this time.

Nice to hear from you Shro! I hope your DD2 recovers from her cough quickly.

Thanks for the sympathy Scones! Yes, DH encourages me to nap where possible, but TBH I find trying to nap in the day more stressful than it's worth (I'm worse than DD!) and unless I'm really dead tired and sleepy, prefer to soldier on until bedtime.
This indigestion is annoying though. I'm seeing the family medico on Wed for my first pg appointment so I will ask her if there are any medications I can take to help with bloating and trapped wind.

Well, weaning-for-real went well today. DD seemed very happy to eat a spelt biscuit and drink some cow's milk instead of having her post-nap afternoon feed. So far, so good.

Morning all

Schro Advice for nuts varies, but it seems on the whole tree nuts can be introduced from 1 year (i.e. not peanuts) if you generally don't have concerns about allergic reactions (ie. no history). I think grinding them or not is a personal decision as judged nut by but.

I have some smooth peanut butter I've been meaning to try DD on as I figured there are cultures that wean on peanuts. Also she always has her hands in my food, so it would be good to know and not always be panicking when I'm eating my morning toast. We happen to be having pine nuts for dinner today, so might give those a go. Think I'll prob crush them a bit for her. Seeds seem fine and introduced around the same time.

Bethylou I missed your paragraph about the sleep but found myself agreeing with it (not that I have experience but you know what I mean). I'm too lazy to proactively work on her night sleep and the nap work was a necessity as we had to work out how to get her to sleep. FWIW pram naps no longer work.

While we were away she had her own room but actually slept better when in with us.

No CS the first time, but had third degree tear. I want one as my pelvic floors are shot and this seems to be the main reason for having them after a tear. I don't want to risk it getting any worse (as apparently once menopause hits it snow dives again anyway)

Right ok, I am back, I promise! (Thanks for the nudge Penguin!)

BUT I apologise as I don't have time to read the whole thread, so I am just going to start from here, if you'll have me back!

I just have to ask - is anyone pregnant??! (not me, desperately trying to convince DH)

A big wave hello to everyone and your darling little ones. Will be back to catch up on all the chat (am just off to pick up mine from the cm).

Hi flyingcloud I was wondering where you'd gone!!
Good to have you back!

Quick update then: stangirl is about four months or so now (please clarify, sg!) and IC, Scones ( fizziwizle as was) and PenguinArmy ( ClimberChick as was) have all tested positive in the last few weeks with EDDs in October.

How are you, fc?!

Re: peanut butter. DD's been having it regularly since she was about 9 months. I wasn't too worried about giving it to her as neither DH or I have any allergy history and it's been fine. She's had pine nuts too, all well.
Yes, peanuts are used as an early weaning food (in Israel, I think??) and the incidence of peanut allergies is significantly lower than in places where the advice is to hold off introducing peanuts...

IC- I'm 19 weeks tomorrow and have my c section booked for 39 weeks on 12 July.

Hi flying nice to have you back.

I'm still worried about nuts as we have an history of various allergies, eczema and asthma in my family (not on DH side) so I wonder what to do.

I have to say that should I have another DC, I'll probably go for an ELCS as my labour lasted 35 hours and finished by an emcs, plus I'll be induced again at 38 weeks. Only issue is the 6 weeks of non driving after it.

to BG and schro to keep you warm.

bethy have you sorted your dummy question?

BG scones good luck with the job interview

IC have you tried gaviscon? I was my life saver when pregnant. (I actually thought of buying some shares as I was drinking soo much of it!)

I can't stand any heartburn stuff, just as bad as the heartburn itself. Stonebaby mine was 48 hrs (after 24 hrs at 4 cm they broke my waters) plus 24 hours of contractions prior to that. I think labour would be OK (assuming wasn't back to back again) but as said before just don't want to risk PF

FC glad you found your way back. Are you still in France (I assume so by your presence on their threads). How is your LO, you have to tell us all about how its been.

IC I see your DH made a contribution to a thread of AIBU

DD has just been sick :( first time she's done that past the first few weeks. Fingers crossed it was a reaction to food, but me and DH have both have dicky tummies for the past few days. She's sleeping again now, was only up for 30 mins. Do we need to thoroughly disinfect stuff, or just wipe it all down?

Sorry more moaning

Probably disinfect, just to be on the safe side PA .... aw, your poor DD, I hope she's all better again soon.

Blimey, half way already stangirl!

SB, Does Gaviscon work for bloating/trapped wind? Because that's the issue I've got at the moment.
I was pretty lucky last time round - didn't suffer TOO badly from heartburn and my stomach was mostly MORE settled than usual (after the first trimester had passed).
Anyway, I've decided to have my evening meal when DD has hers at 17.00, then just have a light supper of a bowl of cereal with milk later on. Hopefully that'll be a bit easier on my tum overnight.

I've also restarted my pregnancy yoga routine tonight - it was fantastic last time for keeping me on an even keel and getting everything gently stretched and toned up ready for the birth. OK, I had an EMCS, but I'm sure all that prep was why I had such a fast recovery afterward.
I'm assuming an ELCS is inevitable this time round as it's such a comparatively small gap between this and the last.
Are any of us likely to have a "natural" birth?!

Anyway, sorry everyone else, this turned into a bit of an ante-natal post...

Yes, PA after a few months keeping off MN, DH has got sucked in again. He's braver than me though, I don't think I've ever posted on any of the AIBU threads...

Brave Mr IC! I've never posted on an AIBU either...

IC with you on the bloating and trapped wind. Awful especially in the evenings. I'm guzzling mint tea but if there are any remedies apart from that I'd love to hear them!

Oh and I'm hoping for another home birth, so fingers crossed. That seems a long, long time away though.

PA Hope DD doesn't suffer too much.

flyingcloud welcome back! I was thinking about you the other day and wondering how you're getting on.

OK bedtime, night all.

boak at mint. It would be great if you got a home birth again scones

I've decided not to give DD any more solids today. Her nappies are interesting and burps sound wet, so figured I'd be lazy for the day and just BF her.

Happy birthday Scones DD

Have a lovely birthday, DD of Scones!

Happy birthday scones 'DD.

Yeeeewww there is drool on the o t c and b keys. Someone has been using the computer

Waves at flyingcloud (I used to be mamaloco shhh!). How is the shoes war going with your CM?

BG we've got snow now! NOOOOOOOOOO. Silly me! I did wash the snowsuits, it does it every year! pass the again, make mine a hot chocolate!
DD2 can barely fit in hers (I am not buying a new one now )

PA DD2 "costed" us about 6000 euros (just in medical fees). hope you can get your insurance sorted.
I had an emCS with DD1 after 37h of contraction (apparently she was back to back and not pushing the cervix at all) the last 6h unbearably painful. I had to beg for the epidural, when they finally decided to help me I had 15 min of pain relief before being rushed to the op table as DD1 was tachycardic and her oxygen levels were dropping. Thanks she is OK!
I had an ElCS with DD2 as they are not prepared/experienced enough for VABC here. But I was so scared to do it again, I would have pushed for one in the UK too.

sorry for shouting!

Thanks for the well wishes. DD2 cough is very chesty but she has no fever, not sure if I have to take her to the doc or not

beth nice pictures (hope it is you bethy, I am still a bit confused which who is who on FB)

Yoooohoooo!

Thanks Schro!

I would take her to get the chest checked, personally - but I am a bit paranoid about things like that because of something that happened in our family (I won't say what). At the very least, it may put your mind at rest.

Coo, that's a pricey birth! We could have gone private here, but all emergency procedures are done on the state anyway, so it's just as well we didn't bother...

Schro, you must be firm about your DH using the computer...