January 2011

[MacMomo]

Thought we should have a post-natal thread so we can stay together from our ante-natal one. Technically, DD was a December baby after coming early on new years eve; hope you don't mind if I stay with the January group after all this time. How is everyone doing?

Just wondering if anyone else finds they are often the only ones who can settle baby? With DS1 it wasn't the case at all but Nathan seems to love only me! His eyes follow me all the time & I get more smiles, but if upset I seem to be the only one who can calm him. Its lovely but wearing sometimes. I do absolutely adore him though!
He generally feeds about every 3 hours, then does 4 hours & 7-8 hours at night. He's a treasure. Thats AF though.

Jobi, same here. DH is so occupied with keeping DD1 happy when he gets in from work I always end up holding the baby and she just will not settle with him. I don't think he is getting the same one on one time with DD2 as he did with DD1 which is a shame but I hope it gets better as time goes on.

Didn't manage a nap in the moses basket at all, she was not having it. Relented and put her in sling and she had an hours kip so I got tonight's dinner made.

Loving these little gummy smiles, makes it all worth it!

Hi ladies, sorry I haven't posted in a while. DD is not doing naps in the day at all without a lot of input from me. Bought No Cry Nap Solution & No Cry Sleep Solution and both are helping to a degree. Nights are fine really but it's just getting her to sleep without feeding to sleep for hours that is the bother.

Jobi1, exactly the same here but worse because DH travels so much. I've decided when he gets home I will take to wearing a unisex scent and making DH wear it too . No idea if it will work.

I'm below my pre preg weight but I lost 5kg in preg so in reality I'm at my lowest weight during preg. Really I just need to tone up and I'm waiting for my Shred DVD to arrive via Amazon. Beach holiday in 1 month so MUST get going on this!

Anyones baby laughed yet? When does that start?

glad to hear your DD feeding 2hourly too blanche

DD settles better with me, but sometimes when in a real rage, she needs to swap person to settle.

A beach holiday sounds great beijingaling

Injections today. She screamed the place down. Tried to feed in Drs room, but DD wasn't having it. She slept on way home but is now really fussy. Did get paracetamol if need it but will she how she is later, hopefully she'll have another nap.

Not sure if it is just a scottish thing, but signed DD up for minor ailment scheme at chemist. You can get capol etc free - need to have a quick consultation and they will give you what you need without seeing the GP. Handy for when teething time comes!

Where are you Walkthedog? I'm Scottish but live in Nottingham now. From Renfrewshire originally, moved here to be with DH about 12 years ago. I watched Peter Mullan's "Neds" yesterday. Don't know how anyone from outwith the west of Scotland could understand the accents!

I think the minor ailment thing is Scottish, as is free prescriptions (jealous, not I!) Doc did give me a prescription for calpol as I told her I didn't have any (though with a 2 year old we do seem to go through quite a bit).

Had a whole days shopping at Meadowhall and a 3 course lunch (with obligitary chocolate pud) at Zizzi's. Abigail was pretty settled in pram which was nice. Diet will need to wait for another day.

beijingaling Make sure you do your peliv floor excercises before the shred arrives!

I'm in Scotland too Blanche, Prestwick, so not too far from where you used to be. Minor ailments service is really good, use it a lot!

Anyone tried to introduce a bottle and struggling? Just got my pump today, pumped away enthusiastically....but then poor ds SCREAMED with horror at being given bottle instead of breast. Any tips anyone?

We now have good sleep routine with ds. He goes to bed at 7ish and happily chomps on a dummy for half an hour to an hour by himself in the dark then goes off to sleep. He seems to really enjoy his wind-down time! Still finding it so bizarre as spent 16 months feeding dd to sleep and tearing hair out at how progressively longer it took...ds is so different. I dreamfeed him at my bedtime (love dreamfeeds!), and he goes till about 4, feeds then goes to about half 6, then dd dances in so the day begins them for us! Happy with this after our feeding-frenzy start.

Naps are hit and miss here too. The more he sleeps, the smilier he is. He falls asleep in his pram really fast but tends to wake if I stop pushing! Loves to sleep in babybjorn but is so awkward being a fun mummy with my dd with ds attached bulkily to my front! Sleeps in his cot so happily at night but is not into it during day. We'll get there!

Lovely to hear your news beijingaling - not sure when laughing starts, will look up dd's record book!

DS2 manages the odd 3 hour gap between feeds but it is generally more like 2 hours, now he's doing such long stretches at night I think feeding regularly during the day is fair enough (not that it ever stopped him feeding more regularly by day when he was feeding by night!). The evening is still just one big, continuous cluster feed but he seems to be crashing a bit earlier - 9ish instead of 10. Not sure it's been going on long enough to call it a definite change though.

He only naps in the sling or the buggy but generally it's not a problem - whatever I'm doing with DS1 he'll sleep on the way there or back. I've found in the last few days that he's staying awake a lot longer during the day and being cheerful with it. I've not even bothered trying the moses basket by day as it just made things so much more stressful when DS1 was a baby, I felt like I was spending my entire life trying to make him sleep.

No laughs yet but loads of smiling and the cutest little 'oohs' and 'aahs'.

Forgotten who said it now (and it's on the previous page which means I'll lose my post if I try and find it) but I remember having loads of moments with DS1 when the internet convinced me he was autistic despite no real evidence. He was a very late pointer and there was a thread on here about late pointing being a sign of autism, I totally disregarded the fact he was waving and decided the lack of pointing was a sign of something being seriously wrong. I think it's just a really annoying part of being a mum having unnecessary panics.

I haven't tried a bottle yet as I've only managed to express once, I fear I may be overly complacent because DS1 was totally unfazed by bottles. I may get a nasty shock when I do eventually try one!

Hope the GTT went well cadlecrap.

Theer are a lot of Scots on here! I'm Scottish too (Edinburgh), but live in England.

Don't know how the GTT went, hope they don't leave me hanging too long.

Pelvic It was me and the autism total paranoia worry. She has no other "symtoms" except a Mum who has a laptop now which I didn't have with DS. Google has a lot to answer for!!!

oh meant to say beijingaling laughing can start from now. DD started this week, but sometimes it is a mix between a laugh and a cry.

blanche I studied and work for a while in Glasgow. We now live in the Highlands - middle of nowhere really! Friend worked in Nottingham years ago, had quite a wild wknd there :) Did the tourist bit of seeing the caves but not Robin Hood. We haven't braved going out for food with LO yet. Don't kids get free prescriptions in England?

Deedee possibly you know all this already - Make sure someone else gives DS the bottle, they can be confused otherwise. We were told it is easiest between 4 and 6 weeks, but can get them used to it at other times but may take a bit of time. Offer when he is hungry. Could get someone who is used to bottle feeding if you didn't with DD, so he feels there confidence. Watch what teat you are using. We have avent ones, but there are loads that are supposed to be good for BF babies. I haven't expressed this week. My boobs get quite achy after I have, they seem to overfill that night.

I only heard ofthe phrase dreamfeeds the other week, it is such a lovely term :)

We ended up having to give DD calpol yesterday after injections. She was screaming the place down everytime she wasn't asleep. She woke up at 3am, fed, fed, fed, screamed, fed, screamed - she has never screamed through the night. She has been a little better today, but not great. So looking forward to the next set, NOT!

walkthedog I grew up in the Highlands.

C-Crap my DS was raised by 'google'. Can be dangerous. Most constructive thought was NHS clinical guidelines NHS Clinical Guidance for Child Health. Then you can find out warning signs on temperature etc, the guidance used by Drs.

deedee I have had success with the bottle. I use a tommee tippee boob shaped one. And DH or someone else has fed her and I wasn't in the room. She even took cold formula when I was on a horse on Wednesday.

blanch minor ailments is brilliant > Also we are close to the minor injuries clinic where you can get antibiotics and stitches etc without going to A&E. Luckily I have been the only one to use it so far.

beijing no laughs but lots of goos as gaas. When I am not ignoring her :( feel a bit bad, as DS gets most of my attention, or the housework.

I am getting fat again. I lost 14lbs + while preggers. Was all skinny and now I am piling on the weight. All I want is to eat after having no appetite during my pregnancy.

jobi I always feed DD and I don't think anyone else has tried to settle her. This also happened with DS. I ended up doing all the bedtime stuff - and then it just became me that does and DH didn't bother. He thinks she will be 'daddy's little girl' so we shall see?

I am in Scotland too. Edinburgh - anyone else?

Anika will be 12 wks on Monday. She can sleep from 7 till 2. She had a feed last night at 11 and lasted until 5am :). But DS has been coming in at 6.30 when DH has been going off to the gym and waking Anika :( We all slept in till 8am today. She has found her thumb - so I swaddle her with her thumb arm out so she can suck. Yee ha!

All I can say is it is getting easier!!

She is just gorgeous. Amazing how adorable they are :) her skin is soooo soft and I even don't mind the ginormous boggies she produces. DS is being very sweet with her most of the time. She has been snotty for weeks now and has had an eye infection. The breastmilk in the eyes seems to have done the trick.

Has anyone found that they are getting achy arms/wrists? I think I still have lots of relaxin in me. I had a nasty fright on Wednesday when I decided to go for a 2 hr hack . It was one of those voucher deals. First time since I was a teenage . Although it came right back, about 1.5hrs into it my back just went and I couldn't canter or trot - agony. Seem fine now but dropped DD in her car seat - luckily she was strapped in. And dropped her onto the bed due to the pain.

PS Sorry for the long post - have been lurking.

Wow there are a lot of Scots or people living in Scotland on this thread.

sarrita SIL is getting achey wrists, but ?how she needs to hold LO to feed, they still have some problems with BFing. Glad you enjoyed the hack, but maybe next time not so long! My pelvis still bothers me if I do too much and my pre pg achey knees have come back.

Saw my wee nephew at wknd . My DD looks like a giant next to him. She was his weight when she lost loads post birth, but he has a much thinner frame and shorter. I was giving him a cuddle and I said "think he is getting hungry", next I knew he was wide mouthed and pushing against my boob. He obviously doesn't care where his milk comes from. The babies didn't pay much attention to each other, but nephew def more interested than DD.

walk from what I remember of the injections when DS1 had them, the first are the worst for after effects even though the later ones have more needles. No guarantees they all react the same way but you may be pleasantly surprised.

sarrita you've done well getting on a horse already! I've been riding about 3 times in the last 10 years but I've not managed it since DS1 was born.

We've had some really warm days down here (in the South West so bucking the Scottish trend) and it's been lovely being outside with the DSs. DS1 has so much more energy and has been a lot more cheerful and I've not had to worry about stripping DS2 naked at practically every nappy change.

Oh yes walkthedog we're getting half laughs half cries now. My Dad comes to visit next week - I hope they're here for it!

Well done everyone, it seems like there aren't any major dramas.

Totally off the breast shields now. Seraphina is actually taking a dummy which is a blessing as we fly back to Aus and I'm bricking it over the flight and pressure in her poor ears.

We're an easy 3 hours between feeds but with her rough routine of sleep, feed, play, sleep it's pretty much 3 hours anyway. At night she tends to do 6 -7 hours then another maybe 3-5 hours. Usually it's 6 and 3.

I'm resolutely getting up at 7 every morning and opening the curtains. Spring is definitely here. The magpies make a huge racket in the morning and evening, the blossom is just coming out on some of the trees and we're getting blue sky days (a bloody rare event!) more and more. It's wonderful.

Took DD into my work yesterday, she was really good despite being passed around everyone who wanted a shot! It was really lovely as she looked towards my voice all the time.

You are right beijingaling seems we are all doing really well - aren't we clever

I also took DD into work today. She wasn't keen being passed round at all, also kept looking for Mummy. Good girl.

DD1 has horrible snotty cold and barking cough coupled with night sweats. Spent Sunday and Monday in the house with both DD1 and DD2 all day. Felt like the walls were closing in round me. DD1 just wanted cuddled all the time and not too happy that DD2 seems to spend a lot of time on my knee or in sling. I did a lot of TV bribing, I'm afraid, but it is so hard work when you don't get out in the fresh air. She was fine at nursery today but seems a bit sensitive tonight again. I hate nursery illnesses!

DH staying away tonight. Fully expect to wake up tomorrow with DD1 and DD2 in bed with me.

Had some bad news today about a colleague's newborn who was starved of oxygen at birth and is likely to never walk or control arms properly. Makes me look at my two and be so grateful they are healthy and strong. We are all so lucky.

Morning all, jabs yesterday whick he recovered quickly from thank goodness, and he weighed in at 15lbs 5ozs! He's long and bonny. Unfortunately he's succumbed to our germs, courtesy of DS1, so is snuffly and has a cough poor love.
That is scary isn't it, happened to a friend and their DS1 has very severe cerebral palsy. Makes you very thankful. X

Hello everyone,

have been lurking but not had chance to post. DH and I have been out for the count for the last few days with a very nasty cold. Usually I think I'm pretty tough and DH is a softie but I must admit I felt dreadful. So much harder when you have a baby and I already used up my granny card when I got a virus so couldn't ask her to drive down again. DH called in sick 4 days in a row which will be a blow as he's on a self employed contract so no sick pay. Thankfully Rosa had one snotty sneezy day on Friday before it really hit me, which didn't seem to bother her much and has been good as gold ever since. Suffering from serious pfb-itus, she is so relaxed and content, just don't think i'd have survived the last few days if i'd had a fussy baby. As it was I had to go into robot mode, feed, change, play, REST, feed change play REST and basically leave DH to fend for himself.

Blanche So Sad, very grateful for ours. Know so many people who are having terribly traumatic times with late miscarriages and difficult pregnancy's, you just don't realise how tough this can all be when you're younger.

Beijingaling Congrats on the dummy ours is a god send, it gives me so much more confidence to go out and about knowing that I can keep her quiet with it if needs be.

Sarrita well done on the horse riding, we managed swimming the other day but I think that maybe where we picked up the cold.

Jobi & Blanche I took Rosa in to work a while ago. Its an odd set up as I usually work alone out and about on site and most of my colleges are chaps. I took her into the office, which is mostly women, and they were all dotty over her, passing her round and cooing over her. Then I met the site lads in a pub for lunch and they had a look and a cursory tickle under the chin then she slept in her pram while we ate and chatted, then they tickled her chin again and said what a good baby she was and that was that.

DH is much better today and I think he feels bad that he spent most of yesterday in bed while I still had to be up and about, so he just took DD to Gymboree, so sweet, I can't wait to hear what the other Mums made of him.

Blanche that is so sad - makes you really want to hug your own and be thankful.

DD's second lot of jabs - She's only diddy (just above 9th percentile) but my god did she let every one know she wasn't happy.

Glucose Tolerence test results back today aswell (check after gestational diabetes) anything under 7.8 is good, I was 4.6!!!! Yipee!

Blanche this is very sad. I wondered if they really needed to vacuum deliver DD but then I read stuff like that and I think, well was it worth the risk not to?

Lovely work stories jobi, blanche and RON2011

Went for lunch yesterday with a friend of mine. Rather smart hotel in Beijing (only place that has enough space for the prams), and we're talking about vomit- and poosplosions. My friend (whose DS is 17w) says "he spews a lot but nothing major. Just wipe with a bib and he's fine." On cue her DS projectile vomits again and again and again. She was covered from hair to toe. The table was covered. The floor was covered. DS was covered. It was amazing. Who knew so much vomit came from such tiny babies?

blanche makes you so thankful that things are well with our own, but a lot of kids with a poor prognosis do quite well.

Like the work stories. I was a bit like the guys in ready's tale. I would just have a quick look. If someone brought a puppy or new dog into work, then I was all over them cooing I don't have a work to take DD to, but planning on going to bookbugs next week, which is in the same building as OH works. She's probably is a bit too young for bookbugs, but I want her to get used to being out and about and meeting other people/babies. I will be prepared to quickly leave though - when she has had enough of something she is VERY vocal.

Sorry to hear so many of you have bugs. OH has a cold but so far DD and I have escaped.

wahey re GTT cadlecrap

Beijingaling hope you enjoyed your meal with all that sick! Is it a boy thing all that puking? We went to a baby massage class, and the boys were all puking throughout.

Thanks Walkthedog ,I celebrated with a twix

When I took DD into work, one man (late 50's) was actually hugging and kissing her. I was a bit weird until I remembered he and his wife tried IVF etc and it faied. It made me a bit sad as you could see what a great Dad he would have made.

Again, makes you realise how lucky we are

Other people's baby vomit makes me a bit icky as I can't help thinking of it as juice from a human {bf babies obviously}

Good news cadlecrap, must be nice to be able to relax about that and eat lots of chocolate

I hope everyone gets over their germs quickly, it makes you realise how lucky you are when you hear about serious illnesses but it never stops all the colds and things making you feel rubbish.

beijing that sounds awful but it made me laugh! DS2 absolutely covered me this evening and is turning out to be a very sicky baby so I'm sure he'll get me in public sooner or later. DP tends to handle him like he's an unexploded bomb in the mornings once he's in his work clothes.

laughing at image of your DP in the am PFofS

cadlecrap mmm twix..... I've such a sweet tooth since DD arrived. If I would stop eating so much rubbish I would be skinny! I'm lighter than pre-pg but still have some more weight to loose.

Have had a break through with taking DD out for walks. Unless she is asleep she hates the pram, so end up taking her out in sling. That is ok, but on wet days is a no go and is harder to take dog too. Yesterday I used the pushchair bit that we got with Buzz instead of borrowed pram bit. She was so much happier, even under the very wet raincover. Have now had three no crying walks :):):)

We got an appt in for DD to see the dentist in a couple of weeks. I phoned to check that was right, as was told that she would be first seen at six months by childsmile team. Seemingly the dentist sees them first. I've booked a check up for the same time so it's not a wasted journey as I can't imagine the dentist does much.